whatever happened to february?

Whoops.  Guess I blew it on that one.  It’s this thing with the pressure of writing (self-inflicted pressure of course) that makes me not do it.  But also– maybe the fact that I didn’t write in Feb is indicative of the fact that I was enjoying LIFE! I think there was this period of time surrounding the long weekend that pretty much every day was great.  At first it was just the long weekend, but then the good days just kept coming and coming.  That hasn’t happened in a long time.

Last night I went to a faculty fellows event with this NY Times correspondent on India.  Most of the students there were Indian or really interested in India, but I was interested in the writer as a writer.  We chatted a bit and he shared some interesting advice.  Someone asked him how he got his job, and he said that most people go about it with the wrong mindset, trying to have a competitive resume and all that.  But with writing, it is a skill, and the best thing you can do is improve your craft.  You can practice all the time– by remembering details, or being able to write 800 words really quickly, or knowing how to ask the right questions.  He gave me a little assignment– while we were at Professor Foley’s house, I was supposed to pick out two details and describe them to him before I left, because details are important, and as I am learning in my Creative Nonfiction class with Lauren Sarat, you can use details as a lens through which to view the bigger story.  The reporter dude said that he trains himself to notice details, so that years later if he was writing about this house, he would still be able to remember what color the walls were.

The things I noticed:

1. The arrangement of the chairs in the sitting room.  Folded/temporary chairs were arranged in little conversation clusters of two or three chairs, all angled in towards the middle couches and benches, so that there were layers of discussions surrounding the center.
2. The woman standing in the corner of the dining room, at attention in her catering uniform.  She didn’t speak much, but when she did, her voice was low and thickly Rhode Islander.  I think she was a Brown Dining Services staff member, rather than hired help of the Foleys.  But she seemed strangely out of place, and yet not unexpected, in the corner of that room.

The journalist said that if all of us were to submit a 300 word writing sample to him, he would immediately be able to rank us in terms of our writing abilities.  That’s cool.  It makes me feel good that I am learning something tangible.  People often say to me that having solid writing skills will help me get a job, and I’m starting to believe it.  I thought everyone could write decently, but after working in various jobs and taking classes (even writing classes!) I’m learning that that’s not the case.