In 1991 at Rollins College—twenty-five years ago—I took a course from Dr. Lezlie Laws on writing about literature. We kept journals. We wrote assignments in those journals. We recorded private thoughts in them, too. At the time, I did not realize I was gardening. I was planting seeds for future works: for an essay titled, “An Affinity for Windows” and eventually the book, Undertow.
Don’t forget
The photo here, and the others below, are from that journal. I keep it because I do not want to forget my roots. I believe that writers must cherish and nourish their roots if they expect to grow. Teachers can guide us, inspire us, mentor us, but in the end, it is up to us to keep writing, to push the limits, to believe in ourselves enough to produce the works that live in our hearts.
“Affinity for Windows” tucked inside Undertow
In the journal entry featured in this post, I told about an incident in another class I was taking at the time, a philosophy class on the theme of freedom. We read, among other things, Plato’s The Republic. I had a palpable reaction to the discussion, and in this journal I used that experience to experiment with constructing a narrative. It was part of the beginning …
Many years later when Dr. Laws called for essays to include in an anthology about startling moments in the classroom, I knew immediately what I would write. Out of storage came that brown journal. Onto the page came “Affinity for Windows.” Into the world, in 2004, came the book, Shifting Gears: Small, Startling Moments In and Out of the Classroom: 21 Stories by Women of Rollins College.
You can read “Affinity” here on the Essays & Poetry page.
Stay tuned for announcements about ordering Undertow.
Ciao for now,
Your writer on the wing!
