Molding the Essay
The Interior Gaze: Week One
Welcome to The Interior Gaze, an eight week exploration of the essay as art form, political artifact, and empathy machine. This course is for paying members of Navel Gazing, but many of the writing and resources are accessible to all. To participate fully (and support this newsletter) please consider becoming a contributing member of Navel Gazing. You are encouraged to share any part of this post!
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In today’s newsletter:
Two essays, each quite different from one another!
A craft lesson on the use of color in writing, by Jane Alison.
A generative prompt that will help you begin your next essay or story.
The Zoom link for our weekly silent writing meetings, which occur on Tuesdays from 10:30-11:30am EST (below the paywall).
Make sure to join the Interior Gaze chat to keep up with discussions!
The world is wild right now, and it’s easy to be pulled in so many directions (all at once).
Taking the time to slowly read and digest essays and develop your own writing practice is an antidote to an overstimulated system. The path of least resistance (doomscrolling and screen addiction) can steal years of our lives from us. I encourage you to make space for what I’m offering here– commit to the next eight weeks. Commit to reading one essay a week, leaving one comment, or doing one generative writing exercise. You can participate as much or as little as you’d like.
If you’re having trouble cutting down on screen time, join Sentient Scrolling, a multi-month journey for decreasing screen time and increasing creativity. It begins January 16th. Find out more below:
For the next two weeks we’ll be discussing two essays, each wildly different from one another.
It’s useful to read these essays both for content and form— to consider what the writers may be trying to accomplish, who they may be addressing, and what craft tools they use to tell their stories. Read each essay once, without taking notes, then again with notes (or just once if that’s all you have time for!).
“Creatures That Don’t Conform” by Lucy Jones, is a longform essay that takes the reader on a journey through the niche world of slime molds. We’ll be discussing this essay first, so make sure to read it first if you want to join the discussion (I’ll post a chat on Saturday morning, and may write a longer reflection/discussion as well).
“Grenada Revisited: An Interim Report,” written by Audre Lorde, was published as a last-minute inclusion to her book Sister Outsider. This essay straddles the line between scholarly and creative, like many of Lorde’s essays do. I’ll send a reminder a few days before this essay discussion, along with some reading questions.
A Generative Prompt in Several Parts:
If you engage with these prompts and produce something interesting, feel free to share anything (even a snippet of your writing) in the comments to any Internal Gaze post— the comments are private and will only be read by participants.
First, pluck a book off your bookshelf (digital or physical) and carve out twenty minutes to sit down with it. Grab a pen and paper. Once you’re settled, open to the beginning of any chapter, story, or essay, and read the first few paragraphs. Without writing anything down or trying to analyze/figure out the writing, let yourself experience the writing. Notice how it feels in your body. Notice your immediate reaction to the content or prose style. Notice thoughts or judgements that arise (either of yourself or the writer, or both).
After you’ve read the paragraphs, spend a few minutes down what you noticed as you read. Try to stick to noticing rather than analyzing. Don’t get too intellectual about it.
Read the paragraphs again. This time, activate analysis. What does the writer include in the opening? How is information organized? Who is speaking? How are they speaking? To whom? How is the narrative working? What about the sentences? What are they like?
That’s the first part of the exercise. You can stop there and come back later, or continue now. If you come back later, I encourage you to read the paragraphs again, and go over your notes, then start the next part:
Take a few minutes to sit and let the practice absorb. Just 2-3 minutes in silence. Then begin to think about a story or essay that you’d like to write or have been meaning to start. Let the beginning of the essay/story coalesce in your mind as much as possible before starting to write.
Once you feel ready to write, set a timer for twenty minutes. Then take a pen and paper (writing by hand is preferred for this exercise, but it’s ok to type or dictate if that’s more accessible for you) and begin writing a beginning. Don’t think too hard. If you feel or hear a critical voice arise, notice it and let it go if you can. You’re not trying to write anything but what’s coming out of you.
Things to keep in mind as you write:
You are writing something no one will see. Let yourself write whatever you’d like, with no fear of judgement.
Every word you are putting down on the paper is meant to be there. If you want to change something later, you can, but release the need to edit for the duration of this practice.
This does not have to be a traditional beginning or opening. Stories and essays can begin anywhere, including at the end, in the middle, or outside of the story itself.
On Tuesday January 21st, I’ll include a continuation of this exercise. Over the course of the next eight weeks, if you complete all of the generative prompts, you will end up with half an essay (or pssibly an entire essay, depending on how deeply you engage.
Once you’ve completed any part of this prompt, please do share your experience (or writing, even a single sentence) in the comments of this or any Interior Gaze post. I’d love to hear how the practice unfolds for you!
Previous Interior Gaze posts and prompts:
Essays and readings are accessible below, along with the writing group link.
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