Laura Owen's ENGW 1102 Intro to Fiction Class

Sorry this is a bit late; it took me forever to figure out how to even post this…

As Laura mentioned in one of the emails (I think, it was a long time ago), I had the chance to go not only to Junot Díaz’s reading, but also his in-class visit. At first I didn’t know what to expect—after all, he is a PULITIZER PRIZE WINNER, and that’s just freaking intimidating. But in the end, I not only respected him for his writing, but for being a writer as well. He was honest and passionate, and very unprofessional, which made him seem human. Or at least, I never felt the “academic snob� vibe from him, which you think would come with being an award-winning writer.

So my little summary is going to TRY and focus on what he said in class as compared to what he said during the reading. However, a lot of his messages carried over from class to the reading. Personally, I don’t mind the repetition, but I apologize in advance if it bothers anybody. His lessons were full of practical wisdom, not only for the aspiring writer but for any artist in general.

One of the most important pieces of advice he gave to the class was to be an artist you must learn to forgive yourself. I think everybody has problems with that; they get frustrated when a sentence doesn’t sound right or an entire piece of work just sucks. But he said that in order to call yourself an artist, you have to accept that you will make mistakes. What makes you the artist is when you’re able to get up and continue writing when your back is against the wall and you have fallen harder then you ever have in your life. I felt this was really inspiring, because he not only supported a love for the art form but encouraged believing in yourself (as cheesy as that sounds). It’s okay to be nervous about your writing, because a piece of your writing is almost like a window into your head and soul. It’s not something you want a lot of people to see, because it’s so personal and it exposes you to be critiqued, criticized, ect, and that’s something that nobody wants. But in order to grow, you have to be critiqued. Díaz mentioned the students in his MIT creative writing class; he said that he could always identify the kids who didn’t want to grow as writers. They’d come to class and sit down with their arms crossed, hearing the comments about their story but not actually listening. He said he had much more respect for the kids who came to class nervous, but still listened and were willing to accept that their writing wasn't perfect and had flaws.

It’s okay not to be a fast writer either. Díaz said that certain pieces of work can take YEARS to finish (he said he was jealous of his friend who could write an entire novel in a few months). He mentioned how painful writing was for him, even if he was only asked to write a news article or a blog post. He said that if he didn’t have the right vibe, he would write crap. But he also mentioned how important it was to write anyway, because it is still practice and helps you to find your writing voice and improve your style.

Somebody in the class asked him if he wrote with a particular audience in mind (he talked about this at the reading too). Díaz replied with, “Don’t all writers?� I think this is the first time that I’ve heard somebody say that they write not only as a selfish passion, but as a selfless passion as well. He explained it like this; when you have an idea in your head, you feel the need to get it down onto paper. Why? To show to somebody, aka, the audience. If writers didn’t feel the need to show their work and ideas to the audience, nothing would even get published!

He also told us that when we’re writing to bring our whole self to our work. We as people, develop different personalities throughout our lives to reveal to different groups of people that we interact with. For example, we have a face to show our friends, a face to show our parents, a face to show our boss. These faces are all a part of us, and when writing, it’s important to realize this. We need to bring the stupid, goofy side of our personality and introduce it to our smart, “I’m a college student� side. Language is a beautiful thing, and all sides of our personality should be able to appreciate that because each face has its own set of jargon. It gives us voice—one of the most important things as writers we need to find.

Díaz also spoke of English teachers. For those aspiring to become real writers, he said that English teachers were pretty much pointless beyond undergraduate school. He said that the best thing for students to do was to go out and work a few years in the real world (after graduate school), to know what it’s like to not be safe. School as an institution is the safest place for us. It’s predictable and full of routine. He said in order to appreciate life, we should live without a safety net. It would help with writing. However, Lane can tell you; Díaz basically told him that you don’t have to put yourself in a "fuckin’ war" to write about it. Experience can help with writing, but you don’t have to know/experience something in order to create a story about it. It does, however, help make your writing more realistic. He also mentioned that writing about universal themes was important because it appeals to people, but unless you are particular about the events or details in your work, people won’t pay attention. A piece of work should take the reader somewhere, even if it’s out of their comfort zone. The writing shouldn’t talk down to the reader, but talk with them, engage them, even if the work is in a setting (such as a fantasy one) they can’t relate to.

All of these pieces of advice made me think about my own writing, and gave me a new perspective. Writing should be a fun process. At the reading, Diaz mentioned that he writes for his “six closest friends.� When you write, have fun with it and write something that you think your friends would enjoy reading. It’ll make your writing so much more fun, and is something that you’ll (hopefully) be satisfied with in the end. Honestly, his advice was probably some of the best I've ever recieved when it comes to writing. I'm really glad that I had the opprotunity to hear him speak. :)
(Oh, and sorry if there were any grammar or spelling errors in my post...sometimes I'm not very good at catching them!)
-Emi