Terry Wolverton
Terry Wolverton is the author of twelve books of creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry, including INSURGENT MUSE: LIFE AND ART AT THE WOMAN’S BUILDING, a memoir, and EMBERS, a novel in poems. She has edited sixteen anthologies/compilations. Terry began teaching creative writing in 1977 and has taught in a variety of community settings as well as for the MFA Creative Writing Program at Antioch University and at Cal Arts. She has received the Judy Grahn Award for Creative Nonfiction, a COLA Fellowship from the City of Los Angeles, and an Individual Artist Fellowship from the California Arts Council.
What excites you about writing? How has it affected your life?
It gives me the opportunity to discover and/or invent meaning. It allows me to actively engage with the world. It provides the chance to be always learning. It’s a vehicle of communication with others. I write in different genres as a way of continuing to expand my skill set; also, different projects require distinct forms. I’ve even written an opera libretto.
Writing has been the foundation upon which the rest of my life is built. Writing requires me to grow as a person in order to fulfill the needs of a particular project.
What mindset does a writer need to continue to grow and learn?
I find writers really benefit from a mindset of openness, a willingness to “not know” and find out as you go. To risk and experiment, to be in love with the process of discovery without being in a hurry to achieve an outcome (yes, this is not easy!) I hope you will welcome the opportunity to revision, not to “perfect” but to discover more.
I think compassion is another important quality–compassion for oneself and for the people we incorporate in our written works, whether they are drawn from life or invented.
What makes a good writing mentor?
As a mentor, I want you to succeed with YOUR goals. That begins with listening for those aspirations and paying attention to any obstacles that are getting in the way. These may be circumstantial (“I have not time!”), skill-related (“I want to do this but I don’t know how”), or matters of personal development (“I get so sad whenever I try to write about this.”) Then we can make a plan with concrete steps to tackle these.
As a mentor, I support your vision for the work, rather than imposing my own. I come from humility, because while I might have more years of writing experience, YOU are the expert in what you’re writing about.
We might also consider things like who is the audience for the work and strategies for reaching them.
What is your style of feedback?
When you show me your writing, I will first ask about your intentions for the work, and about what questions you have about what you’ve produced. As I read, I will make margin comments, responding as a reader and noting choices that strike me as well as anything that I have questions about. Then I like to sleep on it and see how the work settles in my mind. Then I write a letter of response that includes the meaning(s) I find in the work, things I notice in the work, and overall questions I have for you to consider as you approach revision. I will also address any questions you have posed.
Once you’ve had the chance to absorb my feedback, then we can have a conversation to clarify any issues and to make a game plan for your next steps.