Go Forth and Write

Today is the final day of my Iowa Writers' Workshop experience. Over the course of this week, I have read (twice: one quick read; a second slower read to offer editing suggestions and answer specific questions posed by our instructor) each of my classmates' 20 page manuscript.

Excluding my own that is 220 pages, about the size of a novel.  The novels are as different as my classmates. One author has written a thriller involving the US search for POW's and MIA's after the Vietnam War. Some of the novels are set in Africa, South America, Germany and France. Another is the tale of a pair of damaged women: a southern "lady" and her maid.

Interestingly, some of the authors appear to write from personal life experiences: a crime thriller set in Scotland with authentic dialect; a young woman from Singapore writing a letter to her aged grandfather to be read at his funeral. But just as authentic sounding are the voices of the two damaged southern women, amazingly written by a white male lawyer. Another author convincingly writes scenes from different eras and locales as diverse as Bolivia, Germany and France. She confesses she has never set foot in Bolivia and thus her vivid portrayal of Bolivia is drawn entirely from her research. Where do these voices come from?

I have been startled by the skill and craft of many of the authors and the stories  and dedication of all participants. The instructor, John Dalton, for this advanced novel writing workshop, heads the MFA program at the U of MO in St. Louis. He has been extremely generous with his time and talents. I have learned a great deal from him, as well as from my classmates, in the discussions of ways to tell stories and improve the writing of both my own humble efforts and those of the other quite talented students. But what is most striking to me is I cannot wait to read the finished products of each of these authors. What wonderful adventures lie ahead for us readers.