I don’t know how to put this into academic-speak,
or how to make it map neatly to a grading rubric,
but what I think I want to say is this:
This Semester, You Can Expect
Some fear
Some titillation
At least one full week of writers’ block
Some pride
Some jealousy
Some satisfaction
Some despair
Some clunkers
Some more clunkers
At least one whole page of clunkers
Some strokes of brilliance
Some overwhelm
Some overconfidence
Some doubt
Some determination
Some good ideas
Some flattery
Some criticism
Some questions
At least one good answer
Some ego
Some attitude
Some humility
Some headaches
Some sleeplessness
Some exhaustion
Some thirst
Some drought
And that drought, combined with at least one good lightning strike, guarantees a little fire.
If you’re lucky.
If we all are…
I want to take your class!
Oooo, I wish. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Ha! I love that last stanza. I’m going to put it on my desk as a kind of lightning rod.
Lemme know how it works, Sara!
That’s quite a piece of creative writing, Liz. Well done.
Thank you, Ms. Fineman
Love it. Especially since I’ve sort of been in a drought. 🙂
Maybe you’re just waiting around for your lightning strike!
Frankly, I’d put this lovely poem in the syllabus. It speaks volumes about the process. As for me, I’d experience everything except overconfidence. I don’t think I’ll ever be there!
Best wishes for a great semester!
Thanks — and to you, too! Have you started yet?
That’s
Some poem!
I don’t know if it truly qualifies as poetry, but thanks:)
I want to take your class, too. I’m just waiting to finish my second ICL one first.
I’d love that, Carmen!
I would have appreciated someone mentioning all this before I took my first writing workshop.
Really? Maybe I’ll share it, then…
Workshops are such an intense experience–or at least they are if everyone’s serious about what they’re up to. I remember it being kind of a shock, like, “Oh, THIS is what happens when we all start sharing everything that is most important to us with total strangers.”
fantastic
You should totally put this on the syllabus, Liz. It would be good to know what we’re in for, but better still to be able to go back and read it over when we’re in a drought… or overwhelmed with a complete lack of answers and much too many questions.
-Kelsi
I was kind of thinking that maybe that WAS your syllabus. Because that would be the coolest piece of paper anyone ever got on a first day of class. And it gives heaps more useful information than the average, academic-speak, grading-rubric kind.
Oh! I wish I had had you for a teacher!