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S p i n n i n g
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About Spinning Words into Gold
You may be a practicing writer who is ready to shape words into finished essays, stories, or poems to share with others. You may be an accomplished writer who is looking for fresh approaches and ideas. You may be an as-yet-to-pick-up-the-pen writer who knows deep inside that you have much to share. Wherever you are on your path, if you’re interested in writing for personal growth, self-expression, contribution, and/or publication, Spinning Words into Gold is for you. I’ve always felt a kinship with Rudyard Kipling’s “The Elephant Child,” who went “to the banks of the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River” to find out what the crocodile ate for dinner because he was “full of ’satiable curtiosity, and that means he asked ever so many questions.” Like Kipling’s elephant child, we writers tend to have ’satiable curtiosity about many things in life. We feed that curtiosity, or curiosity, by asking who, what, where, when, why, and how. These questions—and their answers—feed our writing. They serve us well. So I’ve utilized Kipling’s “six honest serving-men” to organize Spinning Words into Gold into chapters—the Whos, Whys, Whens, Wheres, and Whats of writing. How is additionally divided into five chapters of its own, in which you’ll find information on Beginning, Shaping, Polishing, Marketing, and Sustaining your writing. In these ten chapters are essays, examples, and exercises about many aspects of writing—from personal concerns, like how to find time for your writing (in When), to craft concerns, like choosing a subject and genre (in What) and developing a setting (in Where). You’ll find the writing exercises and information that my students have found most valuable, stories and quotes by many different writers, and my own thoughts and experiences, as well as tips and tidbits I’ve learned along the way. Spinning Words into Gold is almost as much an anthology as it is a manual. After all, how better to learn to write than by reading, for illustration and for inspiration? So you’ll also find writings in many different stages, styles, and genres, from beginning writers to professionals. Each word was selected to support your writing. Enjoy this hands-on guide to the craft and rewards of spinning words into gold. |
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From the Introduction: “In the story ‘Rumpelstiltskin,’ the beautiful girl had straw with instructions to spin it into gold.” Carolyn Noell wrote these words in one of my classes as she explored the gold writing offers. “What do I have?” she pondered. “Only words . . .” Only wonderful words. The stuff we spin into writing that entertains, educates, inspires. What would my life be like without the joy and fulfillment of spinning words? Without the beautiful, useful words of others, from the fairy tales and songs I loved as a little girl to the poems and stories I love today? Even as I write on this particular morning in April, words of Robert Frost’s come, unbidden, to keep me company: “Nature’s first green is gold.” I’m grateful to Frost, and to all the writers who have contributed so richly to me through their words. This book is my way of passing their gifts along to you. It is a guide to the craft and practice of writing, but, even more, it is a guide to reaping the rewards writing provides. |
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An Invitation
After you’ve spun your words into gold, you’re invited to share them for possible publication in a future project. Two companions to this book are under discussion. The first is Spinning Words: Daily Gold. Designed to establish a daily writing habit, it will contain a month’s worth of jumpstart exercises. Each exercise will include a piece of writing to serve as initial inspiration and accompanying responses. The second is Spun Gold, a compilation of writings created from the exercises in Spinning Words into Gold. If you’d like your work considered, send it to me as a Word attachment at maureen@bellsouth.net, with the subject line “Spinning Words into Gold entry.” I would love to hear from you, whether it’s to share your writing, your ideas, or to tell me what worked, or perhaps didn’t work, about this book. I wish you joy, fulfillment, and success—in your writing, and in your life. |
