“To become a writer, I had to learn to interrupt, to speak up, to speak a little louder, and then louder, and then to speak in my own voice which is not loud at all.” —Deborah Levy
Welcome to the third day of Essay Camp.
How is camp treating you so far? Have you had a chance to visit the imaginary lake? Enjoyed the yellow leaves and red berries of the hawthorn as it hangs over the virtual breakfast tent? Have you suffered any bug bites?
This will be our third day of writing together, and some of you may be wondering—when do I get to the part where I actually write an essay?
Well, I know that some of you are writing drafts of essay-shaped things already, while others are still keeping it loose. Both are fine.
Tomorrow, we’re going to start talking a little bit about essay structure, the different kinds of essays, and how to coax your own writing into the shape of one.
For today, however, let’s stay in the free, generative writing phase a bit longer, Let’s spend more time with that strange and unknown place where words come from, when we’re not yet trying to “be good at it” or “do it right.” Find out what words or topics are there on the edge of your conscious understanding.
Don’t worry about coming up with good ideas. Do not try to be talented or charming. Just be present, and write honestly, about whatever comes. Conjure images with your writing. Paint a picture. Tell it like it really is, or like it really was. Write to find out what it is you want to write about.
Some of you are probably feeling good about your writing, while others will inevitably feel like sh*t. You might be struggling to find topics that inspire you, or even just to get it done.
If you’re struggling with time and inspiration, don’t be afraid to pare down.
If you’ve reached the end of the day and didn’t find time for Essay Camp, just do a quick “five things” prompt and only write one word or one short phrase for each, like I did here during a difficult few weeks. It will only take a minute or two, but it keeps you tethered to the practice. It keeps you connected, and you will have accomplished the hardest and most important part of the writing process: showing up.
Let’s begin.
“Ideas come to us as the successors to griefs, and griefs, at the moment when they change into ideas, lose some part of their power to injure the heart.” — Deborah Levy
Writing Assignment, Day 3
If you have already written two Five Things drafts, write another one today. Open up a blank document, turn to a blank page, write or type the number 1, and then start writing. Write about whatever comes, and write until you’re done. Write about anything: the light in the room, your dreams last night, something you did yesterday or when you were five, something you noticed or saw. A few sentences, a few paragraphs, a whole page, it’s up to you. Do not read back over what you have written at any time! I mean it. Do not rewrite or edit your work at this stage. Move on to the next number when you’re finished, and then do it again until you’ve completed all five.
Alternate Option 1: Freewriting
If you still have not tried the Five Things prompt, I encourage you to give it a try. If you’re not working with that prompt today, proceed to freewriting instead.
Set a timer for whatever amount of time you have, long or short, and write whatever comes. As with the Five Things, try not to look back at what you’ve written. Keep moving forward without worrying whether what you’ve written is good or not, or even if it makes sense. Keep going until you’ve reached the end of your allotted time.
If you find that freewriting turns into venting or negative rumination like I did, try to focus on concrete observations: Write about some simple, quotidian things that happened, or ten things you saw. Keep it rooted in the immediate, physical world.
Remember, do not worry about beginnings or about the structure of your sentences. For now just focus on getting words down on the page.
In case you need a prompt:
Write a letter to yourself from twenty or thirty years ago.
Write about a favorite piece of clothing that you no longer own.
Describe a room in which something bad happened, without ever mentioning the bad thing.
Write an open letter to a person or entity that is unlikely to respond.
Write about a road not taken.
Write about a sporting event.
Write about a body of water.
Write about dust.
Alternate Option 2: Rebel Mode
Do your thing. Work on your own project, in whatever way you see fit, for as long as you can.
Reading Assignment, Day 3
If you’re doing the “assigned reading” part of the course, please find an essay or essays that you missed from Saturday or Sunday, or select one from below. I usually advise people to choose one they haven’t read before, or haven’t read in a while, but since we’re repeating material, I say, just take some time to read whatever you want! Even a novel or some poems! While this is still Essay Camp, literature is literature.
“Love Songs: I’m Your Man,” by Laurie Stone, 740 words, 3 minute read (link)
“Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over,” by Sabrina Orah Mark, 1,627 words, 8 minute read (link)
“Shooting An Elephant,” by George Orwell, 3,283 words, 12 minute read (link)
“What the Black Woman Thinks About Women’s Lib,” by Toni Morrison, 3,878 word, 19 minute read (link)
“Total Eclipse,” by Annie Dillard, 5,589, 22 minute read (PDF)
“Consider the Lobster,” by David Foster Wallace, about 7,500 words, 30 minute read (PDF)
Time To Write!
Happy writing!
xo Summer
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We're starting Day 3 out on the quiet side for those of us in Europe and points east, so I'll get things rolling by posting my own writing day so far. I have little choice but to work in Rebel Mode 🤘this time. I opened up an essay-ish thing I'm reworking from a notebook entry written back in 2021, so I tinkered with that for a bit, moved some things to another essay that didn't quite belong where they had been before, and then made an attempt (isn't there something essayistic in that?) to read through the final part, Part Three, of my book in progress, aloud, to see if it flowed, sounded good, if it worked, to look for repetition, stuff that was boring and could be cut, etc. It's around 35K words long right now, this part, and I managed to get through a bit over 18K words before exhaustion hit and I had to take a nap, but it's something. I'll try again tomorrow. Writing a book takes brute force, as Deborah Levy once said during a talk I attended.
I too am winging it in Rebel Mode and decided today to write an essay on an essay, Nancy Mitford's "Chic — English, French, and American" and on how Mitford's Parisian dressmaker must have known my grandmother in Cuba because she too would have turned the garment inside out to examine how the seams were finished off. And, as Miss Mitford so aptly concludes, "The Latin American woman dressed in Paris is the very height of perfection, however."