I made it to a writing workshop this past weekend at a library not very close to home. It was called “Tell Your Story” and it was at Valencia Library. It’s a part of the latest Writer in Residence program, which now features Logan Phillips.

Of course I was running late and driving much to quickly across town, but I made it there only a couple minutes past the start time.

It was a great workshop. Logan is both an awesome poet and presenter. I got a bunch of words written down and had fun in the process. I also enjoyed learning some of Logan’s structuring techniques for his poems and exercises for getting his creative juices flowing. We made a lot of lists and played with them.

This is an excerpt I shared with my writing buddies:

My story is the brown rough bark of oaks. 
And also maples and sycamores and mulberry trees.
Easy to grip and shimmy up. 
Of climbing branches and eating berries and making tree forts.

I wrote much more than I shared – we only had so much time. And people tend to chat when they share.

I plan to expand on what I came up with, but I might make a few more lists first. (Our lists helped us connect with our senses. What do you see? What do you smell? What do you hear?)

At some point in the workshop Logan stated, “writing is easy when there are no stakes.” And it’s true.