Thoughts on the two versions

It's interesting how having an assignment influences writing, sometimes for the worse. The first version of Drill was written with nothing much more in mind than telling the story and illustrating the point in the frame, that simulation isn't a complete substitute for real experience. There's enough detail, I think, for readers to understand the point of the drill.

The assignment that got me re-writing was this (as best I can recover it from my notes):

Assignment. Something you know a lot about and write to show others. Scene, dialogue, feelings, narrative.

That's approximate, but close. But that and reading the original piece to a friend got me thinking that I needed more of an explanation of the steering system and led to all the detail in the second version.

Along the way, I looked at the alternate writing assignment:

What do you feel strongly about? What experiences lead you to that. Be specific.

I realized that I could be doing both assignments, although "strongly" may be an exaggeration. I'd already decided to drop the frame and I was trying to find a quotation to start. I didn't find the one I was looking for but I did find the one from Confucius that seemed on the money. In
fact, it made the old title work even better.

But, when all is said and done, I think the new version is inferior to the old version: too much explanation, really -- enough to stall the narrative. And it wouldn't have been there without the assignment.

That's often the problem with workshops and classes: they produce work that fills an assignment but that are not worth being published.

Evasion

As I wrote earlier, I reactivated this blog as a place to stash various things connected with my activities with the Community Writing Center . For reasons that I'll discuss later, I decided to rewrite Drill for this workshop and I handed the new version out Thursday with a pointer to the old version here on the blog. It would be interesting to know how many people actually come here to read it. I hope they leave comments, if only to show that they were here (hint, hint).

I'm going to post the new version next but I'm avoiding talking about it here until I get reactions from my workshop mates next Thursday. I don't want to contaminate those reactions because they are important to me.

On the other hand, I have no reason to believe that anyone will get here from the workshop (or anyplace else). This blogging often feels like putting messages in a bottle. ("Fan mail from some flounder?")

Reactivated

After two years and nine months, it's time for another entry.

I've started writing again, after a 25-year layoff, and I thought this blog might be a place for drafts, discussions, and whatnot for the various groups I'm getting involved with at the Community Writing Center. So far, I've taken the training for the DiverseCity Writing Series monitor and I'm taking a workshop on "Writing From Life."