Last Post.

I got a nice pep talk from one of the faculty who admonished me to work hard toward a complete draft of the novel. Even if I have to sketch in the parts I'm less sure of, he said, the revision process will be much easier if I have a whole draft to work with. He said that he's seen too many people write until they had 2/3 of the novel, then stop to revise, and revise again...and in the end they still only had 2/3 of the novel. I'll be curious to see how the semester unfolds. If I take his advice, it might be a good idea to take the semester after this one off, finish the draft, then return to revise first 100 pages for my thesis.

Tonight is graduation--always touching but more meaningful with each semester as friendships deepen. Then the final dinner and party. I leave campus at 4:15 AM tomorrow. Argh! But otherwise, a nice end to a great residency.

This is Bora from Planet Warren Wilson, signing off. Thanks for reading.

Amazingly enough, we have a two hour break! It's so great to sit in my room and stare out the window. I have a little more work to do, but then I'm seriously contemplating a nap.

I just came from a great class on dialogue. It's probably one of the most difficult things to write well, at least for me. Great dialogue in a short story or a novel really is a work of art. And like so many artful things--you know it when you see it, but how do you make it? The thesis of the lecture was that good dialogue is as much about rhythm and music as it is about content. Maybe more so.

We had a big storm yesterday--some fringe of one of these hurricanes in the south? But today is beautiful and clear and not too hot. Still, I'm looking forward to going home. Wes and the girls are doing great, but I think we're all ready to settle back into our routine. The girls have had fun, though. In the ten days I've been gone, they've traveled to Tahoe, ridden ponies, watched fireworks, eaten at McDonalds, watched Tarzan 2 (with kettle corn), had ice cream cones, and watched Herbie Fully Loaded, had playdate and gone swimming every day. Pretty fun stuff.

Goofy

Goofy
Originally uploaded by Borareed.

Goofy says hello to all the adult and kid readers of this blog!!

Kate & Anna on the Teacups

Kate & Anna on the Teacups
Originally uploaded by Borareed.

Hi, Kate, Anna, Marguerite, Namoni, Noelle, Reyna, Hope and Gemma! Thanks for reading my blog and posting such a nice note! Of course this photo is not of Warren Wilson. It was taken on the teacups at Disneyland at the end of June. Kate and Anna spun me around and around and around until I was sooooooo dizzy. We had a great time. I miss Kate and Anna very much and am eager to see them Sunday!!!!!!

On the Grass at WWC

On the Grass at WWC
Originally uploaded by Borareed.

Here are a few of my friends (from left to right)--Larissa (Seattle), Kathy (SF), Ed (NYC), and Krystn (Seoul)--on campus. Don't they look writerly?

It's just about 1:20 am, Monday, July 4th. My day has been full, full, full. I left the lounge full of chatty writers early (10:30pm) because I had so much work to do. I left my dorm door open, just like in the olden days--to be friendly and for air circulation. A fellow Korean-American writer walked in and wanted me to talk about my novel excerpt (she's in my workshop and I'm on the hot seat tomorrow). Uh, oh. I thought. What's bomb is this woman going to drop on me? She was actually pretty supportive and we got into a long discussion about the state of Korean American literary fiction, characterization, writing against type, my novel, her novel, her life, and so on. I'm sure that you can imagine that this went on for quite a while. But this is the kind of thing that happens around here--which is why I don't sleep much.

I was very energized by my meeting with Victor today. A little word about context: Just before the meeting, we attended a class on how discovery or reversal in a story are internal things that must be manifested in external change. (Very, very true) In this context, people began to talk about how much they distrusted epiphanies. Too much in our culture is already didactic, they said--commercials, religion. What they wanted to see in a story was a small moment of change. Very small. Very quiet. The examples we studied were beautifully rendered stories that I truly admire. But as I met with Victor I commented to him that, while I was sympathetic to this current sensibility against epiphanies (and certainly I'm against poorly rendered ones), that I had no problem with characters changing in a big or lasting way. I had no problem with change, I told him. In fact, that's partly what drew me to stories in the first place--to see change and to change myself in the process. I observed that the class reflected a very postmodern way of looking at the world (yes, I know that I'm repeating myself to some of you--but I hadn't said it to Victor yet, okay?)

He commented on how, throughout the ages and in all cultures, humanity has been concerned with stories about good and evil. Perhaps, he said, the current sensibility comes from an arrogance in believing that we have somehow evolved beyond Good and Evil (with caps) and are able to only tell stories about good and bad (no caps).

Victor is also a fan of Flannery O'Connor. He is open to all kinds of non-literary styles, including genre fiction, especially horror. While this is not quite my cup of tea, I can tell that he is going to energize and push my writing. The guy isn't nervous about violence. Likes it, in fact. And since my project has to do with the war, my conversations with him opened up whole new channels of ideas and inspiration for me. So far, when I write about the war...I write like a girl. I'm going to try newer, riskier stuff--blow things up and have racing tanks and RPG's or whatever they had back then. Cool, huh? I wonder if this means that I will have to make myself sit through Saving Private Ryan again?

Tomorrow we start our workshops. I'm in a group of eight, each of us with a chapter from a novel. These workshops are always interesting, sometimes emotional. Not that anyone freaks out right then and there (not that I've seen anyway) but it always takes writers a while to digest the emotions of having one's work chopped, diced and dissected--usually kindly but not always. Last time, I made the mistake of going into the workshop with a piece that I was pretty attached to--I had worked hard on it and had received several compliments from fellow students. The two faculty who led my workshop, however, were not so enamoured with my story. It took me a full 24 hours to get over it before I could see that they were...absolutely correct (darn them!).

I'm not up until the day after tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

"To be an artist means never to avert your eyes."--Akira Kurosawa

Here are some nerdy writer's notes from a lecture of narrative progression by Lan Samantha Chang.

There is a readerly pleasure in watching a narrative unfold. It is the pleasure of reading and waiting--through detours and digressions--to a satisfying end.

Narrative progression needs APPARENT variations of speed, but ACTUAL consistency of forward momentum. Example: James' Portrait of a Lady. When Isabel Archer discovers (hundreds of pages into the book) something very bad about her husband (I won't give too much away) everything changes. The moment of discovery is followed by an apparent change of pace because an entire chapter is then devoted to Isabel sitting in a chair and thinking about the past. But the forward momentum is actually consistent because her character is learning new things and changing with each revelatory thought she has in that chair.

Readers need apparent variations in pace in order to mimic life, and to take them through the pleasures of joy, grief, hope, fear, relief. Narratives need consistency in forward movement to give it energy, internal tautness.

Lots more in that lecture that folks can buy on CD for $8 if they'd care to. Perhaps a group of us can chip in for a set of the strongest lectures, then pass them around.

Thunder storms have moved in. Typical of humid weather, we are all scurrying around with flip flops and umbrellas. Went running earlier today...it was so hot and muggy that I felt like I was doing Bikram Jogging. Perhaps I'll start a new exercise trend. I'm considering the Nike half-marathon in October, but I feel out of shape and nervous about how training will fit with the writing schedule and the part time job I will (hopefully) have. But I keep being enticed by the promise of training partners and free food. What should I do?

Tonight we find out which of the faculty will be our supervisor for the upcoming semester. The faculty meet and discuss it all afternoon--then they post a list and the students flock. I've had three supervisors so far and have had great experiences with all of them, so I feel calm but VERY curious.

I'm proud of myself. i've eaten five cafeteria meals and have refrained from eating out (so far).

The View From My Window

The View From My Window
Originally uploaded by Borareed.

Slightly more cheerful, here's the view from my dorm window.

My Monastic Cell

My Monastic Cell
Originally uploaded by Borareed.

Lest you all think I'm living in luxury's lap,here's a picture of my room. It's a lot more interesting in the winter when the student's leave their stuff over break. The Fiber One in the picture only cost $3.55!

It begins...today we turn in a purple piece of paper called the project preference form on which we make a brief statement of our plans for the upcoming semester. For me, it's all about the novel, the novel, the novel. Specifically, I want to figure out how to move toward writing a novel's middle and end (I have a bunch of page, but everything so far like "promising first chapters"). I plan to read novels as well, to see how the masters dealt with structure, sequence and pacing.

This afternoon we hear short readings from the new students, always a diverse and talented bunch. My hall mate is a new student--a Korean-American now permanently residing in Seoul. She's very friendly and reminds me a LOT of an old friend, Je.