Ruthlessness: A Workshop on Writing

Writers often find themselves either unable to write or else ducking the most difficult moments in their own story telling in order not to reveal “too much,” or “the wrong thing,” about themselves or people they love. Particular pieces of one’s own “truth” cannot be related because the fantasy of their public revelation, or their impact upon others feels intolerable, either consciously or unconsciously. Or, perhaps, more concretely, the idea of making time to write – and rewrite and rewrite again – of removing oneself from intimates and responsibilities – feels too ruthless to be tenable.

This workshop will explore both these quandaries. We will focus particularly on those difficult junctures in participants’ writing where inhibition seems to spring from quandaries of ruth and ruthlessness. In the course of the day we will read aloud, talk, listen and converse; mostly we will write, and then workshop, and then rewrite a few paragraphs. Our goal will be for each participant to try to create a passage that brings up some writing dilemma related to ruthlessness, and then to try several experiments about ways to handle his/her difficult encounter. What can I let myself say? How much is about what I say, how much about how I say it? Which areas are most difficult for me? Are some things better left unsaid?

Janna Malamud Smith is a writer, a psychotherapist, and an award-winning teacher. She has lectured widely, and has published nationally and internationally – including in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and The American Scholar.  She writes opinion commentary for “Cognoscenti” the WBUR public radio blog. She is the author of four books. The first two, Private Matters. (1997) and A Potent Spell. (2003) were chosen as “Notable Books” by The New York Times Sunday Book Review. Her third, “My Father is a book.” (2006) was selected as a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Two of her essays appear in Best American Essays. Her most recent book is An Absorbing Errand: How Artists and Craftsmen Make their way to Mastery (2013). She is currently writing a book about fishermen on an island off the coast of Maine.