I'm writing a novel about Hercules
I'll be sharing bits of it in Creative Sparks. And you? Working on any creative projects?
A writing teacher once told me that we do not choose what to write about. What to write about chooses us.
I’ll never forget that advice — because it seemed so foreign to me, so contrary to my experiences in journalism. Writing material is like the material of our dreams, this teacher told me. Who knows why these things come to us, and not other things?
The best you can do is start writing, to try to figure out what you need to say.
Hercules is one of these things for me. He has been floating around in the back of my mind for years.
Why? I have no idea. Am I supposed to write about Hercules? What is there to say? I have been trying to get away from the guy for years, but he keeps popping back up, including in the Middlemarch book club last spring.
More recently, I went to Italy on vacation — my first time seeing Rome, Florence, and Venice — and ran into Hercules everywhere I went.
Clearly, I need to start writing about Hercules, I thought, while looking at this statue by the Flemish artist Giambologna. Something inside me won’t let go of this guy.
Do you have anything like this?
A story, a character, a vision, a question — something that your imagination can’t shake? Something you want to explore? Something that you could imagine devoting creative energy to?
Or are you looking for some structure to start brainstorming about what you might write about? Many creative people just need a prompt and a deadline to get their work done. That’s something else this class will provide.
Or do you just want to come get a peek behind the creative curtain of my Hercules project?
The Creative Sparks writing class I’m leading starts one week from tonight, it lasts five weeks, and it will provide:
A weekly prompt to rev your creativity
The opportunity to share what you have been working on each week (not required)
An ongoing conversation about where inspiration comes from and how to harness it
The chance to meet other writers and artists, and hear about their creativity. (Musicians and visual artists are invited to be in this group too)
Weekly insights from me about writing, and the chance to ask me anything you want about editing and publishing and the creative life
Sparks of inspiration from great writers, through excerpts I’ll choose that we’ll analyze together
Our first week, we’re going to look at writing by Dorothy Parker and Joan Didion, and I will be talking about why it inspires me, and I’m excited to see if anything about it inspires you, too.
You do not have to be a writer to be in the class. You don’t have to be an artist of any kind.
If you just want to come and soak up the inspiration and the insights and be a fly on the wall, you’re invited.
Or if you like the idea of weekly prompts and want to get some new writing done, it would be so fun for me to write side-by-side with you. Some healthy peer pressure to get our creativity onto the page.
Sign up now and you’ll get the first week’s prompt with your receipt and confirmation. The prompt is a noun. It’s one word.
Then bring what you have created — or look forward to seeing what others have created — inspired by that prompt, at our first meeting a week from tonight.
I can’t wait.
And no: I will not be sharing my Hercules writing here on substack. This is a class about generating new ideas, not publishing final pieces.
But there will be an opportunity to participate in a group reading, in public in Seattle, on Tuesday, Oct 29 — one night after our last meeting.
Again, totally optional.
Hercules, huh? I have all kinds of questions about what the character, the image, the art surrounding his story, etc. evoke in you. And I’ll be curious to read what you write.
I am 3/4 of the way through a serialized novel on Substack called “We Stand in the Middle.” It’s about two men with HIV/AIDS and their commitment to restoring and repurposing land that was stolen from the Cherokee in the 1800s. It’s a vision that began some 30 years ago when I minored in Native American studies in college. The characters were brought to life while working on an HIV/AIDS education project for the National Library of Medicine, and the setting (former Cherokee land in NC) was decided for me when I discovered that my ancestors in NC owned some of that Cherokee land. I feel like I was called and well prepared to write this story so will have to agree with the writing teacher who said, “…we do not choose what to write about. What to write about chooses us.”
If you’re curious, here is the link to the most recent chapter: https://whalesinmybackyard.substack.com/p/we-stand-in-the-middle-22
Thanks for asking. I’ll be on the lookout for Hercules :-)