by Ashley Pabilonia
Florida's sweltering, muggy summers -- and springs, then slightly less hot and humid falls and winters -- combined with my inability to pitch a tent put me off of Camp Wordier Than Thou at first despite the variety of writing workshops it offered. As someone who prefers to doodle or type away on my pieces in a home, cafe, or bar setting, any outdoor location is out of my comfort zone. My unease was tempered after discovering this year's event involved no overnight camping contrary to the name. The significant price drop about a week before the event happening on August 18 and 19 convinced me to register.
When I arrived at the designated location in Lake Seminole Park I spied the grassy waterside views beyond the picnic shelters. Throughout the weekend breezes blew in between stretches of sunny, steamy weather. On the 18th, cool air accompanied the rain that showered down on the shelter rooftops, grass, and pavement in percussive ambient noise that soothed and invigorated me. The local wildlife amused and pestered attendees. Birds and squirrels stole snacks out of my hands and bag on both days.
Wordier than Thou’s weekend writing “camp” held classes on disciplines such as poetry, live performance, and screenwriting. Some workshoppers hiked a trail for inspiration from Mother Nature, found an alligator guarding her young, and learned how to tell apart edible and inedible mushrooms. During lunch breaks and after each day's events I ambled beyond the shelters, losing myself -- figuratively and literally -- along the park’s boat docks and pathways.
When I arrived at the designated location in Lake Seminole Park I spied the grassy waterside views beyond the picnic shelters. Throughout the weekend breezes blew in between stretches of sunny, steamy weather. On the 18th, cool air accompanied the rain that showered down on the shelter rooftops, grass, and pavement in percussive ambient noise that soothed and invigorated me. The local wildlife amused and pestered attendees. Birds and squirrels stole snacks out of my hands and bag on both days.
Wordier than Thou’s weekend writing “camp” held classes on disciplines such as poetry, live performance, and screenwriting. Some workshoppers hiked a trail for inspiration from Mother Nature, found an alligator guarding her young, and learned how to tell apart edible and inedible mushrooms. During lunch breaks and after each day's events I ambled beyond the shelters, losing myself -- figuratively and literally -- along the park’s boat docks and pathways.
I enjoyed the workshops that balanced discussion, interaction, and production. During one about “Finding Your Genius: Improvising Through Blocks” I was amazed by how much information I gleaned from playing the improvisational games. A group made up of another participant, our host Jean Sheridan, and myself managed turn by turn to piece together spur of the moment fragments into unexpected tales. By acting out scenes, verbally filling out a “story spine” of prompts, and snapping and clapping along to word associations, we realized how our preferred, comfortable thought processes can trap us in “stuck energy” that stifles our creativity.
Examining my pieces from different perspectives occurred in other courses that I took. For “The Art of Poetry/The Poetry of Art,” Rob McCabe passed around postcards of famous paintings as muses for ekphrastic compositions. “Driven by Desire: A Fiction Workshop” revealed that characters are motivated by the things they want, and developing upon what those are constructs a narrative. Sheree L. Greer led us, her students for the day, in listing factoids and journaling in first person as characters we created and favored. One by one and out loud we discovered aspects and angles of them that we had never considered, opening up for us new opportunities to write and revise our stories. During his own poetry workshop, Tyler Gillespie instructed McCabe and me to scribble down sonnets, rearrange their lines, and compare both results. Even though my concerted effort went into the initial draft, to my surprise the second attempt appealed to me more.
Lake Seminole Park proved to be the refreshing change of pace I needed to shake off my creative slump. I came away from the weekend with tips to combat my persistent writer's block, ideas and pieces substantial enough to build upon and polish, and new contacts with whom to discuss critique and craft.
I just had to step away from my desk, drive across the bay area bridge, and “camp.”
Lake Seminole Park proved to be the refreshing change of pace I needed to shake off my creative slump. I came away from the weekend with tips to combat my persistent writer's block, ideas and pieces substantial enough to build upon and polish, and new contacts with whom to discuss critique and craft.
I just had to step away from my desk, drive across the bay area bridge, and “camp.”