Irons in the Fire
I’m starting to feel that mid-term crunch right now. There’s a lot going on within my MFA world, lots to do, and sometimes I wonder where I’ll find the time. That said, I tend to do my best work under pressure. Projects in the works:
First Essay due for 19th Century British Literature.
I’m working on a paper that discusses 19th-century Naturalist Literature and what it says about British society on a whole. In terms of what? Jungian Self/Shadow analysis. The concept of “the other” really comes to the fore in 19th-Century British Naturalist Literature: “the other” being the strange, that which we do not know. This essay will discuss women and how they are represented in this type of literature as “the other” and what that says about society on a whole during that time. It’s hairy and I need to organize my thoughts very clearly and articulately on this one, or it could turn into something of a mess.
English Graduate Student Symposium
I will be presenting the above essay at the symposium. The cool thing is that offering this presentation will count as my “final for the above class and I will be done with all of my formal papers for the rest of the class.
SpeakOut! Writing Manual
I’ve been asked to edit and proofread the creative writing manual for the program at the women’s prison. Not much work here. This should be the lighter side of my duties.
CSU Women’s Conference
The SpeakOut ladies (including myself) are speaking at a conferece on campus about the program. I’m a bit ungrounded and clueless at this point. It’s still in the brainstorming phase right now. Things will come together as this nears.
MFA Annotated Bibliography Entries
We need 100 of these for our final portfolio. I haven’t started yet. I plan to this week-end. Each annotation has to be a full page (double spaced) in length.
TILT – Certificate for College Teaching
This is an informal certificate that I can work on simultaneously with my current degree. It involves taking a class on composition pedagogy (which I’ve already finished,) engaging in 20 hours of teaching (which I am doing with the SpeakOut! program at the women’s correctional facility,) 6 seminars/conferences on various teaching topics and the completion of a portfolio which will be published online. I plan to pursue two of these degrees at once: the general college teaching certificate and the teaching with technology certificate.
Writing
There is always writing. It usually takes backseat to all over projects, but this semester I’ve spent more time on it. I have a few things going right now:
- 1st draft of a short story completed for my next workshop (that’s not until May, so I have lots of time to revise.) A link to the first draft is HERE if anyone wants a go at it. Always appreciate
- Snippits of nother short stories. I tend to patchwork my short stories. I write scenes (usually out of order,) then connect them. Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much. I have “patches” finished for various stories at the moment.
- Brainstorming process for a novel. I need to write a novel. For my MFA portfolio, we need a “collection of short stories” the length of a book, or a novel. Few people attempt the novel. My MFA advisor, David Milofsky, suggested a book. They’re easier to publish once you finish, easier to market. The question is: do I have a story that will carry the length of a novel? We’ll have to see.
