Back from first MFA residency

Today was the last day of my first MFA in creative writing residency at Lesley University. "What is a residency?" you ask (like everyone else because it sounds a bit like a stint at rehab...). Basically, instead of going to class every week, you go for two, ten-day intensive periods a year of 13 hours of classes, workshops, and readings. Between residencies, you work one-on-one with your mentor via email and regular mail on your writing and on reading books, stories, and poems critically to enhance your craft.

The residency was more than I could've asked for. I learned more about writing in those ten days than I could've imagined. I had no idea of the depths of my ignorance on the craft of writing. I also met some of the coolest people of my life. People who seemed to get me immediately. I forgot how freeing that feeling can be, of letting down all your walls and letting people in. Better than a bubble bath.

So I have to write everyday now, in order to make my submission goal, and to get the most from my program. (Something I've been trying not so successfully for years.) So I'm hoping to use this blog to keep track of my progress. Maybe I'll even post paragraphs of my short story as it progresses. I would love to get feedback from readers, once someone finds this blog. :)

I'll also be tracking another daily project--A fellow MFAer and I made a bet to see if we could each keep a promise to ourselves to do yoga/meditate daily for 30 days. If either of us slacks, that person buys drinks for the other come January, when we'll next meet up in Boston.