I have a problem with authority–a quirk of my personality that stretches back to my earliest memories of face-slaps and groundings. I can’t think of a single occasion when I was punished with out reason, or punished unreasonably, but I can remember dozens of times when I was given an order by my parents and I dug in my heels, knowing full well what I was getting myself into.
As I got older, my petulance moderated, but it has never gone away. I thrived in work environments where I was given goals to achieve, but foundered in jobs where I was told specifically how to achieve those goals. I don’t get along with micromanagers, and I push back with proportional force against anyone who tells me to do something that I think is wrong.
Enter the era of the pandemic. We don’t do politics here at TKZ, so I won’t delve into the specifics, but when people in power told me to do things that I thought were unreasonable, I became an angry man. I stayed an angry man for the better part of three years, and I’m not sure that I am yet 100% over it.
But I’m getting better. Events last weekend and in the coming week are bringing me much, much closer to normality. I’m teaching seminars again.
Last Saturday, at Shepherdstown Public Library, I taught a truncated version of my course called Adrenaline Rush: How to Write Suspense Fiction. The room was full of adult students, all of whom were free to breathe freely. It was a lively group, and the course went well. Next week, I will be on the faculty of the Midwest Writers Workshop at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where I will teach that same course, plus one other on research techniques. I will also have one-on-one meetings with about a dozen writers to critique the first five pages of their manuscripts.
There will be group dinners and cocktail receptions. You know, like the old days.
While MMW is not an event reserved for college students, if past is precedent, young adults will make up a large percentage of the attendees. This will be my first encounter with that age group since the lifting of the moratorium on fun, so it will be interesting to see how the years of isolation have affected them. If the quality of manuscripts to be evaluated is any indication, the alone time has been harmful. I’ve done this conference a number of times in the past, and this year’s crop is in general of a lesser standard.
It takes a while for a train as big as the whole world to get moving smoothly again, but at least it’s once again being allowed to try. It’s good to be back in the saddle again.
Have fun teaching the classes. Always fun to think about what creative spark you might set off in one of those students that changes the course of their writing.
Consider making your lectures available as video files, John, for a fee, of course. Not everyone can attend your lectures in person, but I know a few hundred folks who would more than likely buy a vid.
John, your observation about the quality of submissions from younger writers really hit home.
For three decades, my local writers group has sponsored a high school writing contest. Submissions often reflected events that were current for that time period (for instance, 9/11, Iraq war, school shootings). They were emotional, often moving attempts to make sense of the incomprehensible.
The most recent contest submissions were truly dismal–few entries that were poorly conceived and written. Judges debated whether awards should even be given b/c the quality was so low.
We finally chose one entry (instead of the normal first, second, and third) b/c we wanted to give hope to this clearly depressed, discouraged group of students. Our way of saying, “Please don’t give up.”
The consequences of isolation are showing up.
Welcome back, John! 🙂
I’ve heard variations of this scenario over the last few months, but none as open and heartfelt as yours. Thankfully, in my little neck of the woods, more people are seen without the rags around their necks than with. (Deb shakes her head.)
And, BTW, I’m currently reading Friendly Fire. There’s nothing I like better than a black hat/white hat story where the white hats win, and I can actually tell the difference between the two.
I’d sure like to meet Digger someday . . . oh, but maybe I already know him. (Deb winks at John.)
Have a great Wednesday, TKZers!