Katiaesque

  • “What Do I Know About Writing Anyway?” One Writer’s Quest for Critiquing Confidence: A Guest Post

    Last month I had the good fortune — and the great fun! — of hosting my fellow Darling Assassin Monica Roe with her sage writing advice about working in the NOW. Today, another VCFA classmate, Tziporah Cohen, agreed to share the wisdom she picked up with her MFA over the last two years. Darling Assassins is the name of my Vermont College…

    Katia Raina

  • The Problem With When (And the Cumulative Power of Now): A Guest Post

    A lot has been going on over here behind the Magic Mirror: some of it writing-related, much of it big and exciting life changes and I promise to explain more soon(ish) 🙂 In the meantime though, I wanted to reach out to my wise and talented writing siblings, my Vermont College of Fine Arts classmates, The…

    Katia Raina

  • Building A Meaningful Writing Life

    People think that writers enroll in an MFA program on a quest for publication, the shiniest treasure of all.  And maybe some writers do. Okay, many do. Most. I guess I did, too. I enrolled in the program with that shiny goal in mind. And then, after intense writing and reading and studying, one of the biggest lessons…

    Katia Raina

  • What I’ve Learned: MFA in a Nutshell, Part 1

      Hey all! I am, of course, back from my final VCFA residency, a shiny new MFA in hand.  It’s fun to look back on the incredible, enriching, life-changing journey this has been and take a moment to talk about what I’ve learned. First, let me quantify it for you: two years of learning, what exactly did it…

    Katia Raina

  • Happy New Year! Off to Graduate!

    Happy 2015 my dear readers! May it bring you love and joy and beauty (not to mention, lots and lots of writing, of course)! The year 2014 has been pretty exciting. I completed the second half of my studies at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Learned up to my ears. Wrote a critical thesis delving into novels in verse. Finished a draft…

    Katia Raina

  • A Very Belated and Very Zen Bit (or Should I Say “Bead?”) of Writing Wisdom

    It seems crazy that I am only now getting around to sharing such a long-promised post, about a graduate lecture from the summer’s residency by a fellow Vermont College of Fine Arts now-alumni Joe McGee. Crazy, when I am now finalizing work on my own upcoming lecture for January! (Gulp). Nevertheless, here goes! Joe’s lecture, ZEN…

    Katia Raina

  • So you think you’re done…

    Or at least, well, that’s what I thought. Sort of. When back in May, in my third semester,  I finished a new draft of a novel I had been working on for…ahem…a lot of years, I was ecstatic.  But the glorious feeling that yes, I got it, that I nailed it this time, lasted for about…oh, twenty minutes. After…

    Katia Raina

  • Not A Daily Writer 2: On Superheroes Versus Champions

    This is a follow-up post to my last rather embarrassing admission of not being a daily word count superhero anymore. Okay, maybe you guys didn’t think it was embarrassing, but I did! Allow me now to present the other side of the issue. Because ever since the last post, I’ve been thinking… It is true that…

    Katia Raina

  • Mid-Semester Progress Report

    So, the whole slowing down and letting go thing? It took just under a month, both a hard-work month and a vacation of a month. Letting go meant songs on the piano, meant Friday night candles, movies, nothing grand. Slowing down meant looking up, looking left and right, too, just paying attention. Playing meant new rituals (and some old ones too),…

    Katia Raina

  • Own It

    Hi all, It felt a little surreal to come back to Vermont for a second residency as a seasoned second semester. The ten days flew by. Friends, teachers, dancing, writing, soaking in new knowledge and old, soaking in the love. Yes, love. This was mainly what this residency, known as “summer of love” was all…

    Katia Raina