Another semester of teaching a 12 hour load of writing intensive classes is coming to a close. I'm left feeling creatively spent. It's time to refill the tank, so to speak. Time to read for fun, listen to new music, watch some Netflix, try some new recipes, grow herbs, travel...
I'm going to Ohio in June for the Kenyon Playwrights Conference to study with some really amazing writers. And I'm hoping to get to Austin to work with my life-long collaborators, Lisa Neely and Third Course: Theatre.
All of these things will be good for my soul.
I taught Intro to Fiction Writing and Intro to Playwriting this year, which I enjoyed immensely. I get such joy out of watching students grow as writers, to see things start to click for them, and even watch some of them realize they're addicted to this life of writing.
But I spend a lot of my creative energy on their work, which is as it should be. By the end of the semester, though, I'm itching to get back to my own stories and characters in a more immersive way. I'll be able to spend more than an hour at a time working on my plays, which I hope will mean getting a lot done.
In the end, I think it makes me a better writer to be other-focused, to be a good reader of others' work, and to give back as I was so generously given to. But let's be honest, I'm counting down the days till summer break!