Hello, and welcome to my blog!

This is the space that I’ve been looking forward to for a while.

Even though my teaching schedule can be hectic, I hope to re-establish my relationship with my own writing in a more public way.

From Private to Public Writing

Typically, I journal by pen and paper and will work on a picture book for fun, often in the mornings. But with this blog, I hope to experiment and share my ideas around Story, and other subjects that I gravitate towards. In large part, if my brain is not occupied with how to be a better English teacher, it’s usually thinking about what secrets or wisdom Story has to tell us. I’m fully aware that the Hero’s Journey is primarily a western structure, so I’m also interested in non-US storytelling as well.

The More Visual and Handmade, the Better

Since I like to convey my ideas and concepts around stories visually, I will try to add in some handmade drawings along the way. I’m not sure why, but I feel computer-generated images are a bit too clean. Thinking and experimenting can be messy, and there is something a bit more human in the hand-drawn graphic. It may not be a work of art, but it will be mine.

In some cases, I may review a book, movie, or play and tell you what I see in it from a Lit Analysis perspective.

Welcoming Exploration and Impact

At other times, I may speak in terms of my own concerns about Climate Change and the environment, though I am no expert. I would like to explore I and my own students can help to make an impact. Lately, I’ve been considering doing more Elementary and High School Story Contests or Essay Contests to bring some attention to the issue and encouraging students to send these letters to politicians, companies, and people of influence.

What Prevents Us from Writing, and How Do We Overcome It?

I’m also interested in our own psychological state when we’re writing or about to write. In the parlance of Story, the act of writing is its own “portal’ into our own “Special World” or “Extraordinary World.”

To me, writing, especially before tapping on the keys, can be full of fear and doubt. What will others say? What if it’s terrible? Or what if no one understands? An on, and on. The mind begins to hijack our brains hoping that we will stop. Steven Pressfield, in his book, The War of Art, names this feeling as Resistance, which crops up whenever we decide to do something creative. How do we turn those moments of fear into curiosity and even a sense of power and zest? By being open to our flaws and accepting that we are not experts but explorers. 

Welcome “Risk” into your Creativity

To overcome abandoning this “risky” path of creativity, we need to recognize it and move past it. We have to begin by making a mess, “risk” dismantling ourselves, embrace “the other”, and welcome that initial awkwardness  through the act of “just practice.” I will talk about more about these ideas in later posts. Only then can we recreate a new persona – a creative one and one that walks towards and welcomes mastery through humble practice.

Once the pen begins to scribble on the page or the keys begin to tap, I often feel a sense of forward movement in my thoughts and a sense of exploration and surprise. There is an indulgence and freedom to writing as conjuring a spell. That is the power of seeing our ideas in physical form. Well, I hope to hit that sense of flight each time. Most importantly, I hope you will feel that what I present here is helpful, inspiring, or both.

Thank you for joining me, and I hope you will enjoy my next post.

Thank you, and be well!

Royd Hatta

Writing Coach