Write what you know plus Stay in your lane equals Keep a diary. Where else am I allowed to go? I have already invaded and subdued so many lives. Fictional lives. What if what I know – what if all I know – what if all I can legitimately claim is, is, is being a white man writing about writing at a desk that is actually a table? What if my territory is 76¼” by 31½” (194cm x 80cm) of horizontal hardboard? Bigger than Jane Austen’s ‘little bit two Inches wide of Ivory’ – but why Ivory, Jane? Why not a native hardwood? Why did an elephant have to be tusked to bring you the whitely neutral surface you must work upon?
This evening’s first workshop went well. Class comprises: Ola, Lola, Andy, Anja, Rudy, Katherine, Felix – can I remember them all? Grace, Rebekah, Jess. Who’ve I forgotten? Agh. Have to look them up. Michael. How could I leave out the Archangel Michael? Curly-headed (not -haired, -headed). They’re a good group.
One of the things I’ve learned as a teacher is to do as little comparison as possible – don’t forestall the class’s experience for them. These are new writers, strangers.
I know that, if I were lazy or cruel, I could say, “Look, some of you will have a breakthrough this term, and you won’t recover from it for a couple of months. You’ll suddenly find yourself writing work much better than you’ve ever done before, but you won’t know how you’ve done it. And the others in the group will recognize that you’ve achieved something special – and that I (tutor) have seen and reacted to that. And they’ll become disheartened and jealous and wonder why it isn’t them? For some, this will mean they work harder, and produce something better just in time for assessment, for others it’ll make them aggressive and slapdash, resentful and pointlessly competitive. (Which is exactly how I was, in my writing class, on my MA.) But it’s only Week One, and there’s no way of telling who among you is ready to pop and who is heading for the gloom. That’s why, in your tutorials, I’ll be asking so many questions.” I try not to be cruel or lazy.
Leigh annoyed at me for getting in late. I went for a drink with the students, which often settles some of them – I mean, seeing me in a less formal setting, not the booze itself. (Maybe the booze itself.)