Doing the Write Thing (for You)

Meet my friend, Katey Schultz. Katey is on the road (like Jack Kerouac) driving in her old dependable "Claw," a 1989 Volvo station wagon with over 200,000 miles on it. In this picture, she has made a stop at my parents' house in Benton, AR on her way to Houston, TX. Besides needing one of my mom's home-cooked meals, we needed a catch-up session after not seeing each other for several years.

The last time I saw Katey, we were both living outside of Burnsville, NC in the mountains near Celo. Katey was teaching at the Arthur Morgan School and I was selling books and teaching a class using The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron as reference material. Katey attended that class as well as my open mic, Eve's Night Out (now hosted by Britt Kaufmann), at Blue Moon Bookstore in Spruce Pine.

I could tell even 7 years ago, as Katey was just beginning to get serious about her work, that she would indeed be a published writer one day. Her dedication, commitment and willingness to work at what she wanted were beyond compare. She did her homework. She came to class prepared. She could face rejection (one of the hardest requirements for artists of all kinds) with stoicism. She had a natural talent for writing. All she needed was some joy to go along with all these tremendous gifts.

In our twenties we, of the artistic persuasion, can be mighty angst-ridden. We tend to take ourselves very seriously and have put ourselves on a mostly impossible time line for fame and fortune. We can become nervous wrecks before our time. We can turn to drink and drugs to dull the sharp edges of reality and rejection. Worse, we can give up entirely, and give into a world that demands something totally different as it defines success for us.

But Katey did none of these. She put on her thinking cap instead and thought long and hard about how she, as an individual different from all other individuals, should go about this practice of writing. She obtained her MFA through a low-residency program. She researched artists' retreats and residencies, then sent out applications everywhere. She found a type of writing that appealed to her in the form of flash fiction (extremely short, short stories). She worked enough to buy "The Claw," figured out what she needed to pack to keep her comfortable on the road, and took off for her first residency at the same time she began a book, a blog, and a literary journal. Yo! That's what I call youthful energy mixed with a mature dedication to one's art.

Now I can tell you that Katey has written umpteen short stories since she has been on her writing adventure. She has attended many writing residencies, taught classes for both young students and adults, kept up with her incredibly well-written blog, and is sending out her first book to publishers. She has met writers and artists, famous and not-so-famous, who have both taught and learned from her. Her journey, by anyone's standards, is a huge success.

However, the greatest gift her writing adventure has given Katey is the beautiful smile on her face. Joy and excitement radiate from her body and into those who approach her. She shines. I basked in that radiance at my mom's house outside Little Rock. Katey herself might not yet fully grasp what she has found out there in the great American "wilderness." She has acquired two of the most elusive of all attributes: happiness and fulfillment.

Despite the frustration of trying to publish her first book... despite the rigors of the road and a few physical setbacks (like a broken foot)...Katey Schultz is flying. She is soaring above society's strictures and structures. She is successfully ignoring the American definition of success. She is finding her own way through the writing maze and discovering a whole new grace in young adulthood; even in America, a place in which I so often lose faith. Seeing Katey has renewed my hope in humankind. Americans are looking after this young woman who would be Writer...who WILL be Writer...who IS Writer.

So write on, Katey. And ride on. See it all. Make discoveries. Write about it. Talk about it. Don't be afraid. Thrill at the incredible gift and wonder of life. You are one of my sheros. If I had it to do over again (that old lament of mid-life), I would do exactly as you are doing. So enjoy every moment and keep submitting your work. The pay-off is every single day you wake up smiling.

You can ride along with Katey at www.kateyschultz.com.