• Benjamin
  • Journey
  • Olivia’s Ghost
  • The Tutor
  • Paradise
  • About Me
  • Book Club
  • Editor
  • Classes
  • Services

Kathryn Mattingly

~ edgy words unleashed

Kathryn Mattingly

Tag Archives: creative writing

Word Slayers

17 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

college class, creative writing, famous authors, fiction, journalism, nonfiction, poetry, U of P, word slayers

woman in print

Well folks I haven’t written a blog in a month. I’ve been busy teaching Creative Writing at U of P and that involves assembling lectures, developing activities, grading papers, and going mad.

Interestingly enough I think poetry was the biggest hit and that was the one unit I had to research. Although I’ve dabbled in it, to read and to write, I’ve never really studied it.

Don’t get me wrong. The short stories they wrote amazed even them and the personal essays were like free therapy and a new lease on their confused souls.

All in all I’d say none were disappointed in the elective they chose. And I say elective as an electrifying word because in a way it is. It means they had options. They didn’t have to take Creative Writing ENG340 like they have to take Basic Essay Writing ENG125 or College Math MTH120 (choke, gasp).

They chose to learn more about writing creatively and to study those masters who came before them and did exactly that – write creatively, and for all the ages no less…. Poe, Frost, Emerson, Dickenson and a slew of other noteworthy word slayers.

I relish how they reacted to learning about and hearing the work of famous poets, novelists and journalists. It was scary good fun watching them take risks with their own word choices and then share it with their classmates.

There is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide in my class. You just have to spill your guts all over the page and then all over your peers as you stand before them and share your work, with nothing to hold you up but the laptop in your hands.

Every one of them is better off for it. They feel more bonded with their own skin and the skin of all their classroom colleagues. They somehow were emancipated from all those locked up secrets and scathing self doubts. Suddenly empowered to speak their peace and therefore find it in their lives.

Most importantly, they now know a little something about all those old, and newly renowned names that never meant anything before because they slept through high school English. And they are now fearless about choosing a weapon of choice whether pen, laptop, or lead to punctuate and titillate using only imagination and an army of figurative language.

Personally I haven’t worked this hard mentally, emotionally, or even physically (pacing during the entirety of each 4 hour class while I stressed over every deliverable of my well-planned and fine-tuned agenda) since the last time I, well, taught college – almost 3 years ago at International Academy.

What will I do differently next time? Almost nothing. A tweak here and there. But for the most part I just wish I could relive every single minute.

And I will.

Next term. (:

get-attachment.aspx

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Priceless Goals

10 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Kathryn Mattingly in Blog Post

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

academia, achievement, awards, Benjamin, college students, creative writing, education, goals, Kirkus reviews, New Year's resolutions, priceless, Winter Goose Publishing

IMG_1078

Here it is – January. Change and enthusiasm describe it well. New beginnings. New challenges. New opportunities. Coming on the heels of a time for reflection (December) I am certain all of us, whether we consciously make resolutions or not, want to assess our goals.

Last year I had the wonderful opportunity of running a book club where we relished discussing our selections and did so in a way that enriched us all. Some of those books have become my all time favorites, and some have caused me to examine why I cannot connect with certain authors.

This year I plan to continue reading books that jump out at me as most appealing for my preferred genre. But I have also decided to read my fellow Winter Goose authors. Perhaps my local independent publisher does not have any New York or LA Times best sellers, but they do boast a lot of writers who have won awards.

Since my passions of writing and educating have coincided my whole life, I fully respect peers who have had literary works of any kind from poetry to fiction, nonfiction, short stories, essays or articles rise to the top like cream. I will boldly admit I admire them a lot more so than those who have managed to find fame and fortune with the craft.

This is not surprising when you consider how monetarily poor those of us in academia are in comparison to other careers that require graduate degrees. You might surmise that what motivates us is excellence alone.

My personal journey in education began with running my own school for the creative expression of young children on the Oregon Coast. (Learning through hands-on art and acting out plays.) Not coincidentally, I did this while my own children were young.

I continued from there with a few non-conventional jobs at private institutions such as Oak Hill in Eugene, OR, where outdoor learning was the norm. The school was located on a 70 acre estate that had once kept horses and was overrun with foxes. It wasn’t a typical morning if I didn’t see one eye to eye out my classroom window early in the morning before students arrived.

After that I taught at another kinesthetic-forward school based on Gardner’s Theory of Eight Intelligences in Vancouver, WA. Here in California I spent a few years running my own after school program for the arts while freelance writing. I finally settled into the private art college that was my last (and longest) job until a bad economy caused the design school to irreversibly suffer. 

Currently I am poised to teach creative writing, literature, and visual arts at University of Phoenix and I am thrilled to be part of their Humanities Department, eagerly awaiting my first class, which would have started today but has been cancelled due to low enrollment. My guess is that the university scheduling it for a Friday night did not fair well for enthusiasm.

Those fortunate enough to be hired by U of P, which I have heard only employs half of those adequately credentialed and carefully selected for the 5 week training course, could wait up to 6 months for their first class. This is because you need a mentor for it, and mentors apparently are hard to come by.

The good news is that once past that first course, if you have received high marks from both the students and your mentor, you are then able to teach as much or as little as you want and can transfer to any campus in the country.

I don’t plan to get rich teaching college so waiting for that first paycheck is not what motivates me to do this. Interacting with and instructing young adults on subjects that matter most to me in life – writing, literature, and art – is priceless.

Although disappointed I have to wait a couple months to teach the class I have excessively prepared for, it does give me more time to finish editing my next novel, edit manuscripts for my clients, and read more books by Winter Goose authors – one of which (Theory of Remainders) recently was awarded Best Independent Book of the Year (among others) by Kirkus Reviews.

I am reading Scott Carpenter’s Theory of Remainders as I write this, and I couldn’t be more pleased to belong to the same flock as he. I am sorry I did not have Benjamin reviewed by Kirkus. I might not have won. Maybe they wouldn’t even have liked Benjamin, but now I will never know and that’s regrettable.

I hope that Scott, myself, and all the other authors in this Winter Goose flock are able to soar above our wildest imaginings this year in terms of literary success. May the New Year allow each of you to also soar high and accomplish an important goal. One that is priceless, regardless of monetary gain.

Bejamin_FlatforeBooks

Visit Amazon’s Kathryn Mattingly Page

Visit Kathryn Mattingly at goodreads

Visit Benjamin at Barnes&Noble

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • More
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

“Like” Me on Facebook

“Like” Me on Facebook

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    %d bloggers like this: