Creating a Writing Life

Finding the Way in Abruzzo~~photo credit: Helen Free

I've finally surfaced after my trip--spent mostly in Italy. What a wonderful opportunity to enjoy time wandering around Rome and "working" in Abruzzo where my writing workshop was held in May. It was our third annual Italy, in Other Words memoir writing workshop and very rewarding.

The Group

Our group of eleven adults, all curious and appreciative writers and adventurers, spent an intense week together. We made literature in the mornings, explored Abruzzese cultural traditions in the afternoons, and indulged in great communal meals in the evenings.

The writers held, or recently retired from, a variety of day jobs: journalist, publisher, editor, real estate professional, anesthesia nurse, oral historian, librarian, writing and literature professor, high school English teacher. They arrived with writing experience that ranged widely--from years of filling personal journals, to blogging, to collecting rejection letters, to publishing essays in professional journals.

Writers, May 2012, Italy, in Other Words
Photo credit: Ciao Chow Linda

Why They Came
All the writers came to the workshop looking for a way into their life stories. They wanted to make meaning and literature of their memories. The group united from the beginning, and the week flew by. Amazed at their enthusiasm and serious approach to their writing, I've since thought a lot about the possible reasons for the event's success.


Why did the writers of this workshop show such sustained devotion to their writing? Why did they work so assiduously drafting and revising? Granted they were a group of wonderful people, yet all my workshops have been comprised of really solid, thoughtful writers. What made this different?
Why It Worked
I think one answer lies in the participants' intentions before arriving. Most arrived ready to jump start particular writing--whether based on the germ of an idea, something already drafted, or a work in progress. That intention, linked with the actual atmosphere of the stone burgh of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, worked well.
The Qualities of Place

Barbara at work in her room

The town exudes solitude, independence and timelessness. It's easy to focus there. No one complained of writer's block or frustration; most savored time to write. Everyone enjoyed a private room in the sparsely populated, medieval village. Despite small antique desks and chairs, the rustic rooms seemed to contribute to the industry as well. The location of the burgh high in the Gran Sasso National Park with its expansive views for miles somehow offered a perspective useful for introspection and reflection.
Working at Home
These qualities of place, perhaps, parallel what writers need at home in order to create: a place free of outside distractions, an opportunity to focus, the intention to create. And we all need to be taken outside ourselves to figure out who we are. It's not easy to provide that for ourselves within the scope of our hectic lives. It requires respect for our personal goals, strong intention to make meaning of our experiences, space and time devoted to our work.

a street in Santo Stefano di Sessanio
photo credit: Barbara Roppolo

It was easy to enjoy all that in Santo Stefano, but the challenge will be replicating it at home, finding a way to create a genuine writing life for ourselves when we are alone in the room.

~~~

Note: Another critical influence, this one recounted by the writers, was the opportunity to read their work aloud and receive direct, thoughtful response from the other writers. I'll report that next Monday.


In the meantime, consider joining me at the France, in Other Words writing workshop in October as we create a community of writers hoping to strengthen their writing and experience meaningful travel.

Sommieres, France

A Connection to Place

I was invited this week to post a short essay, "The Possibility of Community" about my connection to Santo Stefano di Sessanio on Helen Free's blog, Hang on to the Vine.  An Italian-American living in Washington D. C., Helen writes about her ancestral home in the Abruzzo region of Italy.We have visited the region many times--Helen more than I, yet every time we approach the hill town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio, I feel somehow stealth-like, amazed at my opportunity to enter its still-ancient world. 

Field below Santo Stefano di Sessanio               photo: Dayle Fergusson

People of the Abruzzo are proud of the region's motto, "forte e gentile," and that strength and gentility shows everywhere. 
It's in the massive, steep slopes of the Gran Sasso mountains, rising abruptly from a road where horses graze freely,where the land looks newly created.
It shows in its people's kindness and rugged know-how, their sure competence for making flavorful mozzarella, for example, from the milk of smelly sheep, its twisted shapes displayed dramatically, yet without flourish. 
Far from the tourist spots of Rome and Florence, the Abruzzo is very close to the Italian heart, and can provide a restorative and, sometimes, life changing sojourn. And now especially--three years since the devastating earthquake--a visit is a gift of support to these gentle and strong people. 


Consider joining me in Italy this May 27--June 2, as a gift to yourself. It just could change your writing life and maybe more. I have room for another writer. Go to Italy, In Other Words for photos, endorsements and enrollment information.