Example Narrative: Creative Writing Project
Narrative
Writing Trains
With the help of the Mellon Grant, we would like to explore how train travel and
exploration of new communities throughout the West Coast enables the creative writing
process. Our project will incorporate public performance as well as the creation of a
chapbook to be distributed to train passengers. The chapbook will consist of poems
lyrical essays, creative nonfiction, and other writings we have completed over the course
of the summer. By creating the chapbooks ourselves, we will be learning a new way to
share our work and connect with different communities. The culminating event of our
project will be a performance piece of the work we have compiled and edited over the
summer. Writing Trains is inspired by the Amtrak Writers’ Residency that has recently
been implemented as a way for writers to explore their craft in a unique and
unconventional space. As students of creative writing, we do not have access to this
program; however, we have drawn inspiration from it and have tailored it to our specific
interests and growth as writers. Oregon, Washington, California, and British Columbia
are rich in literary communities. This project provides us with the opportunity for
location-based learning, to explore these communities we are surrounded by, and devote
time solely to writing, a rarity in the hectic life of students.
So, why trains? How does the uncommon act of traveling by train affect or enhance
creativity? How do the interactions we will have with passengers, poets at events, and the
people we meet along the way influence our writing? What will our backgrounds in
creative writing and theatre bring to this project? How do public performance and
feedback aid the creative process?
What will the aspect of collaboration bring to this project? Portland, Seattle, and San
Francisco are three cities we would like to travel to, perform in, and attend readings. The
feedback that we receive from these experiences will help us in creating material that will
further our learning experience and aid us in the revision of our final work. Travel has
been a source of inspiration for many writers in the past including Jack Kerouac, John
Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, and Elizabeth Bishop. We will be working
in the tradition of these writers while developing our own distinctive voices and creative
processes. This grant will also give us the opportunity to explore the nomadic lifestyle
that train travel lends itself to. We plan to observe the dichotomy of our experiences
inside the train as opposed to what we see outside of the train and bring this into the
content of our work. This particular example is representative of the juxtaposition that
our work will have, being written from two separate points of view. While Linnea is
more drawn to poetry, Emily leans more towards fiction. This has been our general
writing pattern, and we’re both interested in crossing forms to explore formats such as the
lyric essay and creative non-fiction, as well as experimenting with shape and physical
appearance of text on the page.
We will split our time between riding trains and regrouping in Salem to edit our work,
create chapbooks, and prepare for our final presentation. Returning to Salem provides a
concrete home base, which we view to be equally important as the act of travel in our
process. While we are in Salem, we will focus our efforts towards reading books from
our reading list, and printing and crafting our chapbooks. Specifically, the content of the
chapbook will center on interactions, experiences, and inspiration gathered from visiting
these literary communities. An example of such content would be a poem that explores
moving through new areas and the transitory population of train travel. The act of sharing
these chapbooks with the people we meet on trains as well as the Willamette Community
will serve as a way to give back to a wider community than Willamette, and will give our
project a broader scope of influence.
One of the most enticing aspects of the Learning by Creating Grant is the opportunity it
presents for collaboration. By working together, we will learn from one another. We
work extremely well together and are very excited to explore the spontaneity that comes
from collaboration, as well as the sense of adventure that helps inspiration to grow.
However, we both work differently, and our contrasting thought processes and writing
styles will enhance our learning experience. The time spent on trains will be devoted to
writing, collaborating, and connecting with the community found on the trains and cities
we visit. Traveling to these literary communities and centers will provide us with a
plethora of raw material that will ultimately shape our final product. Our final
culminating piece will be tentatively performed in the Putnam black box space in the M.
Lee Pelton theatre building, and will incorporate elements of spoken word poetry,
monologues, prose, dialogue, movement, and storytelling. The presentation will be based
on the collaborative work we have completed over the course of the summer, the cities
we have visited, people we have met, and trains we have ridden. ALL ABOARD!
Challenges/Obstacles:
Travel fatigue
Quick turn around
Short time spent in each place
Differences in style, artistic background
Disciplinary differences (creative writing, theatre)
Building a presentation that shares both our individual voices, as well as our collaborative
voices
Writers block
Logistics
Reading maps effectively
Planning trips in a successful manner
Obtaining lodging
Splitting work equally
Time management
Safety
Theft, personal belongings
Objectives
Understand how train travel affects the creative process
Learn how our collaborative travel companionship enhances the creative work we
produce.
How we can incorporate the feedback we receive into our final product/ presentation
Learn how to craft and subsequently print and create approximately 100 chapbooks by
the end of the summer.
Record passengers’ reactions to receiving chapbooks.
Keep separate daily journals to record experience
Create a final performance piece that will resonate with our audience (students,
professors, Salem community) emotionally and academically.
How can we most accurately display our experiences through writing?
How will the mixture of creative writing and performance come together to create
a presentation that fully encompasses what we have experienced?
How does the performance of a written piece change its meaning or impact?
How does movement manifest itself in the expression of our work?
Devise a performance piece that incorporates images from our travels, movement, and
our own spoken word fiction and poetry.
Timeline
Week 1: Travel Week
Day 1: Prepare for upcoming trip, meet with advisor to work out any questions or
concerns.
Day 2: Leave for Portland
Trip time: 1 hr 30 mins writing
Day 3: Explore Portland by public transportation, attend any readings or poetry
slams.
Day 4: Leave for Seattle
Trip time: 4 hrs writing
Days 4-7: Attend readings, slams in Seattle area
Week 2: Travel Week, Salem
Day 1: Leave for BC
Trip time: 4 hours writing
Days 1-4: Attend readings/slams, get feedback on work
Day 5: Leave for Salem
Trip time: 9 hours writing
Days 6-7: Regroup in Salem, edit work collaboratively. Discuss experiences so
far, decide if methods of creating are efficient/working well.
Week 3: Travel Week, Salem
Days 1-3: Meet with Advisor, get feedback on work we have created thus far
(aiming for 10-15 pieces) Revise accordingly.
Day 4: Leave for Portland
1 hr 30 mins writing
Attend museums, Saturday Market
Leave for Salem
1hr 30 mins writing: Recap experiences of day, edit work
Days 5-7: Prepare for upcoming trip
Week 4: Travel Week
Day 1: Leave for Eugene:
Trip time: 1 hr 30 writing
Days 1-2: Attend readings, slams in Eugene
Day 3: Leave for Northern California
Trip time: 14 hours spent writing
Days 4-7: Attend Slams in Berkeley, Santa Rosa
Week 5: Travel Week, Salem
Day 1: Leave for San Francisco
Trip time: 3 hrs spent writing
Days 1-4: attend readings, slams in SF
Day 5: Leave for Salem
Trip time: 19 hours writing
Days 6-7: Revise work, begin designing chapbook (Have at least 30 pieces).
Begin devising performance.
Week 6: Salem
Day 1: Meet with Advisor, discuss project so far, what still needs to be done,
concerns etc…
Days 2-6: Work on finalizing work and creating chapbooks. Continue devising
performance - push focus towards final piece.
Day 7: Finish Chapbooks. (At least 40 final pieces).
Week 7: Salem
Day 1: Leave for Portland: Distribute chapbooks and record reactions.
Day 2: Back to Salem
Days 3-7: Finalize devised performance piece
Week 8: Salem
Days 1-7: Rehearse final performance
Meet with Advisor to assess the finished product!