The mission of the Wrapped in Love Project is to bring comfort to bereaved parents by repurposing wedding dresses into beautiful burial gowns and pockets for babies lost before, during, or soon after birth.
Each layette includes a handkerchief made from the same fabric as the baby’s garment. The gowns and pockets begin as beloved wedding dresses which are donated and cleaned. They are then patterned, stitched, & hand detailed by volunteers. Layettes are added to a care package with a hand stamped “Mother and Child” necklace from the Charlotte’s Purpose Etsy Shop, a letter full of resources, “The First Days” survival guide, a memorial baby book, a journal, pen, and “Write Your Grief” bookmark, and special stationary for parents to write a letter to the baby.
In order to try to actually get my rejection project done, I have blocked off two weekends on my calendar.
Actual footage of me, blocking off my weekends for this.
So here are some reflections from my first writing weekend:
Permission to write a sh*tty draft.
Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a pretty good writer. Usually I know exactly how I want to describe a scene, craft a sentence or build a paragraph. And it is beautiful.
But then there are the other days. Dark Days.
I’ll have a general idea of what I want to say but no real idea of how to write it or even, start it. My usual practice is to just wait until the words settle.
But…..
So I have to go to Plan B. Which is writing a sh*tty draft.
Because I know (I KNOW!) that writing is the only way to get the words out. Poor writing will become good writing if I give myself the permission to just get started.
So. Much. Whining.
I had chosen this. I had specifically chosen to focus on my writing this weekend.
And yet, Saturday morning dawned and I could not keep myself in my chair. I could not keep my writing software open. I simply didn’t want to write.
So I began to whine. Like a lot.
Like..So…Much
While I know that magical elves don’t appear in the middle of night and write my stories, I was definitely expecting to at least be excited about writing, rather than dreading every moment that I was in the chair.
However, I found that you can whine and type at the same time.
And thus some writing did occur. (Accompanied by lots and lots of whining.)
Employers Interrupt-us
As I believe I might have mentioned, I’m working quite a few jobs right now so weekends right now just mean that I’m not at ALL of my jobs, instead of actually truly a day where I’m not working any job.
Some of you can probably already see where this is going but for those who haven’t seen the plot twist yet, yes, I was working during a weekend I had blocked off for writing.
Yep. I am my own worst enemy.
Even with splitting my attention between work and writing, I still managed to unearth some gold and find some plot surprises that even I didn’t know. So cheers to the freakin’ (sh*tty draft) weekend!
Join authors Mary Amato and John Feffer and fellow colleagues for an energizing mix of lectures, facilitated discussion, and forced time to write!
Amato and Feffer are both discipline-crossing writers who are simultaneously working on novels, plays, essays, and poetry. These writing retreats will be focused on novel writing, but we welcome explorers of any genre—fiction, non-fiction, poetry, screen or stage play, etc.
11:00-11:30 Facilitated Chat (or log off and get to your writing)
11:30-2:15 Writing time
2:15-3:00 Lecture #2
3:00-3:30 Facilitated Chat (or log off and get to your writing)
3:30-5:00 Writing time
5:00-5:30 Final Q/A
$40 per person per retreat. You may sign up for one retreat or as many as desired. Once you have registered, you’ll receive three Zoom links for each of your retreat days. Each retreat day will include three Zoom sessions with writing time in between.
Sun Nov 1 Voice & POV: Establish authenticity, commit to a POV or multiple POVS, and know when to come in for a close up and when to pull back. What are the various voices and POVs in your work?
Sat Nov 21 Recurring Symbolism & Surprising Metaphors: Identify and explore symbols and metaphors and determine how and when they should repeat. What are the symbols and metaphors that are already in your work? Are you doing all you can or do you need more?
Please note that in addition to these retreats, both Amato and Feffer offer partial or full manuscript critiques on a rolling basis throughout the year. $30 per half hour. You can cap your investment at any amount. If you’re interested, contact either instructor individually.
