Eaton Hamilton

the problem with being trans is cis people. The problem with being queer is straight people. The problem with being disabled is abled people. The problem with being Black is white people. In other words, prejudice.

Tag: SUAW

01/16/2018

Shut Up and Write sessions in Canada: do you have a location to share?

 

I’m sitting in the library on a sunny Tuesday in Shut Up and Write session. SUAW sessions originally formed in San Francisco before being brought to Canada by Tom Cho when he was writer-in-residence at Kogawa House in Vancouver. I kept them going after Tom moved to Toronto, and even though I later moved away from the city, they are still on-going Wednesday mornings in central Vancouver. There’s a FB page. Here we do them in person Tuesdays, but we’ve added several remote sessions most weeks, where one writes alone at home with one of us sending along the timing using FB message. Using the Pomodoro Method we write with each other for 25 quiet minutes, break for 5, and repeat three times before taking a 20-minute break. At the end of that, we do another 2 25-min sessions.

For someone like me who writes seven days a week, SUAW is a terrific means to cut off hours and write efficiently. Check to see if there’s a SUAW where you live, and if there isn’t, start one! Download a timer like Focus Keeper, find a location, invite folks and you’re ready to go!

 

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08/29/2016

Shut Up and Write, Salt Spring Island

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photo by Lee Massey

L-R:  Jane Eaton Hamilton, Sophia Faria, Kat Kosiancic, Gail Meyer, Derek Capitaine, Mary Rose Maclachlan.

Shut Up and Write sessions have become an enduring part of BC culture since AU writers Jackie Wykes and Tom Cho brought them to Vancouver during their writers-in-residency stint at Historic Joy Kogawa House. They now run at Artigiano Café on Main and 24 Wed from 2-5 and will soon be offered through VPL as well. Here on Salt Spring, a group now assembles and writes together for 3 hours in 25-minute stints with breaks. People say they get a lot accomplished. I co-host with Salt Spring Island Public Library, a beautiful and generous facility that’s offered us writing space 3-4 times a week. You can find out more about the sessions in Vancouver or on Salt Spring by joining the FB pages at Shut Up and Write Vancouver and Shut Up and Write Salt Spring Island.

 

 

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