Writing with SARK

Last weekend I went to Big Sur, California to attend a Writer's Workshop with SARK. Do you know her? She's published about 15 books, and lots of art. Titles like Inspiration Sandwich and Succulent Wild Woman. Her style is enigmatic, and immediately recognisable...I think.

And you might be thinking, "Hey, Tara loves California! And Big Sur is on the Pacific Coast Highway, which Tara also loves. And she likes to write. This must have been an irrestistable MAGNET for her!!!"  You got it, Pontiac.  And another reason? It is one of my goals for 2010 to get paid for my writing, so this was an attempt to find that motivation, that spark, that courage, to go for it!

The weekend started on the exact right foot! Can you believe my rental car turned out to be a red beetle??? Perhaps this might be the MOST appropriate car to drive in San Francisco, and down the Coastal Highway. So cool, so fun, SO CUTE!




The first thing SARK had done, even before we arrived, was to meditate on us, our names I guess, to get a sense of who we were. She then had a nickname for each of us that she put on a nametag.

Mine was Fearless Tara! An obvious choice for me, doncha think???
Funny, but pretty much everyone in our group of 20 had a similar response to their nametag. And this was our introduction to Planet SARK.




Friday night had us at  a cocktail party. (all the costs for the weekend were paid up front, so no need to bring out a wallet! And it all cost less than $700. Incredible!)

One of the next things SARK did was to pair us all with a writing mentor, so we would have a support in place for after the weekend. I was paired with 'Vibrant Suzanne'. Her dream is to write a book based on her challenges (and very funny experiences) with her husband and his bipolar disease.  How big a fluke is it that Suzanne's book sounds so similar to the book I am writing* ?  And happily she has done huge amounts of work for the American Cancer Association, so she can find me more wonderful souls to put in my book! Wow, that SARK is strangely intuitive.

*(about the Good Things You get When You Get Cancer, if you didn't know....)

Of course, I met some really, really great people at this workshop! People like Michelle, with the great toque with a giant flower on it, a woman who is already mostly done her novel. (WOW! In awe that she's gone so far already!)

and Victoria, who has been a reporter for years, so has published TONNES, but now she's freelance and doing other projects.

 

and Nikki from Australia. She writes and facebooks and is on Ning and has a blog and is writing a novel and does art, and works in the workshop/self-improvement industry. She is literally a colourful character! Incidentally, she has a brain condition (can't remember what it's called) where she has to get getting shunts put inside her skull to drain her excess cerebral fluid. WOW. And you could ever think for one second that amazing things do not come from adversity??? She's travelling all over the world while she has time off work! She is spending her birthday weekend in VEGAS right now!!!

and Magnus, who is the curator of the Henry Miller library just down the road. Incidentally, when he first came from Sweden, he intended to work in Alaska, but was chatting to someone in Hope BC who told him not to bother going to Alaska. There's no work there!! Aaaah, he could have made thousands that summer, but instead worked in a gas station in Hope...  As they say, "Live in Hope, die in despair..."   Happily he now lives in Big Sur, running a tiny little library full of literary gems. He writes and reads and sings and entertains. It's his own piece of heaven, I'm quite sure  :)

I mean, look at this spot mere km's from where we were. It is a piece of heaven!

Oh, and we stayed in Pfeiffer Big Sur Park, which is AMONG THE REDWOODS. omg, aaaAAAHHHHHH!!!!! what could be better?

 Seriously.

But I digress...

Another exercise SARK got us to do was to design our own Writer's Manifesto. I was kinda nervous, I have to admit, as she suggested using lots of coloured pens, and paint and water colours and collage, and ART. I don't really do that stuff, but when in Rome....

actually, I'm quite proud of it.

Another exercise we did was to write a question or concern for our mentor, and have them write back to us, with profound wisdom and encouragement. Again, Suzy and I had similar concerns..... "What if I write stuff that other people don't approve of?"

My answer to her (and of course her answer to me!) :

WRITE YOUR TRUTH!

If there was a downside to the weekend, it was that we wrote less than I had expected. I had imagined we would have an overnight assignment, plus a couple quick exercises during each day. I mean, part of what gets you writing is to write. Put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and write! Do it every day! Do it more often! Form a writing habit!! Some will be garbage, but the more you write, the more good stuff you'll write. Or so the theory goes.

But oh well. Talking about writing is good too. We did a fun exercise where we interviewed our mentor about what it will be like for them when they are wildly successful. I will deifnitely TIVO Suzy on both Oprah and Ellen!!! And she cannot wait to see that my book has made people lose much of their fear of cancer, and be just a little bit jealous that they don't have it themselves. Can you imagine? "Oh jeez, she's so lucky. She got cancer. I'm a teensy bit bummed."  HAHAHAHAH! Tara's New World Order  :)

That's me n SARK!!! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!

and we are Succulent Wild Women!