False Start
I started this blog last year with the grand vision in mind that I would write every week and it would be great and…no that didn’t happen. I’m still struggling to find my zen, to find order in my chaotic world, and to reach a feeling of normalcy that may not even exist. Built upon that struggle has long been a love for escapist literature and films, which as perhaps fostered my interest in writing fueled by an uncontainable imagination. Cathy Day’s novel-writing class taught me about the art of craft, but her offering of an avant-garde class called “Literary Citizenship” piqued my interest.
Week Two of my final semester as a Ball State Cardinal I finally realize my role and responsibility as a member of the creative writing community. The college experience has been daunting to me, so large and sublime, I haven’t known how to make myself a part of it. Not because it wasn’t available to me or even because I didn’t know about it, but because I didn’t feel like a writer, that I had anything interesting to say that I could share with others. The real turning point for me was in my ADHD diagnosis. Finally, I knew what was wrong with me. For some reason this validation gave me a little confidence to be myself and actually take advantage of the opportunities I’d been given in the BSU Creative Writing Community.
Literary Citizen
In Cathy Day’s novel-writing class I realized that in order to be a better—at the very least better informed—writer, it would be crucial to immerse myself in what other writers are doing. In joining the literary universe I am not only learning more about my field, but also making myself a literary citizen promoting the work of fellow writers so that they can be found and read—may karmic goodness rain down upon me.
This week we read Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist. Kleon puts writers at ease in an enjoyable read by bringing light to the truth that all art has some element of preexisiting art. He lets us know that art really is in the eye of the beholder. Stay tuned for my complete review of Steal Like an Artist.
Easy as 1, 2, 3.
One of the joys of modern technology is that it makes this task quite simple. Social media is a crucial outlet in literary citizenship. Follow me @lindsayagregg and the Ball State University Literary Citizenship campaign @litcitizen on Twitter to read about some great new authors and their works, as well as, some informative works about creative writing.
Until next time,
Lindsay
1, 2, 3 ... Write With Me. 
This looks nice, Lindsay.
I agree that I feel that I never did much for the literary community before and I feel my presence online has grown as my understanding of literary citizenship also grows. I have always been that girl that has started a blog and fizzled out, then deleted it (or with journals when I was little), but this class has made me want to read and do more as a literary citizen. (Btw I am at the UCA class haha).