Community Events
The Writing
Our next Southern Colorado Writing Project-sponsored writing marathon, scheduled for April 5th, 2008, will focus on writing for personal growth, writing for ourselves, and will encourage writing for pleasure, not as a chore. Adult writers are invited to participate, but we discourage children or teens from attending, since we will be visiting pubs or places that are not likely to welcome young people during the marathon. To encourage, promote, and engage writers is our goal.
Background information:
Writers begin a marathon by turning to each other and saying, "I'm a writer." This sets the tone and allows us to think of ourselves as writers. The emphasis is on writing for oneself - not for an editor, teacher, or mentor. We split into groups of 3-5 writers and go to restaurants, coffeehouses, parks, pubs, etc., where we write, share, socialize, and move on.
Natalie Goldberg conceptualized the idea of writing marathons in Writing Down the Bones:
Everyone in the group agrees to commit himself or herself for the full time. Then we make up a schedule. For example, a ten-minute writing session, another ten-minute session, a fifteen-minute session, two twenty-minute sessions, and then we finish with a half-hour round of writing. So for the first session, we all write for ten minutes and then go around the room and read what we've written with no comments by anyone. . . . A pause naturally happens after each reader, but we do not say "That was great" or even "I know what you mean." There is no good or bad, no praise or criticism. We read what we have written and go on to the next person. . . . What usually happens is you stop thinking: you write; you become less and less self-conscious. Everyone is in the same boat, and because no comments are made, you feel freer and freer to write anything you want. (150)
We write about the places we visit. We write about the people we meet and observe along the way. We write about our writing and about our writing partners. Most importantly, we write whatever we are moved to write. At the end of the day, we gather together and share our writing in a read-around.
Goldberg recommends courtesy when writing in restaurants, cafes, and pubs. She suggests that writers order something to drink (soft drinks are fine) and consider leaving a decent tip because we "want the people in the restaurant to know [we] appreciate the time and space they are giving [us]" (90).
Hemingway's sense of place in A Moveable Feast contributed to the "marathon" concept:
The story was writing itself and I was having a hard time keeping up with it. I ordered another rum St. James and I watched the girl whenever I looked up, or when I sharpened the pencil with a pencil sharpener with the shavings curling into the saucer under my drink.
I've seen you, beauty, and you belong to me now, whoever you are waiting for and if I never see you again, I thought. You belong to me and all
Kim Stafford's sense of creativity in The Muses Among Us inspired habits of listening and tuning into what surrounds us during a marathon.
In the New Orleans Writing Marathon, writers follow Goldberg's basic rules: allow about 10 minutes of uninterrupted writing time, share, and limit responses to a simple "thank you" after each reading. While there is always time for socializing, the emphasis remains on the writing, and doing it for oneself. Groups find their own path. Groups can cross paths, join, and reform. Some writers break off to do an hour of writing just by themselves. At the end of the day, writers gather to share and celebrate their work. The read-around nurtures the sense of a community of writers.
Remember these four steps: 1) Write. 2) Share writing without response. 3) Socialize (eat/drink/talk). 4) Move on.
Several spaces for our October marathon have been reserved. Spaces are available by request. If you have questions about the SCWP-sponsored Writing Marathons, or would like to reserve a spot, please contact:
Dr. Katherine Frank
Department of English and Foreign Languages
CSU-Pueblo
2200 Bonforte Blvd.
Pueblo, CO 81001-4901
719-549-2595, or scwponline@gmail.com