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coffeeandcalligraphy · 3 years

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A chatty writing update | novels, short fiction, etc!

Hi folks!

It’s been a while since I last wrote an update on this blog! I thought it’d be fun to go back to basics, and just talk about writing. This post chats about: new plans for Feeding Habits, my newest novel, my short story goals & growing collection, along with process reflections.

(image description: a photo of green leaves with the text “writing update” in a white font written on top. /end image description)

Post starts under the cut!

General taglist (please ask to be added or removed)

@if-one-of-us-falls, @qatarcookie, @chloeswords, @alicewestwater, @laughtracksonata, @shylawrites, @ev–writes, @jaydewritesfiction, @jennawritesstories @eowynandfaramir, @august-iswriting, @aetherwrites, @avakrahn, @maisulli

What have I been up to?

For starters, I finished my second year of my Writing undergrad last week and got two of my final grades back today (A+ baby)! For anyone who has taken online university, y’all already KNOW, but this year was so difficult. Would not recommend! Really proud of myself to have gotten through this absolute rollercoaster of a school term and am excited to get into some writing. That leads us to:

What have I been up to (writing edition)?

2021 started off so fast. By the time January hit, I was so consumed in my new semester that I did not have time to write Feeding Habits (my novel). In the first few days of the term, I managed to write between class, until I could no longer keep up! Essentially, I did not write any of that novel until exam season (last week), where I did manage to get in about 3k words in ~4 days.

Feeding Habits

I’m currently drafting what I believe will be the last chapter of this book (chapter 10: Swan Song). This chapter is so bizarre for a few reasons. It begins the book’s third part and also marks the shift back into Lonan’s head from Harrison’s. I originally thought this part would be much, much longer, with at least another five chapters to go, but quickly realized the book’s content was nearly completed. In my 4 day 3k palooza, I hit 50k in the book (the word count goal), and couldn’t see myself extending past 60k. Since then, I’ve made the loose decision to write this final chapter as a ~novella. Here are a few reasons why:

1. This chapter is structurally very strange.

I unashamedly shift from present to past to present to past past, and so much more every 12 words. I mapped out the timeline on a sheet of paper, and there were over 20 shifts in scenes (the chapter is only about 4400 words at the moment). The fictive past is incredibly important to this chapter, more important than the present, and I thought it would make more sense to not break randomly for a chapter so I could upkeep the consistent inconsistency of the chapter.

2. The chapter is very abstract

This stems from the structural changes, but there are paragraphs in this chapter of the fictive present that are loosely based in reality. They’re more poems than they are factual paragraphs, and keeping them all contained in one place (so a mega chapter/ novella) would reduce the most confusion!

3. There’s not much left to cover

Like I said above, Feeding Habits is on its last leg, lol! I know exactly where the book needs to end up, which is very, very soon from where I’m currently at on the timeline. Swan Song should cover what 2-4 chapters would cover in terms of arcs.

Feeding Habits and I have a really weird relationship, tbh! When I realized a few weeks ago that it’d been over a year since I started the book, I realized I just needed to finish it. Not that I want to rush (because I’ve taken longer than a year to write a book in the past), but that in order to move onto another project, I’d like to put this one behind first. This book has been the hardest thing I’ve ever written, and has reminded me there’s always a time to let go. This sort of scrounges up a conversation about letting this entire series go, which is certainly something I’ve been contemplating doing soon(ish). If this spinoff series gets a third book, that may or may not be the last Fostered book for a very long time (or ever)! There are many complex reasons to move on, but the main one is that I have other projects I’d like to focus on. This is not a definitive decision, but something I’ve certainly been thinking about!

Here are a few excerpts I wrote recently:

(TW: death, gore)

Dying feels like being a trout dangled out of water. Clinging to a hook. Mouth open. Scales iridescent in a final death cry. It’s like blood spurting up the knuckles, drowning out the flesh. It’s that moment on the long fall down when the clouds cup the body. Easy drifting. The sound a skull makes when it cracks is really just the afterthought.

(TW: death, gore)

Kill shot. Death blow. Coup de grace. Right in the heart. He feels it. The blood swelling, slicking his palms. He can do it. Reach into the cavity. Feel for the ribs. Part each bone. Then cup the humming heart. Stay there. Right. It’s never been easier.

Look at this PURE moment of Lonan holding a baby I CANNOT:

The grocery store was a fifteen-minute walk away. With Olivia clinging to his shoulder, Lonan was acutely aware that she could feel his heartbeat. Open valve. Close. Repeat. Hers pulsed right above his, a miniature drumming. The sky had bruised purple, misted with clouds. The evening air nipped his cheeks, so he made sure Olivia was securely fastened between him and his jacket. With wide eyes, she absorbed the drowsy suburbia, all its family cars pulling into driveways, all its couples heading back home after a sunset walk. When Lonan passed a young boy walking two golden retrievers, Olivia giggled, and didn’t stop, even after he’d spent fifty dollars on groceries and nearly the rest on a red Corolla marked with a MUST GO NOW sign outside a convenience store.

Let’s move on!

Mandy and Cora

I said I wouldn’t talk too much about this project, but I just love it so much?? I wanted to share my SUPER early thoughts on drafting a novel, especially one that is SO different from what I’ve been writing recently. I talked about this before in THIS post, but the summary about this project is that it’s a YA contemporary novel! Can’t believe I’m writing YA again, it’s been so long, but I also think it’s going so well. Everything I’ve learned as a literary fiction writer has been a fantastic primer for transferring back to the genre. Admittedly, I have not written much, but I’m having a lot of fun diving back into a lighter project. This is the summary:

Cora and Mandy are identical twins who’ve always done everything together. But when Mandy decides to go to university out of province after graduation and Cora doesn’t, Cora takes this as an opportunity to “test run” life apart from her sister for the first time by spending the summer at her aunt’s house across the country.

I have come up with a few ~things since I last talked about this project, mostly how I’d like to structure it. As of now, I’d like the book to be structured super loosely. I’m really pulling on a lot of inspo from “We Are Okay” by Nina LaCour (which is SO good), particularly how “nothing happens-y” that book is. This project (which I still need a title for!!) will be structured in short chapters that cover something Cora does on her own for the first time (without Mandy). For example, a few ideas are “Flight”, “Lunch”, and “Groceries”. “Flight” is the first “chapter” (they’re really kind of vignettes) where Cora flies to her aunt’s house. I still can’t determine if this book will take place in Canada. On one hand, I feel like there will be a wider audience if it takes place in the US (is that just an assumption??? maybe?? someone let me know!), but also: don’t really care too much about an audience at the moment! It could also take place in Canada (So Ontario and British Columbia). But if it does take place in the US, I think it may take place in NYC and San Francisco. The problem is: I really don’t like researching lol, and while I’ve been to NYC many times, I will definitely write it wrong! Does this really matter on a first draft?? absolutely not lol, but of course I am already overthinking!

But back to structure: I am looking forward to seeing what this looser structure will do. This is a story that is solely around one half of a set of twins learning to be her own person (and ultimately that she doesn’t have to completely forget her sister in order to do that), and as a twin who KNOWS this feeling, I think this structure of her doing things for the first time is SUPER relatable.

I was worried it might sound silly/worrying to others who are not twins that Cora hadn’t done things like “lunch” or “groceries” on her own, but I feel this so much as an identical twin myself! Not that she hasn’t done anything at all by herself, but as a twin, when you do something without your twin for the first few times, at least in my experience, you notice. If any twins are reading this--weigh in!

This story is the most personal thing I’ve ever written. It definitely is an OwnVoices book! Usually, I avoid details that are remotely similar to me because they make me uncomfortable haha, but with this book, it’s all me, lol! The characters are all Guyanese, which is SO fun because I’ve been planning what they eat (my fellow Caribbean peeps know: the FOOD!), which is so fun (yes they have pumpkin and shrimp, yes they have roti, yes they have pera, yes they have mithai). Every time I’ve gone to dabble at this book, or even think about it, I get incredibly emotional for this reason? I don’t exactly know why. I think this is a story I just so want to tell, with the culture I love SO much that I definitely struggled to love as a child. This is reclamation bitchessss!

Not going to lie tho: the prospect of writing ~a book~ is kind of freaky! I’m going to make the minimum word count for this book pretty short (50k) and see where it goes from there. I think I will focus on this project this summer! Originally I was going to write a literary novel this summer, but I think this one’s calling my name!

Here’s a pretty rough excerpt:

Try. I remind myself that’s what I’m doing after the flight attendant fills me a disposable cup of Coca Cola and all I can think of is Mandy and I shoving Mentos into a bottle of the stuff when we were twelve. Just me, wedged in the middle seat between an exchange student heading out for summer break and a middle-aged woman sipping a cocktail, thinking of Mandy and I bursting whole oranges in a blender when we were bored one Winter break as the plane dips through a wave of turbulence. Mandy and I dying our hair neon green with highlighters (didn’t work—our hair is too dark) as the plane lands on the tarmac. Mandy and I arguing so loud last month, we both lost our voices as I lug my carry-on out of the overhead compartment and shuffle off the plane and through the airport, searching for Aunt Vel.

Short Fiction

I’ve written so much short fiction this year! I have a goal to write a short story a month (they can range in length, as long as 1 is “complete”), so my short story brain has seriously been soaking it all up lately. Let’s chat my month to month breakdown so far:

January:

I wrote four stories in January! The first is a flash fiction piece called “Shark Swimming” that follows a young woman who attends a shark swimming class after breaking up with her girlfriend. I wrote this story for a “test” workshop for my fiction class, and it was based off the prompt “think about something you’re afraid to do and make the character do that thing”. I’m not particularly afraid of sharks, but had been wanting to use the title “Shark Swimming” for AGES (literally since 2018).

This story is one of my favourites. It’s only about 900 words, but I think there’s something profound in how mundanely specific it is. The entire story doesn’t even see the narrator swim with sharks once; it actually takes place fully in the sanctuary’s lobby. But I really love this narrator. This is the first story I’ve written in second person in a while, though I felt really connected to the unnamed narrator. She struggles with accepting that she truly is a “boring” person, and there’s something about the final image that really gets me!

I’ve been submitting this around, though it’s been rejected a handful of times. Hoping I can secure it at a magazine one day because I really love it!

The second story is “Joanne, I’ll Pray for You” which is actually a rewrite of one of my very first short stories (the first story I did not write for a class haha), “NYC in Your Apartment”. I LOVE this rewrite a lot, and also learned the original is not a very good short story! Revising this story taught me just how much I’ve learned in the 2 years I’ve been writing short fiction. Seeing the 2019 version versus the 2021 version side by side is fascinating because I essentially “gutted’ the 2019 version of its beginning and end until all that was left was the middle of the story (aka the actual story). AKA: this is the only story I’ve ever written with a hopeful ending and I cut out all the happy bits lol I am SO sorry (that arc is more for a novel or novella). That’s how this went from a 5k word story to an 1800 word story (my Submittable thanks me for this lol). A lot of details and scenes I included were more pertinent to a 3 act structure/novel, which of course short stories don’t often have because of their brevity. I love rambling about writing theory, and seeing that actually pay off is so fascinating!

(TW: trauma)

Like the original, this story follows Joanne, a woman in her early twenties, who spontaneously breaks up with her boyfriend. She claims the poltergeist haunting her drove her to this decision. The original draft focused a lot more on the traumatic events Joanne survives, but this draft really loosens them up. It focuses less so on the events themselves, and more on how Joanne’s life is affected. I found the details of these events were less important, and even sort of contradicted Joanne’s insistence she is being haunted. Instead, the poltergeist really takes more precedence in the new draft as a force Joanne doesn’t understand. That ambiguity, I think, is what the story truly needed.

I also centralized Joanne’s relationship with her boyfriend, Julian, here. Now don’t get me wrong, I really didn’t add anything to this draft. It was a matter of trimming the fat around it to leave the lean “meat” in the centre. But by removing that fat, I was able to emphasize what was most important here, and that was her relationship. Julian always played a really big role in the original draft, but I feel like his role as both a friend and partner to Joanne is much more emphasized since this draft literally is only two scenes now. Because there is less, there is more room for Joanne to reflect, which I’m happy about!

A final change I made was the setting and therefore the title. The original, which was “NYC in Your Apartment,” I couldn’t keep because I shifted the setting to Toronto (this is how I originally saw it, but in 2019 I just?? couldn’t?? write?? canlit??), and “Toronto in Your Apartment” sounded sort of gross LOL. The new title comes from a line in the story which I think is more relevant to the themes!

The next short story I wrote in January was “How to Spell Alpaca.” This one is super fun because I wrote it SO fast (in about 15 minutes or so). THIS is the writing update if you’re interested in learning more. I talked extensively about this one in that update, but some developments are that I dove into an edit a few weeks ago to really understand the core of the story. I’m still not quite there (this is just an intuitive feeling; I know not everything has “clicked), but I am really intrigued by the two mothers in the story, the narrator, and her newfound acquaintance, Violet. Both really struggle to understand their place as mothers (the narrator even declares she isn’t a mother anymore). The narrator, who is in her 50s, sees herself in Violet, who is much younger (~20s), and so she views Violet’s relationship with her daughter in a cautionary, yet mournful way, like she can see it will end up like her own relationship with her daughter, despite wanting the opposite. This is a really subtle story. I feel like if you blink, you’ll miss the message. But I think it’s compelling for that reason. It’s really a portrait of parenting and how to grapple with mistakes you may make that inevitably affect your children. Wow just unlocked the theme writing this lol.

The final story I wrote in January is “The Party,” which may be in my top 3 faves I’ve ever written. This story follows Aida, a recent divorcee in her ~40s. The day her divorce turns official, she moves into a new house and receives a party invitation addressed to the previous homeowner, yet RSVP’s anyway. At this party, she’s hoping to find some sense of noticeability, having struggled with being nondescript her whole life. Things seem quite normal at the party, until it gets bizarre.

I LOVE this story, y’all. Like “How to Spell Alpaca” it really delves into motherhood. Aida, our narrator, is incredibly hurt after her divorce. She now lives farther from her children she struggled to feel connected to in the first place, and doesn’t really know how to reignite her life. This party is a means to do that. This is the first story I’ve written that contains a “twist” which is strange because I really prefer stories that give us as much info as possible upfront, but yes, this one sort of twists.

February

I wrote one story in February, and that was “Protect the Young.” This title is SO changing when I think of a new one because it’s thematically incorrect, haha, but this story follows a woman in her late 40s whose daughter, Lindy, announces she is married the same day all their backyard chickens turn up dead. The discovery of dead chickens prompts our narrator to recall her ex-husband’s murder and the role her daughter may have played in his death.

I love this story so much! I think this would make a great closing for my short story collection. It just has that vibe! I wrote this for my second fiction workshop. I thought I had to hand in the story a week earlier than I had to, so I panicked and wrote this in one sitting! Little did I know, I did not need to do that lol but I’m very happy because this story is so fun. We get to learn more about Arnold (her ex), his relationship with Lindy, and how that translates to Lindy’s relationship with her new husband, Malcolm. I LOVE true crime (I listen to about 3-4 hours of case coverage daily), and this is my first “true crime” story. Because of that, I’m very sus of a few details that probably wouldn’t slide in actual investigatory work, so I’ll also be working on that in a revision. My professor also gave me a great suggestion that may alter the story’s structure a bit, though I look forward to toggling with it in the future.

March

In March, I was really on a Criminal Minds kick lol. I’ve been watching this show since I was seven (oops), and dove into a rewatch since it hit Disney+! This story, “Where to Run When the Lamb Roars,” is very clearly Rachel watching 5 episodes of CM a day. Oops! We follow 14-year-old Astrid as she and her older half brother kidnap a young girl to sacrifice for their yearly ritual.

I knew a few things going into this story, but the main thing was that I did NOT want to show any details of a potential murder (if one even occurs). I really wanted to keep all of those elements off the page because this story is not about those events, but about Astrid’s relationship with her brother. They are a murderous duo, with Astrid actually being the dominant partner. I wanted to explore that. I knew her brother, Fox, was more of a submissive partner in their team, even when he used to do this same thing with his father when he was much younger (chilling!), and so it was a task to explore how this young girl’s desire for violence works. The end actually comes right before the story starts, one could say, but I like it for this reason. It really made me contemplate the story by the time I finished it, and helped me examine what it really was about versus what it appeared to be about.

April

(TW: sexual content, non explicit)

I was so busy this month! Who knows if I’ll write a story last minute, but I did write one story this month called “Five Times Fast.” I wrote this during a “writing sprint” that was being hosted at a flash fiction workshop I recently took with one of my favourite writers ever, K-Ming Chang. I learned so much from this class, and am so happy I came out of it with a draft! This story is just over 300 words, so the shortest flash I’ve ever written, but I’m really happy with it. It was based off the prompt “describe the last time you or your character was naked.” In this case, the narrator has a “friends with benefits” relationship with Ricky who works at a laundromat. This story highlights a moment in this relationship (and also Ricky’s goofy personality lol). I really like it! Hopefully I’ll submit it to some magazines soon.

My short story collection

Very briefly I wanted to touch on my short story collection which I’ve titled “She is Also Dead.” I’ve been meaning to make a blog post on this, so look out for that in the coming months, but this collection is already at around 35k words (about 14 stories so far). The collection also surprisingly has a solid amount of flash fiction which is kind of fun! There’s definitely a range here, which is what I personally love in short story collections.

I feel very professional now that I have a ~collection chart. This is her:

(image description: A chart with the title “She is Also Dead.” It is broken into four columns: Story, Status, Word Count, and Published. Entry 1 - Story: Slaughter the Animal. Status: Revisions, Word Count, 3982, Published: N/A. Entry 2 - Story: Joanne, I’ll Pray for You, Status: Polished, Word Count: 1809, Published: N/A. Entry 3 - Story: Primary Organs, Status: Published, Word Count: 2342, Published: The Malahat Review. Entry 4 - Story: Faberge, Status, Polished, Word Count: 619, Published: N/A. Entry 5 - Story: The Wolf-Antelope Will Not Come for Us, Status, Polished, Word Count: 1556, Published: filling Station (forthcoming). Entry 6 - Story: How to Spell Alpaca, Status: revisions, Word Count: 1327, Published: N/A. Entry 7 - Story: Blink Twice for Final Judgement, Status: Polished, Word Count: 6572, Published: N/A. Entry 8 - Story: The Species is Dead, Status: Published, Word Count: 1208, Published: Minola Review. Entry 9 - Story: Shark Swimming, Status: Polished, Word Count: 907, Published: N/A. Entry 10 - Story: The Party, Status, Polished, Word Count 2339, Published: N/A. Entry 11 - Story: Fig, Status: Polished, Word Counter: 947, Published: N/A. Entry 12 - Story: Protect the Young, Status: Revisions, Word Count: 4128, Published: N/A. Entry 13 - Story: Where to Run When the Lamb Roars, Status: Revisions, Word Count: 2174, Published: N/A. Entry 14 - Story: Phantom Limbs, Status: Revisions, Word Count: 4844, Published: N/A.) /end image description.

This order is DEFINITELY not permanent (at this point whenever I write a story, I just fit it randomly into this chart lol), and some of the info is outdated (for example, Slaughter the Animal is now polished!!! thank god!!!). But just an idea of what I’m thinking of including.

This is the summary so far:

In SHE IS ALSO DEAD, characters are pushed to act on their gravest impulses. A small town turns murderous when their local invasive species, the Janices, begin dying. A child struggles to understand her mother’s suicide. A college dropout who insists she’s being haunted by a poltergeist unexpectedly breaks up with her boyfriend. A mother acknowledges her daughter’s murderous tendencies after her backyard chickens mysteriously die. A young girl caters the funeral of a girl rumored to be killed by a wolf-antelope. A newly-divorced mother RSVP’s to a bizarre party she was not invited to, and a murderous brother and sister upkeep their yearly tradition of abducting a young girl. These stories follow characters who navigate death, violent desires, womanhood, and loss, both self-imposed and otherwise.

This is also so subject to change as I may pull and add stories to the collection!

I think I’m going to leave this update here for now! I’ve written TONS of poetry too, but I honestly ~hate my poetry right now lol, so! Hope you enjoyed this chill rambly update. Hope writing has going well for you all! All the best!

--Rachel

#writing #writeblr #writerblr #amwriting #writingupdates

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littlethingwithfeathers · 5 years

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Writing Update 7-29-19

Publishing now!

The Girl in the Garden (Complete!): a post-Endgame fix-it fic for my series “Friendship is Unnecessary.”

It’s finished! It’s finished! You can all come out now! The angst is over! It’s safe to read it! <3

Seriously… thank you to all of you who read, commented, and cheerleaded me on this one. I’ll be honest… I second-guessed myself a lot as I was writing it just because I was curious if my “fix” would be satisfying. But seeing everyone’s reactions just gave me such a confidence boost. So thank you!

Even though this is the final fic of the story, there is definitely more to come for this series. Keep your eyes peeled August 5!

Excerpt:

Natasha sees it before the end. Whether it was the magic of the temple allowing her a glimpse of her good work, or just the last wishful gasp of a dreaming and dying mind, she can't say. But she sees a rolling wave of brilliant white light rushing up to the temple's height, and then there's Clint on his back in a pool of water. He's some distance, she knows, from where she now lies in a broken heap. His eyes are closed, but he is breathing. And there is a muted, brassy glow in his left hand.

And she feels a fleeting flicker of pride. It's a single stroke of black across lines and lines of bloody red. This part of the plan, at least, had worked. She had bought them a chance to set the universe right.

Whatever it takes.

She had been what it took. Her life for theirs. For his. And it had worked.

But her last thought, before the slipping blackness swallows her whole, is Steve.

Let him be okay…

Please…

***

Other “Friendship is Unnecessary” fics at various stages:

Stolen Season: Steve/Natasha vignettes during Endgame’s five year jump. I thought I would do a set of scenes, some sexy some not, of how we get from Steve and Natasha working together at the end of IW, to them halfway living apart at the end of the five year jump. It also covers some of the hunt for Ronin!Clint, Steve taking up the mantle of group therapist, and Natasha stepping up as a sort of hybrid of Cap and Nick Fury. Definitely a trip to angsty-town, but I promise to fix it in the end. The rough draft is FINISHED and the first pass of edits is nearly finished. The word count currently sits at 28k. I plan to start publishing next week!

But Most of All Because They Offend Thee: Based off this post. Probably just short, upbeat, porny little one-shot of Nat being a shit and teasing Steve. Because honestly… this series needs some levity.

One of Those Things (Prologue): Since I’ve written this beast of a series completely out of order, and thus all my author notes are no doubt VERY confusing, I thought I’d put a short prologue on the front. Just a couple of short scenes to plant some seeds and give an actual starting place to this whole sprawling, intertwining mess, but also to give me a chance to address new readers so my forewords on the rest of the fics don’t seem weird. I’ve got a little more than a thousand words written on it which is probably about a third to half way.

Untitled Pre-War Steve/Bucky and Pre-Avengers Phil/Clint/Natasha: Partially a request from @crazyevildru that I’m toying with. Probably a flashback or a memory. This series really does need more Steve/Bucky, and I feel bad about it. I’m thinking of also adding a prequel/flashback of Clint/Phil/Natasha as well… maybe have the whole thing be a discussion over dinner.

Sweet and Honorable (Title pending): Set post Civil War. Bucky insists on coming with Sam and Natasha to rescue Steve when he gets captured. This is starting to take shape in my head as a sort of work through for some of the issues that get raised in “Echo in my Soul.” Given what we know about the new Black Widow movie, I may hold off on this one for a bit. At least until I can figure out how I’m going to squirm around or ignore the added canon. (can’t wait for that movie BTW)

***

Other works coming soon!

Intercalation: A Ulana/Boris/Valery fix-it fic for HBO’s Chernobyl. 50k words and counting. STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT. This will be the next big thing coming after “Stolen Season.” And it’s looking to be very big. Ten full chapters and an epilogue. 60k words is a rough estimate? I have about a chapter and a half left to write, and some scenes to finish that I left undone while I worked out the plot. It’s been challenging. Lots of moving parts. It’s a continuation picking up just after the trial and that arc is studded with flashbacks. There’s a lot of character work... and a lot of honest to goodness physics lectures which I’ve been getting help from an actual physicist, @cactusowl, to write. No solid ETA yet, but I’m hoping to be finished by the first couple of weeks of August and publishing before September.

Hymn of Acxiom: Scarlet/Vision. I’m really just toying with an idea so don’t get too excited. It would be post Endgame, with Wanda helping a newly reconstructed Vision who has no memories and no personality without the Mind Stone to network all the pieces and facets of his personality. Again… I make no promises… but I have an idea.

A Maelstrom Whirls Below: I’m toying with the possibility of a sequel to my Darcy/Eddie/Venom fic “A Room for Rent in the Fourth Estate.” A rough outline is in place, and I’m starting to sketch around on a few scenes. But right now it’s just some ideas and a few zippy one-liners. It’s starting to get some traction though! Likely won’t start work in earnest until all this Endgame fix-it stuff is done, but I’m definitely letting it percolate.

Hang By Every Word: The outline for my Stucky fic is still coming along but it will be awhile yet before I start writing on it in earnest. The basic theme (and I’m sure this has been done, but fuck it) is the undoing of Bucky’s conditioning one trigger word at a time. And each trigger word locked down a memory that HYDRA deemed integral to Bucky’s personality. And of course… they all involve Steve. So I have to write things from Steve’s point of view, and all ten memories have to be written from Bucky’s point of view, and they have to tie together into a cohesive narrative. The memories are out of order, but Steve’s timeline isn’t and… It’s a challenge. I’m still largely in the brainstorming phase… writing little snippets here and there. Nothing’s solidly taking form just yet. Again… just letting it percolate.

Untitled Sarge/Melinda May fic: I know. I KNOW! Don’t give me that look. You’re watching the same show I am and you’re seeing what I’m seeing. This shit writes itself. I’ve been sketching on a few things, but I’ll probably wait until this season wraps up before I start planning in earnest. There will likely be some canon divergence, but I want to know if I’ve got to just wiggle the canon around a little or just do a full table-flip.

#writing #writing update

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theartscenter-blog · 4 years

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Art in a Pandemic: Lauren DeSerres

The ArtsCenter’s new interview series “Art in a Pandemic” explores the ways that artists in our community are using the arts to stay engaged and connected in a time of crisis. Interview by Jenks Miller.

Lauren deSerres creates narrative imagery inspired by her home state of North Carolina. She uses bright, saturated color and patterns made with acrylic paint, watercolor, pastel, collage, and ink to capture vignettes from visual stories inspired by fables and folktales. Much of her imagery is devoted to themes such as conservation and community. Lauren enjoys making people smile with her work, but also wants to show the importance of appreciating and conserving our natural world.

What does your art practice look like in normal conditions? How has Coronavirus impacted this practice?

I usually spend each day in my studio working on my mixed media paintings. I teach private lessons, work with The ArtsCenter teaching youth classes and I travel for art fairs and exhibitions during most of the year. This year I would have traveled to about 12 shows nationwide selling and demonstrating my art. Because of COVID-19, almost all of my shows are canceled or will be canceled this year. Nevertheless, I’m still working in my studio almost every day, I’ve been selling my work online and I’ve been creating more work for an upcoming solo exhibition in October at the Halle Art Center in Apex. See my work on my website: www.LaurendeSerres.com/gallery

I’ve also moved my teaching practice online. I’m teaching private lessons, lessons through The ArtsCenter, and lessons on other online platforms. You can see my upcoming classes on my website: https://www.laurendeserres.com/upcoming-classes

Please describe the class you’re offering through The ArtsCenter’s online program. Did the crisis inspire any aspects of your lesson plan? What can students expect to learn in your class?

One of the things I liked to do best when I was a kid was to sketch in my sketchbook. I think kids are in need of some enrichment during this time at home, and so I’ve created an introductory sketching course. My class is called “Drawing Techniques” (Grade 3-6), and it runs May 4-26 from 3-3:45 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. In this 4-week class, students will build basic drawing skills by exploring various artists, drawing tools, and techniques. We will address art techniques such as line, shape, pattern, space, proportion, mark-making, and perspective. I will demonstrate these techniques in each session and students will be able to create their own works of art using the skills they learn. In this class, students are encouraged to give each other and themselves feedback on their work in order to grow and improve.

In week 1, we’ll be working on making interesting lines and using them to create contour drawings inspired by Pablo Picasso. In week 2, we will work with value and using contour lines to create depth and value to give our drawings dimension looking at the work of Albrecht Durer. In week 3, we’ll work on drawing in one-point perspective through the art of Vincent Van Gogh and Filippo Brunelleschi. Lastly, in week 4, students will work with human and facial proportions, examining the art of Frida Kahlo and Leonardo Da Vinci.

What media have you engaged with in this era of social distancing?

I have used Zoom and Skype to teach my private classes online. I’ve also created “studio visit” videos on Facebook and Instagram. I’m developing new classes on Outschool and at The ArtsCenter and they booth use Zoom as a teaching tool. Both of these classes are live and interactive, and I’m looking forward to starting them in late April and May. My online classes are reaching a much wider audience than before, so I will continue to teach online in addition to in-person classes in the future.

Are there any pieces of artwork or music, film, books, and/or TV that are helping you cope with this crisis?

I’m doing a daily yoga session with my friend Hannah Levin from Heartfelt Wellbeing on Facebook live. She reads excerpts from poems each day and those really get me through a lot of morning dread about the future.

One of the poems that spoke to me most was by Mary Oliver. For me, it was about waiting and renewal:

Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver

I thought the earth remembered me,

She took me back so tenderly

Arranging her skirts

Her pockets full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before

A stone on the riverbed,

Nothing between me and the white fire of the stars,

But my thoughts.

And they floated light as moths

Among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms

Breathing around me.

The insects and the birds

Who do their work in darkness.

All night I rose and fell,

As if water, grappling with luminous doom.

By morning I had vanished at least a dozen times

Into something better.

I also read a lot of fiction, and I’ve just finished Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Excellent and imaginative story about female protagonists. I’m also reading Herbal Rituals by Judith Berger. It’s a deep dive in nature and herbal remedies.

Are there any lessons we can learn from this crisis?

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on human life, and a striking impact on our environment. It’s brought to light the things we’ve taken for granted like being with loved ones, going to work each day, traveling, or simply leaving home. Although it’s brought many losses to light, I think that nature is doing what it can to get our attention. It’s asking us to reflect on how we can tread more lightly on the planet, and in most cases, it’s forcing us to do so. Though much pain and suffering has and will take place, the planet is quickly healing itself as the hustle and bustle of daily life comes to a grinding halt.

COVID-19 has also brought to light the disparity between socioeconomic classes and the inequality that still plagues our social, political, and economic systems. It has highlighted the importance of our workers, from janitors to grocery store employees, to healthcare workers. This virus is telling us that we are all in this together–not just America, not just one country or the other, but the whole world. Our actions really do affect everyone. The actions of a few people have an enormous impact on the whole. This virus is asking us to be selfless, to be patient, and to wake up and look around and most importantly, to listen. It’s telling us that what we do and what we say matters, not just personally or locally, but globally.

Lauren is based at Proud Chicken Studio, located in Pittsboro, North Carolina. She holds an MFA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and a BFA from East Carolina University with a focus in sculpture. Lauren has been painting since she was 15 and has been an art educator for over 10 years, working with children in public schools, school enrichment programs, community arts centers, and other art venues. She enjoys working with children and seeks to recreate the perspective that young people bring to everyday situations.

Lauren teaches the new online youth class Drawing Techniques, which starts Monday, May 4th. View it and the rest of our first round of youth classes at artscenter.live/YouthClasses.

Art instructors who are interested in exploring the possibility of offering online instruction through The ArtsCenter should contact Jenks Miller, ArtSchool Manager, at [email protected] for Adult classes or Allison Tierney, Youth Programs Manager at [email protected].

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orionredstarr · 7 years

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SPARRABETH CHRONICLES #32

We are a club of die-hard Sparrabeth fan fiction readers and authors who simply love this fandom. Every other week we will continue to present our selection of vintage, Sparrabeth fanfiction. We each have our own style, taste, and various interpretations—but one thread we all have in common is that we love Jack Sparrow and Elizabeth Swann as a dynamic team! So far, we have made it through THIRTY-TWO weeks and going strong! So, we hope you are enjoying the tales we select, and having a great time discovering a new story every other week….as much as we love bringing them to you! Feel free to let us know how we are doing, of if you have any suggestions! Also, if you would like to join us, please drop anyone of us a line here at Tumblr! @apirateslifeforme123, @princesspenelopenerfherder, @colorblindly, or me @orionredstarr. The ONLY prerequisite is that you love Sparrabeth―that is it!

THIS WEEK OF February 1, 2017 We would like to present to you:

TITLE: 14 short fics/vignettes - starting with: Desiderata – What’s Past Is Prologue

AUTHOR: Djarum99 (on LJ) or here at Tumbler @thesandreckoner

PAIRING: Jack Sparrow/Elizabeth Swann

GENRE: M-F

Author’s RATING: N-17 (each segment rated)

LOCATION: LIVE JOURNAL (navigating chapters click on WHAT COMES AFTER for next page)

LINK: http://djarum99.livejournal.com/3803.html#cutid1/

Chapters: 14 vignettes/fics interrelated/standalone Author’s DISCLAIMER: owned by the mouse in the concrete jungle, but they live in our hearts

A/N: Post-AWE erotica, set after the events of Fiat Lux (posted at my journal) but reads as a stand-alone, Jack’s POV. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CRITIQUE on "Desiderata – What’s Past is Prologue": WHY I selected this piece:

I have read just about everything Djarum99 / @thesandreckoner has ever written on Sparrabeth! Naturally, I admit to being prejudiced because I admire her skill and love her stories! I am positive that her chronicles will be exciting and contagious for you too! There is a raw genius to her craft; translated through spot-on characterizations, exclusive literary style and structure, and her intriguing plots. I love the sensuality too, the chemistry and spice which Jack and Elizabeth’s portrayals are so tangible, they become very real people in every sense.

I admire Djarum99’s pacing as well. Even the pictographic palate of each story is amazing. For instance, this series or block of ‘fics’ can be read as standalone literary pieces—or strung together as chapters within one longer fiction. I loved that concept instantly! Not only because it was unique and imaginative, but each vignette, chapter or story, has its own ‘flavor’ or ‘hue’. They are all immensely lyrical, and quite often the ornamentation of written passages morph into beautiful poetry! I am not sure if that was done intentionally, or if that was one of muse’s mysterious gifts which came naturally to Djarum99/ @thesandreckoner for being a truly talented artist! I must ask her! These scenes are painted so lavishly that you can vividly ‘see’ them. Superb dexterity in writing skill and magical story telling…delightful fun

Here in this instance, no matter your perception of length with these “stories” or “vignettes”—some people may view these as individual short stories, or one long Fanfiction. It makes no difference what your preference is, because each chapter is condensed; chock-full of different nuances so they will read quickly. As you become drawn in and vested, a bizarre quirk takes place….you are compelled to devour them all to the point of wanting more! So, no matter your choice—read a few or read all, they are ingeniously fashioned so that you come out a winner either way!

Whichever way you tackle these chapters/vignettes, I grant you this; all are teaming with sentiment, emotion, and all the Sparrabeth ‘feels’ we love and crave! These are shrewd anecdotes woven together for boundless entertainment and presented with panache! And as always, Djarum99/ @thesandreckoner is an author who has a flair for sensual script that is just outright enchanting, provocative and robust! Each segment is rated for content, and not recommended for the faint hearted or very young. Please keep that fact in mind before proceeding! 

A short tease or EXCERPT FROM Desiderata – What’s Past Is Prologue

He watches her in sleep, a guilty pastime made an irony in light of what they do together in waking hours. Midnight gives her silver, touching the curves of her face and the joy of her body with moth’s wings. Dawn gives her gold, outlining his love with the spare delicacy of a monk’s illuminating hand. He breathes her in, the scent she has brought to his bed, wanting to draw her spirit into his lungs, hold it for a moment, release his own to her.

Jack Sparrow has a mandate, an obligation, the word a foreign taste on his tongue and a sound like giddy angel’s song in his ears. He wants this woman to experience life as he knows it, draw her into its swirling sea of sensation and discovery. Wants her to defy reality as convention paints it, see beyond the surface, walk with him into new worlds. Wants to know what she sees there, what new doors she can reveal to him. He wants to be her guide, follow where she leads, know who he will be, with her.

He remembers the first time she put her hands on him. No longer a sheltered girl’s porcelain, but a woman’s strong brown instruments, playing over his skin and making something new of the runes life has drawn there. Remembers the first taste of her on his fingers, sea salt and sweet sunlight, remembers his mouth at her breast seeking redemption. The strength of her surrounding him, magic heat and the promise of creating a mystery that was the sum of them both, and more than that. She had laughed, holding him in those hands, circling him, stroking, teasing him with her own anticipation and delight. Elizabeth, his Lizzie, pirate empress, his equal and novitiate. The weeks since she had spoken her choice, come to his bed, had been a revelation of both her naiveté and her boldness. Somewhere in between lay trust of him, of what they were together, a treasure he’d never thought to hold. He was not yet certain he deserved it.

To be continued………

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I have listed them all separately below in sequence, just in case the Live Journal website format is too daunting to navigate. It can be a challenge due to its diary-type layout.

14 Short fics, set in the post-AWE AU universe of Fiat Lux and A Priori

LINKS to ENTIRE LISTING OF individual FICs / Chapters (hope all ‘took’)

Desiderata

Chiaroscuro

Practical Magic

Elegy

Vexed

Bordello

Vector

Archangel

Coda

Rain

Dance

Madeira

The Sand Reckoner

Memento Mori

So, there you have them—above are links to all 14 fics in the series! I do hope you will enjoy them as much as I have.

ORS

And do not forget @bybyeblackbird incomparable SPARRABETH FANFICTION ARCHIVE, a website created to organize all your Sparrabeth Fanfic needs in one place!

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mrmichaelchadler · 6 years

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Home Entertainment Consumer Guide: October 4, 2018

10 NEW TO NETFLIX

"Billy Madison" "Blade II" "Blazing Saddles" "Chappaquiddick" "The Devil's Advocate" "The Green Mile" "Monty Python's Life of Brian" "Mountain" "Mystic River" "The Shining"

7 NEW TO BLU-RAY/DVD

"Andrei Rublev" (Criterion)

It's funny how classic directors can ebb and flow into the national conversation. I feel like I've heard Andrei Tarkovsky's name more in 2018 than in many recent years. Some years everyone thinks everything is "Hitchockian" or "Kubrickian." Perhaps Film Twitter is expanding its auteur vocabulary because I've seen several recent films, including "Annihilation" and "High Life," compared to Tarkovsky's work. Did Criterion somehow know this was going to happen, thereby timing their HD upgrade of his epic "Andrei Rublev" for late September? Probably not, but you never know. As for the release, it's a beauty, including both versions of the film, a few documentaries, and new interviews. Some of the Criterion upgrades are merely that (imports of special features with an HD transfer) but this is more like a brand new release. After all, Andrei Tarkovsky has never been hotter.

Buy it here

Special Features New high-definition digital restoration of the director’s preferred 183-minute cut, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray The Passion According to Andrei, the original 205-minute version of the film Steamroller and Violin, Tarkovsky’s 1961 student thesis film The Three Andreis, a 1966 documentary about the writing of the film’s script On the Set of “Andrei Rublev,” a 1966 documentary about the making of the film New interviews with actor Nikolai Burlyaev and cinematographer Vadim Yusov by filmmakers Seán Martin and Louise Milne New interview with film scholar Robert Bird Selected-scene commentary from 1998 featuring film scholar Vlada Petric New video essay by filmmaker Daniel Raim New English subtitle translation PLUS: An essay by critic J. Hoberman

"Leave No Trace"

Debra Granik's first film since "Winter's Bone" remains one of my favorites of 2018 and loses none of its remarkable power on second viewing at home. It's just as phenomenal as I remember when I saw it at Sundance. This is a gentle, truthful tale about a father and daughter growing apart, a division deepened by his severe PTSD. Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie gives one of the most genuine performances of the year, and Ben Foster nearly matches, finding a more subtle register than the one for which he's most well-known. This is a beautiful movie, one that I hope everyone gets a chance to see.

Buy it here

Special Features Creating Leave No Trace - Featurette Deleted Scenes Behind the Scenes Vignettes Location Scout Photo Gallery

"The Naked Prey" (Criterion)

Academy Award nominee Cornel Wilde stars in this adventure film, which he also directed and produced, reportedly based on the life of John Colter, an explorer chased by Blackfoot warriors in Wyoming. The script for "Naked Prey" was Oscar-nominated but if you're thinking this is a relatively obscure choice for Criterion, especially when compared to the other two films in this column, you're not wrong. The company often includes at least one film a month that you probably haven't heard of or at least haven't seen in a very long time, to go with it's more widely-acknowledged collection of classics. Such is the case with "Naked Prey," a film that reportedly earned mixed reviews on its release but is now considered influential both in its focus and brutality. Roger himself was not a fan. Buy it here

Special Features Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Audio commentary from 2007 by film scholar Stephen Prince “John Colter’s Escape,” a 1913 record of the trapper’s flight from Blackfoot Indians—which was the inspiration for The Naked Prey—read by actor Paul Giamatti Original soundtrack cues created by director Cornel Wilde and ethnomusicologist Andrew Tracey, along with a written statement by Tracey Trailer PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson and a 1970 interview with Wilde

"A Raisin in the Sun" (Criterion)

When Lorraine Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun in the '50s, do you think she had any idea it would become a staple of American theater, and regularly adapted for film and television? The play has really stood the test of time, and it's still produced in near-constant rotation around the country, but Criterion has gone with the original, and still-best, film production of it, starring Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, and Louis Gossett Jr. Regular readers of this column know that I'm always curious about the timing of Criterion releases. So why "Raisin" now? Well, it's clear that the themes of the play still resonate today, and perhaps the company is responding to criticism that their collection is largely full of white filmmakers telling white stories. Whatever the reason, "A Raisin in the Sun" remains essential to the story of American theatre in the '50s and '60s and this is a great way to bring this seminal work to a wider audience.

Buy it here

Special Features New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray Interview from 1961 with playwright/screenwriter Lorraine Hansberry New interview with Imani Perry, author of Looking for Lorraine Episode of Theater Talk from 2002 featuring producer Philip Rose and actors Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis Excerpt from Black Theatre: The Making of a Movement (1978), with a new introduction by director Woodie King Jr. New interview with film scholar Mia Mask, coeditor of Poitier Revisited Interview from 2002 with director Daniel Petrie Trailer PLUS: An essay by scholar Sarita Cannon and author James Baldwin’s 1969 tribute to Hansberry, “Sweet Lorraine”

"Solo: A Star Wars Story"

If you ask a certain sector of the movie-going public, they'll tell you that "Solo: A Star Wars Story" was a massive bomb. They'll claim that negative feelings about "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" caused a backlash against "Solo" and the box office reflected that, leading to the lowest-grossing "Star Wars" film of the modern era (and that includes the prequels). The truth is that "Solo" likely wasn't as impacted by "TLJ" as it was over-saturation. There was a time when a "Star Wars" movie was an event, which is inherently more difficult when one is practically still playing in theaters as a new one comes out. There's also the fact that, sorry, "Solo" isn't very good. One can see the struggle behind the scenes that led to Ron Howard being brought in to helm the pic, and the result is a film that's only sporadically entertaining (and horribly under-lit). The Blu-ray is solid, as they often are for "Star Wars" films, but I think the lesson to take from "Solo" is that any universe loses its luster if we visit it too often and the best thing this franchise could do after "Episode IX" would be to go away for a little while. Absence makes the Wookie heart grow fonder.

Buy it here

Special Features Solo: The Director & Cast Roundtable Team Chewie Kasdan on Kasdan Remaking the Millennium Falcon Escape from Corellia The Train Heist Becoming a Droid: L3-37 Scoundrels, Droids, Creatures and Cards: Welcome to Fort Ypso Into the Maelstrom: The Kessel Run Deleted Scenes The Millenium Falcon: From Page to Park

"Three Identical Strangers"

2018 has been an amazing year for documentaries. Films like "RBG," "Won't You Be My Neighbor?," and now "Free Solo" have become surprising arthouse hits, finding devoted fans. I'm hoping that the trend brings people to one of the best docs of the year, a hit at Sundance and the Chicago Critics Film Festival earlier this year, "Three Identical Strangers." This is one of those WTF documentaries that keeps unfolding new secrets and revelations as it progresses. Without spoiling anything, the craziest part of this story is not what you think it is. It's not merely that three identical triplets found each other after years apart. There's more to this tale than any writer could possibly devise. Check it out and see for yourself.

Buy it here

Special Features Audio Commentary with Director Tim Wardle and Editor Michael Harte Q&A with David Kellman, Robert Shafran, Brenda Galland, Ellen Cervone, and Director Tom Wardle Photo Gallery Trailer

"X-Men Trilogy"

The MCU may be thriving but the "X-Men" franchise is in a weird phase. The "Dark Phoenix" trailer dropped last week only for the movie's release date to then be pushed back. People just don't seem as excited about "X-Men" as they used to be, but that shouldn't stop superhero fans from going back to the beginning, Bryan Singer's wildly influential first film about Wolverine, Storm, Magneto, and company. Christopher Nolan gets a lot of credit for influencing where the market is now, but Sam Raimi and Bryan Singer deserve just as much, if not more, for creating the templates for the modern superhero movie. The first two films in this trilogy are phenomenal, and they hold up beautifully in these new 4K editions. The third film? It was horrible then and it's horrible now, another film that can be used as a template for what NOT to do in the superhero genre.

Buy it here

Special Features Audio Commentaries Behind-the-Scenes Footage Deleted/Extended Scenes The Mutant Watch Animatics Character and Production Design Stills

from All Content https://ift.tt/2IEsQSy

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2700fstreet · 8 years

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THEATER / 2017-2018

Wilderness

by Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger Directed by Seth Bockley Presented by En Garde Arts

*(Please note this show contains mature themes and language that may not be appropriate for audiences younger than 13.)

So, What’s Going On?

The Play

“I was just, I guess, lost.”

Wilderness is the story of six teens who’ve gotten lost in their lives. It is based on the experiences of real youth who ended up as “clients” in a wilderness therapy program—voluntarily or not—as a way to confront their personal struggles and demons. The production also features real parents’ points of view as they sought help for their children whose lives were spinning out of control.

The play unfolds in a series of scenes, or vignettes, as the group of teens and counselors backpack and camp through a stretch of high-country desert in southwestern Utah. Through these scenes we trace the back stories of the teen clients: Elizabeth, Sophia, Chloe, Dylan, Cole, and Michael. They share stories about drug use and abuse, gender identity, dangerous thrill-seeking, sexual abuse, cutting and other self-harms, and ongoing struggles and fights with parents. (“I miss you and I hate you,” Elizabeth signs in a letter to home.) And slowly, they reveal how they came to be there. Staffers and fellow campers interact, hassle, confront, and support one another, trying to get at the personal pain that seems to be driving anger and cruel behavior toward themselves and others.

Action onstage is mixed with video projections of interviews with the actual parents. The parents retell their fears and frustrations about watching their kids’ lives race toward wreckage. In desperation, they reached for a wilderness therapy program to try to intervene in these teens’ destructive trajectories. For many of these adults, wilderness therapy was their last hope for saving their kids.

A “Mom” character is also represented on stage. She plays both an interviewer and a dramatic stand-in for the video parents. It eventually becomes clear that she and the parents are on their own journeys to make peace with their children and their children’s troubles and choices. A phone call with a camp counselor communicates to Mom that she can’t control what is happening with her son. She has to let go and practice living her own life. It appears that the adults have recovery work to do, too.

As the play nears its conclusion, we see the campers gain self-confidence as they experience the natural world and gain pride in their improving social and wilderness skills. And near the end, we learn what happened once they returned to the life they had known, often with new insights and clearer ideas of who they are and can become.

Good to Know

The Story Behind the Play

“People that love us will forgive us.”

Wilderness is an example of “documentary theater.” It is a style of drama that presents the stories of real people, told by actors, often mixing interviews with onstage action. In this production, the stories of real-life teens are acted out on stage mixed with video excerpts from interviews with the actual parents. Movement and music brighten and punctuate the play’s themes.

The theatrical project grew out of the personal experiences of co-writer Anne Hamburger and her teenage son. Their family tried traditional therapies, she says, “But it got to the point where we just couldn’t reach him. [Wilderness therapy] seemed like a viable alternative. And for us, it was successful.”

The play itself is the result of a year-and-a-half of research and interviews conducted by Hamburger and Seth Bockley. (Bockley also directs the show.) They spoke with parents and teens who had undergone wilderness therapy and who bravely shared their experiences and outcomes.

Hamburger emphasizes that wilderness therapy provides the setting but isn’t the core of the play. “It’s really about the quest for connection within families,” she said in an interview at Penn State, “and, when troubles arise, how one looks at oneself differently and how one needs to change in order to heal and make connection possible.”

Here, you can find an interview with Anne Hamburger, co-writer and producer of Wilderness.

youtube

An Explanation First: What is Wilderness Therapy?

“They said you’re going to the wilderness.”

Wilderness therapy encompasses programs that immerse troubled teens in the outdoors. The intention is to remove them from environments that seem to trigger destructive and self-destructive behavior. Away from civilization and guided by counselors, they are given the chance to face their problems without the distractions of social media, drugs and alcohol, or dysfunctional relationships.

Many such programs exist, of various durations and intensities. As a rule, though, they last for nine weeks to three months at a cost upwards of $20,000. In many cases, wilderness therapy has become a last-ditch effort by parents to help their kids survive adolescence after more traditional approaches have been exhausted. Parents may hire agencies to arrive in the early morning hours to take away their kids and deliver them to the therapy program. Some young clients go willingly, but minors may be “transported”—coerced in one way or another to go.

The programs themselves amount to around-the-clock therapy, designed to change harmful thought and behavior habits. Daily activities are usually a mix of hiking, learning wilderness skills like camping and fire-making, and ongoing and as-needed therapy sessions. The therapeutic goal for most kids is to raise their sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy to the point they become more resilient to self-destructive and antisocial behaviors. Ideally, they also develop the social and emotional skills that allow them to function, thrive, and create happier lives once they return home.

Not all wilderness therapy programs are equal or regulated, however. Especially in the past, they have been conflated with correctional “boot camps” that have emphasized physical exertion as well as punishment. Horror stories about mistreated youth have occasionally emerged from these places.

Today, though, wilderness therapy programs receive greater scrutiny and oversight. Organizations like the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Center at the University of New Hampshire have published accreditation standards and provide accreditation to distinguish the good from the bad, the reputable from the disreputable.

Anecdotal evidence of the effectiveness of wilderness therapy programs is often glowing. Peer-reviewed research indicates it is beneficial for most youth attendees, and points out programs that emphasize therapeutic treatment over recreation are more successful.

Who’s Who

“Dear Mom, please don’t do this to me.”

Elizabeth—came to camp voluntarily to deal with issues related to an abusive, mentally ill mother Sophia—a rebellious teen who has anger issues, especially toward her mom Chloe—after being sexually abused by a boyfriend and bullied by peers, she started cutting herself Dylan—a trans boy and music lover who feels unloved by his parents and everyone else Cole—a risk-taker and Hip Hop lover who has struggled with drug use Michael—he became verbally and physically abusive toward his mother after a nasty divorce Field Staff (Merritt, Rebecca, Billy, Corey, Taco)—wilderness therapy counselors Mom—a woman alarmed and fearful about her child’s behavior and her ability to deal with it; the performer also doubles as the Skype interviewer

Watch and listen how…

the performers switch from teens to counselors by donning jackets or sweatshirts.

setting is established using projections of home, school, and the outdoor scenes.

music and movement support the production and reinforce themes. Pay attention for a scene as the teens wrestle with sleep in a movement sequence on the floor.

characters signal with their bodies and tones of voice what they’re feeling toward themselves and others.

Think about…

ways the characters’ attitudes toward their wilderness therapy experience change during the play.

how the parents and children offer differing views of each other and their relational difficulties.

nonverbal cues you, your friends, and your family use to send a message.

In an interview, co-writer Anne Hamburger said that wilderness therapy provides the “setting” for the play. “It’s really about the quest for connection within families, and, when troubles arise, how one looks at oneself differently and how one needs to change in order to heal and make connection possible.” Think about ways you connect with friends and family. What actions do you take when those connections become frayed?

how a lack of communication between parent and child can lead to devastating consequences.

About En Garde Arts

“Do you want to hear something real?”

En Garde Arts developed Wilderness as part of its ongoing mission “to produce bold, unconventional, and innovative multimedia and interdisciplinary theatre that marries content with community and inspires dialogue and debate about the salient issues of our time.”

Anne Hamburger, co-author of Wilderness, founded the company in 1985. Since then, En Garde Arts has won acclaim for its site-specific productions in New York City, ranging from Orestes at Penn Yards, New York, to Father Was a Peculiar Man in the City’s former Meatpacking District. It has since taken productions including Basetrack and Wilderness on tour.

For more information, visit their website.

Take Action: Take a Nature Walk

“It was a beautiful spring night ...” Ah tranquility! Penetrating the very rock, A cicada’s voice. ~Matsuo Basho

In Japanese it’s called shinrin-yoku—forest bathing. In the West, something similar might be referred to as Nature Therapy. This practice involves taking easy walks in a calming natural environment, away from the chaos and noise of daily life. Studies have shown that time spent in quiet natural settings reduces depression, negative feelings, and stress hormones in the blood. It lowers one’s pulse and blood pressure as well.

Try an experiment. Think of a calm, natural environment near your home or school, or find one. Plan a 30-minute visit of walking or sitting in the most tranquil place there. Leave the smartphone and headphones at home. Don’t even bring a book to read, though perhaps carry a notebook to jot down thoughts that pop up. If you invite a friend, make a pact that you won’t speak during those 30 minutes.

Note your thoughts and feelings before you begin. Note your thoughts and feelings at the end. Compare and contrast your state before and after your quiet time. If you want to get biological, measure your pulse rate before and after as well.

Compose a haiku or two based on your experience. Haiku is a short poetic form that often explores themes in nature.

The first line contains five syllables.

The second line contains seven syllables.

The third line contains five syllables.

A haiku by the Japanese master Matsuo Basho appears above. Here is another: A squirrel hurries. It is part of its nature. Worries? Not so much. ~Sean McCollum

Spend some time in a quiet, natural place. Pay attention to your breathing. Listen for words to float up in your mind. Write a haiku and post it to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, or any platform of your choice. Share it at #wildernesshaiku.

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Go even deeper with the Wilderness Extras.

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All photos by Baranova.

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