In English, we don’t actually use the present tense to talk about the present. For instance, if someone asked you what you did yesterday, you might say, “I met my friends for dinner.” But if a friend called your cell phone and asked what you were doing right now, you wouldn’t say:

“I meet my friends for dinner now.”

In English we use the present progressive to talk about what we are doing in the present: “I am meeting my friends for dinner,” probably because time doesn’t stand still long enough for us to capture it in present tense. Instead, in English time is always progressing, always active.

So we have this present tense, what do we use it for?

Professions, hobbies, other things that describe identity and being: “I cook,” “I teach,” “I knit,” “I like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.”

The present tense narrative voice in literature, i.e. fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction:

The twilight of evening. Big flakes of wet snow are whirling lazily about the street lamps, which have just been lighted, and lying in a thin soft layer on roofs, horses’ backs, shoulders, caps. Iona Potapov, the sledge-driver, is all white like a ghost. He sits on the box without stirring, bent as double as the living body can be bent.– “Misery,” Anton Chekhov

Commands (imperative voice, also used for instruction writing and headlines). Here’s an example of each: “Return here with a shrubbery….One that looks nice….And not too expensive” (command). “To display the Print dialog box, press CTRL+P” (instruction text). “Use Different Quote Level Colors” (headline).

When you think about it, identity, being, and story time are timeless. So are imperative voice commands (they are uttered in a moment, but may or may not be fulfilled ever), instructional text and headlines. We use the present tense for things that are beyond time.

Thought I’d share a draft from one of the creativity exercises for tonight. This one was “Associative Poetry” – after reading Charles Simic “In the Library” to the group, I joined them in writing a poem that began with an ordinary occurrence and ended with something surprising. I guess I had the idea of angels in mind from Simic:

The angels were once as plentiful
As species of flies.
The sky at dusk
Used to be thick with them.
You had to wave both arms
Just to keep them away.

Mine is only a rough draft – slightly revised – be kind. I love Simic’s style of declarative sentences juxtaposed without transitions or fancy compound/complex sentences, so forgive me if I really try to channel it – these exercises can really help writers move in new directions.

The 27 bus huffs to a stop.
The door flies open. The steps tilt
toward the pavement with a long hydrolic sigh.
As if from a chrysalis, out emerges a woman balanced
on a cane. She blinks at the amber sun, dirty gray
clouds, clods of snow, like peppered cottage cheese,
that litter the pavement. Her feet make long shadows.

As I watch these shadows, two black triangles seem to emerge
from her legs. They are the shadows of glittering
butterfly wings, green, black and gold. She taps
her cane, propelling herself forward
in a series of short hops. Her clothes part,
ripping and shedding like an old skin. She
takes off, fluttering over my head toward the westering
sun. The bus continues north, filled
with dour night-nurses, tired maids
heading home to mac and cheese, stunned college students,
and overworked administrative assistants.

At the next stop, the bus lets out a young man in tight black jeans,
carrying an overstuffed backpack, and a woman in a white nurse’s
coat and blue scrubs. They spread their wings, trot
toward the sun, shed their loads, and flutter away.

It was a terrific workshop tonight! Everything worked beautifully – from the discussion and question session to the craft lesson, to the workshop session – four drafts we reviewed (2 novel excerpts, 1 short story, and 1 set of 2 poems). Deep, insightful comments to the drafts that I know helped the four writers with revision. Thought I’d share with you all the exercise I created for tonight, as a preview of what we do here.  Maybe you’ll find it useful.

Association – think of the free association word game in psychology – one word leads to another. In my copy of The Princeton Guide to Poetry and Poetics, under ASSOCIATION you find, “see imagination,” and the description: “connoting free play, mental creativity, and license” (566). Whatever the definition – we writers need it. We need our intellects to take a vacation and let our imaginations run free for one thing to lead to another so we can make creative, intuitive leaps. Leaps that go beyond intellect. Here are some exercises to do that.

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If you look at the masthead of the-wwp.com, you’ll now find a logo, thanks to Heather Jacobs, a WWP regular. I couldn’t have done it alone. I’m no graphic designer. That was clear when I passed out a sheet of draft logos to workshop attendees one month and asked them what they thought, honestly. And they acted like the honest reviewers I had encouraged them to become. Read more »

Here are some pics from the “Mountain-lovin’, Tree-huggin’ Coffee Hour (and-a-half) Dec 13, cosponsored by the WWP and New Southerner Magazine. I hope to have podcasts up in a few weeks.

I now have digital merchandise. An e-book of my essays, an mp3, a writer’s guide. More to come. Try http://digiorders.the-wwp.com to get started.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Louisville, KY – True stories, live music and great coffee will be served up at a special event to benefit Kentuckians For The Commonwealth.

The Mountain-Lovin,’ Tree-Huggin’ Coffee Hour (and-a-Half) will take place Sunday, Dec. 13, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Glassworks 815 West Market Street, Louisville, KY.

“The event is free, but we are suggesting a minimum $5 donation,” said Michael Jackman, who heads the Writers Workshop Project. The event is being co-sponsored by the Writers Workshop Project and New Southerner Magazine. Read more »