Writers' Week

My response to writers' week at the moment is...I wish that it wasn't over! I don't wish that it wasn't over merely because we get out of English class and a few other ones here and there for a whole week, but rather I think that the concept of WW is such an enriching way to inspire people to write and get exposed to different outlets of writing. In previous years of WW I have really only seen writers of novels and poems, so this year I appreciated a change in being able to see a variety of writers who didn't limit themselves to traditional ideas of writing. For example, I liked hearing about the process of getting a screen play published and getting your name out there from Bill Kelly, how you don't have to limit yourself to mere poetry but can add music to create songs from Daphne Willis, or even create your own musical in community theatre and actually get people to perform it from Mark Wolmon. I took away learning that it doesn't really matter where your passion lays, there is always a way to incorporate writing.

When I found out that the writer of Enchanted was going to be at WW the first thing that came to my mind was that he must have met Patrick Dempsey, not really considering what else went into screen writing other than being famous. I was surprised when he said that in the industry writers are "pond scum" and don't even get invited to the big award shows. My assumption was that they were highly respected seeing that they were the ones that came up with all the ideas for movies and TV shows in the first place. Despite this fact of a lack of recognition and the whole writers' strike Mr. Kelly was a very down to earth and nice guy. He even asked my question of whether Patrick Dempsey is as hot in real life as he is on screen enthusiaticly with a "he's smokin'" even though I'm sure he has been asked this question a million times. I also found it intereseting that he is from the surrounding area which I thought brought some hope to people in the audience who may have a dream of becoming a screen writer in Hollywood. Even though he had nothing prepared I still found his segment to be entertaining with his sacrcastic remarks and "hiya's."

The one person who I got the feeling of anyone can write about anything they want to was Billy Lombardo. He confessed to being a truly happy guy, but in contrast all of his stories were very depressing and dark. The piece that I was most moved by was "My First Punch." The way he captured the emotions of a young boy and his want to deny that his father punched him and his attempt to keep his father from remembering what he did really impressed me. I opened up the idea that I don't actually have to write from experience for a piece to be good, but just get in the mind of the character you create. I also thought it was intersting when he talked about how he tried to try writing in 2nd person rather than 1st person like most of his pieces. This encouraged me to try new things with my own writing.

The most entertaining of all the days was definitely Mark Wolmon's production of Speed Dating the Musical. I found it especially interesting that he is actually an English teacher at a local junior high, and was amazed that he could find the time to write an entire musical. I found his use of speed dating as his subject as satirizing how pitiful and desperate people can be to find love, especially in today's soceity with more older singles and the surplus of online dating services. It was humourus how he used stereotypical types of characters just as the egotistical male, the sex kitten woman, the guy who still can't talk to girls, the fat girl who wants to find someone the accept her as she is, and then the one sane and normal woman who thinks the whole thing is ridiculous. My favorite part of the whole performance was the overy horny woman singing to Mr. Shaeffer. I loved how she stayed in character even though as they said at the end that most of them were the exact opposites of their characters in real life. So not only did you get exposure to a writing aspect but acutally the performing a writing as well.

Then the sad day had to come for Mark Smith to close Writers' Week. I don't think they could have picked anyone to close with though. I was amazed that he had memorized over 200 poems both his own and the works of others, and not only did he have them memorized to recite but to put action to them as well. I loved how he took the approach of bringing life to poetry instead of just the same heartfelt reading behind a podium, although I was a little afraid for him when he decided to climb on the railings. The things that stuck with me the most from his performance was his emphasis on "sharing the stage" and "welcoming 1st timers." The fact the he admitted to being a normally shy person but then was able to put all his fear behind him for his love to perform was really inspiring. I took away from that to not let obstacles hold you back in life. I have to say though, that even though he meant well to allow those two students to come on stage to read their work, I was a little bummed that they were taking up his time to perform more poems. I guess that is just part of his good nature that radiates off him and can light up a room.

I came away from WW inspired to write and try new things. Hopefully next year I'll get up the guts to read myself. I'm really impressed by the people in our own class that read because I'm sure that they were all amazing!