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They
Kept on to Their Journey's End Or
Random Thoughts from an OdFellow, Class of 2011 By
Martin Larsson
◘ Explaining the mechanics of the Odyssey workshop is
easy. Asses in seats before nine
o'clock. Two, two and a half hours
of lectures from Jeanne Cavelos or a guest lecturer. A few minutes to breathe. Two hours of around the room on the manuscripts
critiqued the previous day. Lunch. After
lunch back to the dorms or (better) an air-conditioned room on campus to read
and critique the two manuscripts handed out that morning. Hell Thursdays, it's three manuscripts. Then dinner. Then write. Then sleep. Maybe. These
are the mechanics. This is what you
will be subjected to for six weeks.
This is what you can know.
The rest? You have no
idea. I had no idea. ◘ There is plenty of research to be done on
Odyssey. You can find out what
happened previous years (The Harlan Ellison Experience), you can read something
the lecturers have published, you can even find an Odyssey alumnus and ask all
sorts of questions. Still, you have
no idea. The
Odyssey experience is one of discovery.
Before Odyssey, I was writing on instinct. Instinct is good. Instinct is what allows you to come up
with The Idea. However, The Idea is
no good if there are no rules there to support it. Somewhere at the back of my mind lurked
a few basic writing rules absorbed in school many years ago, while the language
of my favorite authors (Gibson, Stephenson, Palahniuk, Coupland)
was more accessible and clearly influencing my writing. But it all went nowhere. Characters had no goals, plots sort of
meandered out into a big white nothing where they keeled over and died,
fragmented sentences waited to trip a reader up. Then along came Jeanne, and The
Discovery. ◘ Many of you may know the rules of writing much better
than I did when I plunged into the uncharted waters of Odyssey. Regardless, there is no doubt that each
and every one of you will walk away from every lecture and critique session
with some new piece of knowledge or some insight into the magic that is
writing. The Discovery. I
cannot describe the awe I felt as I was allowed to peer inside the head of the
writing goddess (she prefers Evil Overlord though) that is Jeanne Cavelos. She is a force of nature. A tsunami that will, inevitably, break
down the barriers you have created in your head, barriers that have stopped you
from truly seeing your stories.
What they are, why they are, and most importantly how they can be
transformed into something better. ◘ I always believed I was my own harshest critic. Before Odyssey, I hadn't submitted a
single piece of writing anywhere, because I was convinced my work didn't
measure up. I was my own harshest
critic. Right. Class, meet Jeanne Cavelos. Every
manuscript you submit to the class will be critiqued by your fellow students
and Jeanne. When not lecturing she
spends her time plotting world domination (expected around 2014) and
critiquing. A typed crit from Jeanne is a full body scan, patdown
and cavity search of your manuscript, and every single thing you have hidden in
there, intentionally or not, will be dragged out and exposed in front of the
class. Jeanne
does not critique with malice or ill intent. She will lovingly tell you every single
thing that is wrong with your writing for two reasons: to make your manuscript
better and to make you a better writer.
Our first day, she said ÓYou are all here because I believe you can be
successful published writers.Ó Awed
silence. This
is her goal. To push you and make
you see the brilliance hidden in your words. To give you the tools and confidence
necessary to become a successful writer.
You have been admitted to Odyssey because she sees in you the potential
for greatness. When you're
stretched out in bed at midnight, melting in the New Hampshire heat (because
whoever designed the dorms at St Anselm's not only had no insight into the
concept of air-conditioning, they also built them as traps for dead air),
completely crushed by the critiques from your class-mates and Jeanne that day,
remember that. ◘ Since agreeing to write this essay, I have struggled
to find words that convey what Odyssey is like. ÓOnce in a lifetime experienceÓ
is too obvious, though very true.
You leave Odyssey changed, not only as a writer but also as a person. Writing is so intensely personal that
applying change to it, to something that integral to you, will change the way
you think and act when it comes to other things. This is the full impact of The
Discovery. Be prepared for it. ◘ You will also leave with lifelong friends. Like-minded madmen and madwomen with
whom you will have spent many a night cursing manuscripts that won't cooperate,
laughing over whatever insanity is unleashed by a single word as the strain of
each week piles up, or worshipping The Big Head on campus. ◘ There were many words during Odyssey. Unlike many others, I also managed
plenty of sleep. There were a
number of theories how this was possible, but know this: I had a solid seven
hours every night except one, and still I fell asleep in class every day of the
last week. Exhaustion, thy name is
Odyssey. Be prepared for that too. ◘ The six weeks of Odyssey were a roller-coaster ride of
inspiration, inadequacy issues, laughter, tears, learning and despair. Somehow, with Jeanne at the helm, we
navigated through all this and came out the other side, forever changed into
better writers and better people. I
came away from Odyssey with knowledge I didn't know existed and inspiration
I've never felt before. Apply. Apply now. Back to
Odyssey Graduates' Experiences |
