Share your resources, thoughts, comments, urls
Posted by kscott on February 23, 2007
For this week (till end of Feb), post all your comments, resources, thoughts, websites, etc. here. If you think it might be useful or helpful to your classmates, post it!
* All posts here will count towards your final page count.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Hey, all
Is this the place to post for the next weeks blog? Not sure. But I’m still waiting for a reply from Deb about her artist statement. I’ll post as soon as I hear. If she checks her oasis as often as I do, it will be never, but I left her a voicemail as well. Till next time
Ric
February 25th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Here’s the stuff from Ms. Lewis. As she notes, she has a revised statement on her website.
Cheers,
Ric
Deb Lewis wrote:
“I think art should disturb people–stop them in their tracks long enough to laugh or get pissed or try on another point of view.
Outsiders fascinate me: sexual deviants, leather men.
I’m interested in riding the line between the sacred and the profane, to erase the spirit/body division artifically set up.
A lot of my stories talke about sex, but in a distinctly non-erotic way, because sex is rarely ‘just sex’ — it is frequently about power, longing, comfort, relationship.
When I entered the Chicago Eagle in the mid-1990’s it was a kind of homecoming–a quarter of the world that made sense to me in a a way that the Methodist Church and Catholic high school and dysfuncitional family never did. The notion of consent pervades everything. I’ve become intersted in what we consent to on a daily basis without ever realizing there is an alternative.”
A mildly revised version is on my webpage at http://www.DebRLewis.com.
February 26th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Okay, there’s still a ways to go, but it’s getting closer.
Artist’s Statement:
I am a Chicago based novelist who crafts works of literary fiction with an eye toward future development into film. Story telling is the way our culture conveys its unique mythology. Stories are the way we communicate larger truths and understand our place in the greater scheme of things. For better or worse, most people hear their stories at the movies; to deny that is not only literary snobbism, but financial suicide. Everyone has a story, but most people have no idea how to tell it. As unlikely as it may seem to you, no one really cares about you and your Aunt Tess unless your lives together are compelling and interesting. In fact they probably aren’t, but I have the tools to make it sound like they are. I write with an eye toward providing my audience with an enjoyable diversion. As Graham Greene used to call them, I write entertainments. Novelists are, at base, good liars with an ear for discerning the essential core of a situation or conversation. Whether that is conveyed in prose or screenplay format is simply a matter of form.
Comments? Thank you.
February 26th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
i seem to have lost my artist’s statement. kristin, if you’re reading this, did i hand in my rough draft along with my folder?
February 28th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Resume stuff:
Publications-
Fine Lines Lit Journal (NE) 9.3, 9.4, 13.1 (poetry)
Hair Trigger 29 (”Heavy or Prolonged Bleeding”)
Academic honors/scholarships/etc-
Transfer Student scholarship 6 sems. (Columbia)
ROTC Active Duty Scholarship 6 sems.
Special Forces Veterans’ Scholarship
Bath Spa Writers’ Exchange representative
Editing Experience-
Bath Spa anthology, editor
Readings-
Hair Trigger 29 Party (not yet)
Education-
BA Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago
Professional Associations-
AWP
Military Experience-
Enlisted in Army Reserves 03/2001
Deployed to Iraq 01/2003-03/2004
Promotion to final rank of SGT 04/2004
Took scholarship/became CDT 10/2004
Commissioned 2LT, Aviation 05/2007
Military Schools/awards-
army service, army acheivement, army commendation, national defense service, global war on terrorism expeditionary, global war on terrorism service, and armed forces reserve medals
-combat action badge 2004
-airborne school 07/2005
Volunteer Experience-
Make-A-Wish 2001
Big Brothers, Big Sisters 2000-01
Omaha Botanical Gardens 1999
Work Experience-
Retail
Waitressing
House painting
Cleaning
Display (window for dept store)
February 28th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Ric:
I think your statement is well-written, but I gotta say, it still sounds a bit vague. Sure, writing with screen adaptation in mind sounds pretty good, but there’s nothing in there that makes you sound like an individual, rather than a machine that cranks out “entertainments.” It’s my opinion, but I think people want to get a sense of what a person is like from their artist statement, even if it’s just a bunch of baloney. So maybe drop a word or two about yourself, your life, your attitude, etc? Just think of yourself as a character and describe it. Like the time you killed 12 Nazi stormtroopers barehanded and then jumped onto the wing of a biplane from a high cliff…
The bit about “Aunt Tess” is a little hostile – keep the point you’re making but maybe re-word it?
Michelle:
Your military experience is impressive – are you planning on using it as an “angle”? I think there’s a big market for women writers with military experience, and Iraq is probably a hot topic as well (duh). I know, people don’t like being “type cast” or pidgeonholed as a one-trick pony, but I think for starting writers (myself included), having that particular advantage helps. I’m going to shamelessly plug myself as a writer uniquely positioned to write about radical leftists and anarchists, or whatever.
Okay, I’m going home now to see if AT&T delivered my new DSL modem. Since I haven’t had Internet access, I’ve read 3 books and written 40+ pages this week!
-T
February 28th, 2007 at 5:04 pm
Thanks Teddy, I agree.
And here’s a start on my resume’ as well, inviting more critique:
Ric Hess, Richard Hess, Richard G. Hess, R.G. Hess (One of these)
3258 N. Sheffield Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60657
(773)914-4989
(773)248-9182 FAX
Beers2u@gmail.com
Education:
BFA, Columbia College, Chicago
Semester in L.A., Columbia College, Chicago, Fall 2006
Writers Bootcamp, 2003-2004
Dean’s List, 3.914 GPA
Professional and Technical Writing
Monthly Newsletters (2005 to Present):
Sheffields Beer & Wine Garden Inc., Chicago Illinois (www.sheffieldschicago.com)
The Silver Cloud Bar & Grill, Chicago Illinois (www.silvercloudchicago.com)
Other Related Writing Projects:
Restaurant Menu, The Silver Cloud Bar & Grill.
Conceived and implemented the menu for this 13 year old Chicago institution
Sheffield’s Beer Almanac
A comprehensive compendium of all things quaffable
Publications and Awards
Storyweek Reader, 2006, Silent Movie
The First Line Fiction Contest, Spring 2007, Daylight Moon
Finalist, The First Line, Spring 2006, My Mother’s Illusions
Make Magazine, Winter 2007, Book Review, The Uncomfortable Dead
Harper Collins, 2005, Best Selling Author, The DaVinci Code
Presentations and Readings
R.U.I. (www.readingundertheinfluence.com)
Guest reader at this very popular monthly literary event featuring emerging Chicago authors
Chairman, The Belmont/Sheffield Music Fest, 1998 to Present
Oversaw all aspects of this 23 year old summer street festival, which includes various
artist’s performances and readings (www.chicagoevents.com)
Work History
1988 to Present, Sheffield’s Beer & Wine Garden Inc.
From part time doorman to owner operator. In 1992 I engineered the successful purchase of the business and real estate from the former owners
1994 to Present, The Silver Cloud Bar & Grill
Founding partner and operator of a comfort food themed, Chicago neighborhood restaurant
1994 to Present, Independent Real Estate Investor
Involved with various rehab and renovation projects, focusing on single family properties in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Florida
Professional Associations
Association of Writers and Writers Programs (www.awpwriter.org)
Chairman, Belmont/Sheffield MusicFest, (www.chicagoevents.com
Vice President, Central Lakeview Business Association, (www.mylakeview.com)
February 28th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
this is the link that ann wiens gave me for editing tests: if you go there you’ll find three different editing tests (for those interested in making easy money as a freelance editor).
also, go here to read about the Chicago Manual of Style (you will need to know it, or at least be able to talk about it in order to be hird): note the hefty pricetag… woof!
finally, this five-course program offered by the University of Chicago will certify those who pass it with “The Certificate of Editing.” You’ve got to admit, that’ll look pretty fucking good… being from the University of Chicago and all…
February 28th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
here is my resume:
(note: all the question marks are actually bullet points)
(also: this looks way better when it’s not copied and pasted into the blog)
(finally: i haven’t put on my “memberships” yet)
(more finally: is it a good idea to put on my GPA? it’s a good GPA… but I’m not sure if it’s overkill if I already mention my honors)
David Peak
4865 N. Magnolia Apt. 3
Chicago, IL 60640
616.304.5660
rubberpalmtrees@yahoo.com
Objective
Seeking a full or part time position in the field of either editor or copyeditor.
Center for Community Arts Partnerships Sept. – Dec. 2006
Copyeditor
Reader
Responsible for reading and editing manuscript for (Title of Book). Applied first-hand knowledge of arts integration and teaching experience to manuscripts.
ACT/WRITE Sept. 2006 – present
Intern
Teaching Artist
Assistant to teaching artist at Theodore Herzl Elementary. Employed Story Workshop method to writing exercises for 8th grade class. Taught selected sections of curriculum. Responsible for handouts and copies. Used position to gain skills necessary for becoming a teaching artist.
Teens Together Jan. 2006 – Present
Teaching Assistant
Editor
Student Liaison
Teacher of creative writing for community outreach program. Employed Story Workshop method to writing exercises for high school students of varying age. Assembled and edited annual anthology of student work. Now in second year of involvement.
F Magazine Sept. 2006 – Present
Intern
Reader
Assigned both clerical and editorial responsibilities for nationally distributed publication. Organized and maintained incoming manuscripts and submissions. Serving as slush pile reader. Internship requires the refinement of production and marketing skills.
Hair Trigger Jan. – May 2006
(Columbia College Chicago’s annual anthology of student work)
Student Editor
Served on board of eight Student Editors. Read, critiqued and selected student manuscripts for publication. Hair Trigger has won numerous awards, including first place prizes in national competitions from three different organizations: the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, the Coordinating Council of Literary Magazines and the Columbia University Scholastic Press Association.
Columbia College Chicago Sept. 2005 – Apr. 2006
Fiction Writing Tutor
Employed Story Workshop method in one-on-one tutoring sessions with Columbia College Chicago students of varying age. Gained first hand experience in several Chicago Public Schools working as fiction writing tutor with students in grades 3-12.
Honors and Achievements
Associate Editor on Alexis Pride’s novel, Where the River Ends. Active book reviewer for Columbia College Chicago’s Publishing Lab. Accepted to Fiction Writing Department’s Internship Program in ‘06. Studied the works of Franz Kafka in Prague during summer of ’05. Published collection of stories, The Belletrist, with the Czech National Library. Served as assistant editor for The Belletrist. Also published works of fiction in Hair Trigger 29, Display Magazine, and the journal Lying Down With Full Stomachs. Story “Sinister Clouds / Obsidian Obelisk” has been studied academically in Alexis Pride’s Advanced Fiction Writing class at Columbia College Chicago.
Skills
Proficient in Microsoft Word and Excel. Experienced teacher of Story Workshop method.
Volunteering Jan. 2006 – Sept. 2006
Volunteer for non-profit organization, the Story Workshop Institute. Responsibilities ranged from acting as liaison with schools and community organizations to helping staff prepare marketing and distribution of informative materials.
Education
Columbia College Chicago September 2003 – May 2007
Fiction Writing (BFA)
Graduated with honors.
References
Available upon request.
February 28th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
This is me just thinking on paper…trying to figure out what I’m writing about so I can have a statement. Maybe my next entry will be my attempt at that.
I write about women. When I was around fifteen, my dad told me that all women think that they are the exception to the trivialities and emotional outbursts that seem to hover around the very word. He said that they all try to convince you that they are the only sane one and that they simply can’t fathom what all other women were thinking.
Sometimes when my roommate’s boyfriend is late, and she’s spent hours making a dinner that she tries really hard to pretend only took fifteen minutes, she cries in the kitchen with oven mitts on her hands and asks me if I think he still loves her. He, of course, doesn’t understand this at all. He’s been sitting in traffic after a twelve hour day, and she hadn’t even told him she was cooking. In fact, he’d eaten something on the way home.
When you’re introduced into a group of people or everyone’s thrown together at once, you have to mesh in with the girls or forever have their scorn because you think you’re too good for them even if you hate that when they get together, they talk at inappropriate times, avoid work, make excuses and are generally unprofessional and unproductive.
My roommate won’t eat ice cream, unless I do too, and if I don’t want to, she gets mad at me. If I run eleven miles one day, she has to do it too.
What does it mean to be a woman in America?
I want to explore the way women interact with each other and the way men react to women in different circumstances. I want to prove something about the word unconditional. I’ve been a soldier and a secretary and a janitor and a student and a beauty “queen” and an athlete. All in the name of research. I like seeing people’s reaction to me in whatever role I happen to be in. I like watching it change, if it does, as someone gets to know me and not whatever idea they’re stereotyping over my face.
I never fail to note the second someone dismisses me. I aid that along, sometimes, by leaving out information that might impress them simply because I don’t have to tell them. And then I write about it. All the complexes and all the hours and dollars spent on hating our bodies. I want to make sense of it and find out where our minds come in, how much of it’s connected.
February 28th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Interview with Joanna Mackenzie.
She hadn’t recieved my work prior to seeing me so we spent the hour talking about her pathway to being an agent, the things she liked about it, what she didn’t, what she thought were the most important things to remember when submiting, etc. What stuck with me most, actually, was that she said she looked for cover letters that had a hook in them like the back of a novel. Like, “ANd with the world against them, the two twenty-something crawdads made their way to the promised land…” or whatever. I thought it was kind of cheesy, but I can see how reading letter after letter could get boring.
She also seemed very much in favor of (and this can’t be a surprise) having an agent. (Though, she was in favor of living in New York more.) She really seemed to feel that a manuscript without one was like a small child left unattended at Lolapolooza (or however you spell it).
We talked about the time sensitivity with the kind of stuff I’m writing. About how it might be too late to get the wow factor because when you have an idea it’s already too late. and more depressing things along those lines.
They’re kicking me out of the lab now. Apparantly freelance applications gets to be here but people with no group ties do not.
Bye
February 28th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
hey! i’m alive. how are you?
a question about resumes:
is it good practice to have a longish resume and then chop it down/spruce it up for specific jobs? this is kind of what i do. it can be time consuming and annoying, but i like having all of my info archived. what are yr methods?
my interview:
a few weeks ago, i spoke with victoria lautman who, if you didn’t know, has been a radio broadcast journalist in chicago for quite a while. i would suggest checking out her website, if only for some ideas for yr own portfolio. personally, i think it is lovely. also, she is talkative, which was beneficial but challenging because i haven’t yet mastered the art of note-taking during an interview.
i asked her some questions that somewhat resembled these:
• why is literature important to you?
• what were some of the stories you addressed in Artistic License (her first radio program) concerning literature?
• what do you believe the prestige of yr show (Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman) has brought to yr guests’ careers and vice versa?
• can you explain the difference between writing essays for a magazine in print and writing and performing essays for a publicly broadcast radio magazine?
• what are your thoughts on new voices and contemporary movements in chicago?
and she gave me answers that covered all of the above and some more, which led me to more questions, etc. here is the skinny of that:
Through her career in Chicago radio for the past twenty years, she has gotten to know many writers. Says Lautman, “I could interview basically anyone from Frank McCourt to some obscure doctor writing about brain activity because of the constant amount of pitches [that were coming in].” Victoria “likes books that are engaging, thoughtful and articulate” and calls it a “wonderful coo” to interview a favorite or respected author. She says she has always “felt responsible to read [an author’s] book” before an interview and learned that most of them didn’t have this expectation of their interviewers and were “so happy and flattered” by her attempts.
On the topic of why she began her current show, Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman, she says, “With the exception of the Humanities Festival, there is no regular book coverage of the kind of caliber authors and publishers want. Chicago became a flyover city on book tours for famous authors. I personally wanted to provide a venue where people had access to this caliber of authors.” She believes that the authors she brings on-air are doing “more for [her] than [she is] doing for them. [They] could go anywhere in the world and people will want to interview them.” She believes that all she can do is give them a comfortable environment to wax in.
When discussing more of the specifics of interviewing, Lautman admitted, “Not one of the authors I’ve spoken to have been my favorite by any means.” She mentions wanting to focus more on women from the inception of her program and claims to want interviews with more writers of color. Lautman goes through publishers in order to find interviewees and attributes the hegemony of her past lineup to “incredibly frustrating variables.”
ok. am out. see you tomorrow!
March 1st, 2007 at 12:17 am
Ric…loved the bit about the Da Vinci Code…not bad for a 1st novel
March 1st, 2007 at 12:22 am
I spent a loooong time killing myself over business cards online. So many places will do them for free (hoping you come back to them when you need more). Free is fine, but they look kinda cheesy. I want something that stands out but isn’t too flashy, not like my name and info on a national calling card or anything. Clear plastic? Something reflectic or prismatic? I think not. Just something that doesn’t suck and looks sharp. Something rigid and not on flimsy toilet paper material that disintegrates when wet. Maybe I can work out a deal and have my shit printed on $5 Starbucks gift cards…lol
March 1st, 2007 at 12:35 am
So Joe,
You caught that part about the DaVinci thing huh? Well, as Herr Burnham said, “Make no little plans; they lack the magic to stir men’s blood….”
March 1st, 2007 at 12:42 am
http://www.greatfxbusinesscards.com
March 1st, 2007 at 1:20 am
J.G. Marceau
1112 South Williams Street
Apt. #33
Westmont, Il. 60559
(708) 337-1868 [Cell.]
fictionmajor@hotmail.com
Education:
BA in English, Elgin Community College; Graduated with High Honors, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
BFA in Fiction Writing, Columbia College Chicago; 3.786 GPA
Life Experience:
Served in the United States Marine Corps from 1990 to 1995; served with front-line Infantry units in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Combat Action Ribbon
Specializations:
Creative Non-Fiction and Fiction based on Military Experiences; Short and Long Fiction; Creative Essays
Professional Associations:
Association of Writers and Writing Programs
~This is about as impressive as a frosting-covered turd.~
March 1st, 2007 at 1:23 am
I hate how the prefix for the phone # turned into an emote. P.o.s. I’m embarassed to actually display that waste anywhere on my website. Fuck that. I might as well say, “I really wish I was a writer, but since I haven’t accomplished anything I guess I’ll settle for knee-pads and a bucket of soapy water. Where did you want me to scrub first?”
March 1st, 2007 at 12:49 pm
now that i finally got a copy, here’s my artist’s statement. any feedback would be wonderful.
My concern is to question what we can learn from the stories of others.
As I write, I constantly ask myself, “To what extent are we reflections of one another?”
This sense of reflective identity–of revelation through comparison–inspires me in my writing.
I have a tendency to aimlessly wander through graveyards in the middle of the night. Standing before a marker–whether it’s a seven-foot-tall marble crucifix or a modest stone worn smooth by the rain–I can’t help but wonder, “Who lies buried here? What sort of life did they live? What love did they leave behind?”
The answers to these questions are the makings of stories.
These are the stories I tell–ethereal and unflinching–stories that refuse to lie buried.