REVIEW: Writer to Writer

Students, no matter what discipline you’re coming from, I truly encourage you to be on the look out for WCBN’s Writer to Writer podcast featuring Dr. Howard Markel. And I’m saying this not simply because I liked the talk but because I feel responsible to get more people to listen to what he had to say. Why?

I’m an insecure, struggling writer. I have a hard time articulating my thoughts into well-phrased, concise, comprehensive, and convincing parcels of words. Yes, sentences and paragraphs.  I’m putting myself out there but I’m pretty sure other people share some form of this concern. Listening to Dr. Markel talk about his experiences as a writer demystified “writing” for me.

Here is a curated student writing FAQ list with simplified answers from Dr. Markel’s talk:

I think I like writing but I’m not good in it. What do I do?

During the talk, Dr. Markel talked about how he initially wanted to be a playwright but felt that he kept writing “bland plays.” At the time it was frustrating but looking back, he knew he ended up combining his love for writing with his career in medicine by writing medical history books. In history books, “the plot,” he noted, “is already written for you.” So it worked out well for him because the problem he found in one form of writing didn’t exist in another.

So the main takeaway? Go with the flow and you’ll find your niche.

How do I improve my writing?

a) By making writing a habit. Start with 100-200 words of free writing a day, then step it up to 500 words.

b) By reading. By finding out what works for you as a reader (style, structure, etc.), you understand what to do as a writer.

c) Revise constantly but smartly. Take some time off from your writing between each revision to clear your mind and freshen your perspective.

What’s a simple way of knowing whether my writing sucks if I am not having it peer reviewed?

If you can explain what you’re writing about to a person and he/she understands perfectly, you’re doing great. If you can’t, it means you have to rewrite it.

I have writer’s block. What do I do?

Read a lot. You will only be able to have ideas if you’re constantly inspired.

Should I write something that seems obvious or has been written about before?

Be confident. If you think you can say it/write it better, then it’s worth writing about it.

Why do I need to know about all of this if I’m never going to write anything substantial after my first year/upper level writing class?

When Dr. Markel said that he understood things better when he wrote them out or that he felt the need to rewrite something if he couldn’t explain what he wrote to someone else, he articulated feelings that I had but never really acknowledged. I then understood that writing isn’t exclusive to any field– it can be a form of therapy, a way to solve a personal problem, a tool to achieve better understanding. There you go.

 

 

REVIEW: Lady Bird

I cried five times while watching Lady Bird, which would be exceptionally significant if not coming from the girl who cried so hard she nearly busted a blood vessel in her eye after watching Madagascar 2. Regardless, Lady Bird was the perfect way for me to wash out the ol’ tear ducts. To whomever may be reading this review: if you’re looking for a quirky indie movie with a convincing cast… WATCH LADY BIRD.

While at first coming across as a typical coming-of-age story centering around a eccentric-yet-lovable protagonist armed with an average stockpile of romantic escapades, best friend drama, and parent troubles, Lady Bird delivers more of a punch. Yes, the movie does contain these elements, but casts another layer onto them. Catherine aka. “Lady Bird,” our heroine, immediately captivates the audience with her snarky dialogue and subtly pink hair. However, there is an element of vulnerability in her character that becomes nearly instantly evident and endearing. I couldn’t help but feel affection towards this spunky high school senior who isn’t afraid of standing out but is not unquestionably defiant of authority– in fact, she has a passion for theater and fosters a sort of friendship with one of the nuns at her Catholic school, setting her apart from previous, “i-hate-everyone-why-am-i-so-different-and-quirky” protagonist archetypes of similar indie movies. Nearly every character was endearing in their own special ways.

Lady Bird is a movie about growing up, but it is also one about mother-daughter relationships. The relationship between Lady Bird and her mother is so so real and beautifully crafted. One could see the obvious love that undercut the tension between them. There was one scene in particular at the end that hit home particularly hard- the woman sitting next to me was probably getting fed up with my periodic crying-noises of anguish.

And yet, there are precious moments of humor that made the entire theater shout with laughter. The humor in this film is smart and dry, cutting through moments of heavy emotion with its quick-wittedness.

Lady Bird perfectly captures teen-girl longing, frustration, restlessness, and nostalgia in a way that is not corny or unrealistic: because there were elements of realism in each area of Lady Bird’s journey. There is no ‘fairy-tale ending’ for any of the characters. The ending of the movie, while I am not going to spoil it, cuts off almost ominously, allowing one to wonder about the fate of Lady Bird and her loved ones.

If you didn’t get a chance to experience Lady Bird yet, don’t fret. Michigan Theater has showtimes until November 30th. Tickets are $8 with student ID.

Featured image credits: Merie Wallace, courtesy of A24

PREVIEW: Writer to Writer

What: A conversation between one Sweetland faculty member and Dr. Howard Markel, UM professor of History of Medicine on the writing process outside of the classroom.

Time and Venue: 21 Nov 7-8pm, Literati Bookstore (wooh!)

Who is this for: Aspiring writers, fans of Dr. Markel, writers-trudging-through-first-year-writing-courses (aka yours truly)– anyone really.

Why watch: Writing is mysterious because it’s so personal. We’re getting a glimpse into this process.

 

PREVIEW: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

An unsolved murder case. A grieving, demanding, unapologetic, bold mother. Controversial billboards. “Dim-bulb” police officers. Violence in the name of love, hatred, hope, rage, and forgiveness. Comedy. Crime. Drama. What more do you want in a movie? Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri features all these elements and more. Starring Academy Award winners Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes and Woody Harrelson as William Willoughby, with Sam Rockwell as Officer Dixon, this dark comedic drama captures “something truthfully human.” The film opens at the Michigan Theater on Tuesday, November 21. Student tickets are $8, and it is also free with a Passport to the Arts voucher from November 22-29!

REVIEW: Dont Look Back

Bob Dylan is celebrated far and wide for his sense of enigma. It draws many fans to him like a magnet — the fact that he rarely, if ever, reveals details of his personal life, the impenetrable nature of his ever-changing persona. In fact, I actually went to see him in concert this October, and I was surprised by the fact that he didn’t say a single word outside of the songs that he played. This mystery is a trait that he carries even to this day, and it can be traced all the way back to the very beginnings of his fame in the 1960s.

Dont Look Back, a 1967 documentary focusing on his 1965 tour of London, England, brings its audience closer to Dylan — the “real” Dylan, if there is such a thing — than any of them are otherwise likely to get. This Dylan is striking, more than anything, because he wavers so much between different facades. At times he is visionary, playing guitar and singing straight from his heart, or talking honestly with people who see life differently from him; at other times he is downright arrogant, interrupting people often and discounting their opinions in favor of his own. Sometimes he is quiet and attentive, carefully listening while fellow musicians like Donovan and Joan Baez play music for him in hotel rooms; sometimes he is loud and angry almost to the point of not making sense, like when he demands to know who in his hotel is guilty of throwing glass into the street. He’s humble and down-to-earth, but also remarkably full of himself (“I know I’m big noise,” he taunts to a man he has accused of being guilty of the glass-throwing). Sometimes he’s very serious, and sometimes he grins and makes jokes — and what’s more, he’ll often switch between many of these attitudes within the span of a single minute.

Of course, many of these less endorsable sides of Dylan — that he is argumentative, acerbic, full of himself, etc. — are traits that a great deal of his fans will easily dismiss. They’ll say, “That’s just the way he is,” or, “That’s what makes him so great — he’s not afraid to tell people how it is!” Luckily, the film itself takes no sides; with no retrospective voiceover or imbalance regarding what footage it decides to show us, it is indiscriminate. It leaves its audience to make their own decisions.

The crowning achievement of Dont Look Back, then, is that it’s honest. It gives fans an inner look at everything they love about Dylan — the ways in which he can be at once relatable and completely, untouchably elevated — while refusing to shy away from the paradoxes of his character that at times can undercut this. I’ll admit feeling a personal pang of anger during a moment in the movie when Dylan tells a reporter something on the lines of, “I know more about you and your profession, just now from meeting you, than you will ever know about me.” But I also laughed anytime Dylan told a joke, and watched breathlessly during recordings of his live performances of songs like “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Talkin’ World War III Blues”.

Dont Look Back was filmed at the height of Dylan’s fame and at the cusp of some of his most major creative breakthroughs (a.k.a., his 1967 triple-album win with Bringing it All Back HomeBlonde on Blonde, and Highway 61 Revisited). It situates us directly in Dylan’s touring life, to the point that we feel like we’re actually sitting where the camera operator is sitting, three or four feet away from him. It is arguably the closest any film has ever or can ever really come to penetrating the eternal mystery and captivating persona of Bob Dylan, for better or for worse.

REVIEW: Dessa @ The Blind Pig

Tuesday night, which happened to be before my Math 481 midterm (a fact I did not realize until I had already agreed to review this concert), Dessa and crew came to town. Though I had been looking forward to this concert for sometime, I had also been counting on Tuesday to study. I ended up choosing the concert, but I might live to regret this decision (in approximately a week, when I get the exam back).

When I got there, the first act was already well underway though the crowd was still sparse. The song I could hear James Gardin playing as I entered the venue struck me as generic and ugly, but the next few songs he played were much better. His songs are shockingly well-produced for a local rapper, featuring soothing beats and rhythmic choruses. The lyrics, much like his stage presence, feature uplifting verses and a message for unity in times of trouble. Although the audience was clearly not there for him, he succeeded in getting people interested and vibing to his music. Furthermore, his crowd interactions demonstrated excitement and compassion for his audience, which helped to start the concert off on a positive note. At one point, he asked for two volunteers to say a bit about themselves and then freestyled based on what they told him–and as someone not often impressed by freestyle, he did quite well.

The next opening act (and also Dessa’s backing band) was MONAKR. Their music served as an interlude between Gardin and Dessa’s rapping. Their lyrics were either softly sung or gently wailed, depending on the tempo of the song. At times, there were rapid and impressive drum beats dragging the songs along, but others were almost entirely electronic, built from varied sounds slowly coming to crescendo. Either way, the tone of their set was distinctly different, and chilled the audience to a certain extent. Their stage presence featured a few too many jokes about their name (for reference, it’s pronounced the same as moniker) and didn’t have a clear speaker (both the singer and the guitarist would attempt to speak at the same time) designated to talk to the audience. Still, I would definitely recommend checking out their sound.

Finally, there was Dessa. Her performance was upbeat and her songs simultaneously rocked and soothed, featuring rapping and singing and tightly produced melodies. In between songs, she was clearly a performer who loved her fans, and the words she said seemed to come from an open and honest place, as if she were writing in a journal and not speaking to a room filled with a couple hundred. Though she played old favorites, much of her set was spent testing out new material for an upcoming album (still unannounced), and as a fan, there isn’t much greater pleasure than these concert sneak peaks. Overall, Dessa navigated her performance and dialogue well, and demonstrated a love and passion for her work, one that she has for over a decade in an often unforgiving industry.