Dear Essay Campers,
Welcome to the sixth semi-annual session of Essay Camp! We are all set to begin this Monday, March 23rd. If you plan to participate, you might want to spend this weekend preparing, both mentally and logistically.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Yourself
In order to attend Essay Camp, you will need to show up. As always, all versions of yourself are invited and encouraged to attend. The talented and the untalented, the sure and the unsure, the prepared or woefully unprepared—all are welcome. Really. Scrape together whatever version of yourself you can muster. Essay Camp is virtual, and therefore happens wherever you are—at home, at work, in a plane, on a train. If you can manage to take a little vacation and give yourself the gift of a writer’s retreat, that’s fantastic, but most of us will just be weaving the practice into our daily lives. Since Essay Camp must happen wherever you are mentally as well as physically, over the next few days, see if you can locate yourself. Tell yourself that you’ll be doing some creative writing over the course of five days, from Monday through Friday, every day. It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to exist. Let the part of you that writes things know that it is time to wake up and report for duty.
Time
In order to attend Essay Camp, you will need to set aside some time every day for five days in a row. This can be anywhere from ten minutes to several hours. Ideally, this should include some time spent actively writing and also reading, as well as some additional time spent thinking, daydreaming, walking, etc. The instruction emails will give suggested assignments for reading and writing, and I’ll propose some strategies for revision towards the end. How much time you spend on any of these activities is up to you. If you plan to participate in Essay Camp, you may want to take some time now to come up with a tentative daily schedule. Think about times when you can write, times when you can read, and what times of day tend to work best for you. You can also think about when you can take some additional time to sit quietly, take a walk, enjoy another creative activity, or otherwise give space for yourself. Remember, this is not a word count-based writing challenge. Even if you only write five sentences each day (more on this option later) the goal is to strengthen and enrich your writing practice as a whole.
Tools
In order to write, you will need something to write with. This can be a special notebook and a preferred pen, a typewriter, a laptop, your phone, a public computer at the local library, or anything else that you can think of. It doesn’t really matter, just so long as it serves you. If it helps to get you in the mood, you can visit the stationary aisle of your local supermarket or drug store, or a specialized boutique or bookstore, and see if you feel drawn to any of the supplies. Some people like to write in pretty journals with special pens, while others prefer lower-stakes choices like legal pads and composition notebooks. If there’s something you know you like and that gets your creative juices flowing, go ahead and stock up. If you know you’ll be writing digitally, take some time to clean up your computer desktop or organize your files to minimize distractions.
Space
In order to attend Essay Camp, you must physically exist in the world. This is difficult, but unavoidable. You’ll have to write somewhere, but one of the great things about writing is that you can do it from almost anywhere. For example, I’m writing this sentence in a California ER, while waiting for my mother to come back from an MRI. I hadn’t planned to be here today, but here I am, so this is where I’m writing from. It’s good to have a plan, while also accepting that plans change, and that you’re committed to writing anyway. You can write in bed, at a desk, at your kitchen table, at a local café, on a park bench, in the hospital, or wherever else you may find yourself. But even if you plan to do the majority of your writing in public, make a point of setting aside a little corner for yourself at home that is dedicated solely to your writing. If you have a home desk, clear it off and get it ready for your week of writing. If you don’t, commandeer the coffee table, or cordon off a section of the breakfast nook that is your special writing place. You can add a stack of books you find inspiring, a candle, your writing supplies, a bouquet of flowers—anything you like to set the mood. Sometimes it helps to create a sense of abundance and a “container” for your writing—to pamper yourself and your space a little bit first.
Now that you know what you will need, here is what you will NOT need:
Ideas
You do not need to come to Essay Camp already knowing what you will write. If you do have some general ideas, that’s fine, but do not feel like you have to have anything mapped out beforehand. Show up as full or as empty of ideas as you happen to be.
Confidence
There is no need to be confident or even to believe in yourself. This is an exercise and not a performance. You never have to show anyone what you write during Essay Camp, not even yourself after its written if you don’t want to. If you decide that you want to write next week, the only wrong way to be is absent.
Talent
I said this already, but it’s worth repeating: you do not have to be good at writing to attend Essay Camp. As James Baldwin once said: “Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but, most of all, endurance.”
That’s it!
If you can gather together a little time, a little space, something to write with, and some version of yourself—no matter how wounded, doubting, or bedraggled—you should be all set.
Instruction emails will go out each morning at 6 a.m., Central European Time. If you’re already a free subscriber to A Writer’s Notebook, you’re all set to get them. If not, you can subscribe below:
Essay Camp is free, but your subscriptions make it possible. If you are already a paid subscriber, thank you. This session I have added a “suggested donation” of $30 (an annual subscription), but it’s up to you to decide whether you can afford to do that or not. It’s important to me that this stays accessible to anyone and everyone.
Thanks and see you soon!
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