One of the downsides of doing three writing workshops at once is that I don’t get to know my classmates so quickly. We had a potluck dinner for the Landscape class tonight, and I wasn’t entirely sure who was going to turn up. I’m so confused about who is in each class, which exercises we’re doing where, whether I'm supposed to be writing fact or fiction; by Friday afternoon I have difficulty stringing two words together. Fire bad. Tree pretty. Ooooh, stars! I knew I was in the right place when I handed the food over to the host and he said that later we were going to give everyone feedback on the meal. “I would have added a little more salt to the pasta sauce, and if you cut the sultanas from the strudel it would be far more effective…"
It was a great night though; I feel as though now I’ve had a chance to get to know everyone who is a part of the course. I love hanging out with writers, talking about our successes and struggles, about the philosophy of writing and the writing community… and also chatting about travel and families, feminism, art, botany, and everything in between.
It’s interesting observing the different dynamics in the workshops. I think the Landscape class is the most pleasurable environment, and the people seem to be very compatible. I guess because it’s a specific subject area, we’re all drawn together by our interest in landscape. The other classes seem more like a random selection of people. They’re all interesting groups though. People in writing workshops often seem to have lived more than your average group of students. They’re more open-minded. I wonder why that is?
Someone from one of the classes winked at me today. Not once, but three times during the course of the workshop. It got me thinking about winking. It seems like such an intimate gesture, especially when someone winks at you secretly in a room full of people. I didn’t know how to deal with it! You’d think by the third time I’d have figured out a suitable response, but I kept blushing and ducking my head behind my papers. I didn’t wink back. It wasn’t that I didn’t know how… I just wasn’t sure exactly what I would be communicating if I did. For all I know he winked at everyone else in the class while I wasn’t looking, but still, there’s something delicious and slightly naughty about a wink.
Posted by Fionnaigh at August 2, 2003 12:11 AMI occasionally wink almost by accident. It is about a small appreciation and challenge. I'm sometimes surprised about when and to whom I wink.
Posted by: .carla at August 3, 2003 04:08 AMWinking always makes me think of my Dad - which is pretty nice.
Posted by: Siobhann at August 3, 2003 07:39 AMYou wrote:
"I’m so confused about who is in each class, which exercises we’re doing where, whether I'm supposed to be writing fact or fiction"
Have you considered a career as a speach-writer for politicians?
-V.