Artist Residency Complete!
What I achieved during my 2-week residency and how you can better engage with my content.
During my two-week artist residency at the Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Art & Agriculture in Sisters, Oregon, I shared a beautifully refurbished ranch house with three other artists (another writer, film maker, and seed saver). My studio was attached to my bedroom. Every day I woke up, drank endless cups of tea and wrote while watching storms roll in over the Three Sisters mountains.
Progress on My Book
Sorry to say, I did not finish my novel. But I did make incredibly important progress. Here are some highlights of what I achieved specifically:
Braiding 3 Storylines
My novel consists of multiple 3rd person storylines and has thus far lived in three separate word docs. Last month, I successfully began braiding these storylines together. Challenges include correctly ordering which event best informs follow-up events from other storylines. Checking to see if any scenes repeat information unnecessarily. Asking what do these storylines have to do with one another? Will the reader trust that these braids eventually come together in the end?
Using Structure to Create Suspense
Halfway through the residency, I realized my book was starting with the wrong character. For years, Joshua Shipp’s narrative has safely dominated chapter 1. But of course, a historic novel about Lake Tahoe ought to begin with the Wašiw characters. They were here first, so the structure of my novel should reflect that reality. (Note all of my characters are 100% fictional.)
If I were standing before you in person, you’d see me interlock my fingers, pull them apart, then rezip them with the opposite hand on top. This is what I’ve done. Braided, unbraided, then reordered my chapters, which took a lot of time. Amazingly, this structural shift solved many plot issues. By placing the Wašiw characters first and the loggers/miners, Mormons and Indian Agent second and third, the structural shift itself creates a feeling of invasion, of being closed in on. This was not a feeling I could outright say, but it’s a feeling I hope my book conveys to the reader. It’s an exciting breakthrough and example of how structure is another powerful craft tool.
Redefining My Protagonist
Restructuring lead to my having to confront a suspicion I’ve had for many years. Joshua Shipp may be my main character, but he’s not my book’s protagonist. After adding additional storylines, creating a novel with more breadth (and depth), I realized Joshua may not be the hero I thought I was writing. Woaw. This is oddly freeing. No wonder I’ve been trying so hard to like this guy but always felt squeamish about it. Something’s not quite right and I was trying to fix him as a character instead of embracing his flaws. Another lesson in letting go: Not every protagonist is a hero. (More on that in let’s say… the next 50 years of my writing career?)
Authenticity through Brushstrokes
I have a manilla folder where I keep what I call brushstrokes—ideas, scribbles, newspaper clippings, bits of dialogue, physical descriptions, facts about mercury poisoning, animal species, medicinal plant uses… all these ideas I collect over the years, which may or may not pertain to my novel.
I’d pluck a note that read, “Diseased trees have hip cankers and galls” for example and find a place where a character might say, “Damn that gall” or some such thing. Some brushstrokes make it in, others get piled back into the folder. As the writer, I want to shove so many fascinating tidbits into my novel, but need to do so in a way that makes the reader believe it’s my characters (not me) sharing these breadcrumbs of authenticity.
Making Friends
I was lucky enough to share this artist residency with three beautiful humans, plus the delightful staff members at the ranch, all of whom got along splendidly. We artists often shared meals and talked about our projects. Their insight, experience, and artistic passions were invaluable, and I am ever grateful to have shared two weeks creating in the same space. Many realizations I’ve shared above are largely due to conversations with my fellow residents. Thank you!
Community Outreach
Part of the residency agreement is to engage with the community. Throughout my two weeks, I had three engagements: I enjoyed a lovely conversation with a group of Bend-based writers; I spoke with the Creative Writing class at Sisters High School; and I presented to the Sisters Writers group specifically on the differences between limited, deep, and omniscient 3rd person point of view.
Happy Reviews!
My presentation was a deep dive into points of view (1st, 2nd, 3rd person) with a group of very engaged people, which I loved! Bonus, many of those who attended offered stunning reviews, including this shout out in The Nugget newspaper:
Engage Better or More Specifically with Me
Moving forward, I’m trying to better categorize my writing and allow you to curate your experience with me. I’ve created new sections for my monthly newsletters, so you can choose from categories you actually care about. If you like all of my monthly newsletters, then no action is needed. You’re already subscribed. If you want to curate your experience (only get the content you want) see below. My new categories are:
Lake Tahoe History - Details about Lake Tahoe that range from historical tidbits, scenes from my historical novel, and insights about my experience growing up there.
My Great Re-Education - A broad re-examination about fundamental things including my education, upbringing, privilege, language choices, etc.
Writing & Craft - Deep dives into the craft of writing, freelance systems, writing tips, the struggles and the value of this profession.
Short Stories - Short stories, publications, and probably more writing tips.
Update Your Preferences
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Fascinating revelations about your writing! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing about your adventure Meghan! I must say, as you were breaking down your processes of braiding, rearrangement and all that, I was visualizing Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein. Particularly when he was building his perfect man, until the mishap with the brain thing happened. "Abby Normal". Yet something of a special person happened unintentionally in that story.... hmmm?
;-) UM