A performance artist of considerable elegance, Mylène Dressler is a versatile woman. Whether she is speaking about her latest book, leading a discussion on a classic film or talking about the art and craft of writing, Mylène (pronounced Mi-lan) brings her experience as a dancer, teacher, author and speaker to the forum. I have met Mylène on three different occasions and every time I was struck by her vivacity, dancer's grace and eloquence that she unleashes with abandon to connect with the audience and the subject at hand. I have also read two of her novels.
The first time I met Mylène it was at a book club meeting to discuss one of her books. Last week a friend and I attended a talk at the University of St. Thomas in Houston to hear her speak to an assorted group of students, teachers and guests about writing. Mylène spoke with conviction, gusto and her usual charm. Among other things, she explained the power, the magic and the essentiality of language as the connector of the human mind to the world. The discussion also touched upon the role of reading and writing in a world of instant communications. Above all, Mylène spoke of her own love of writing that defined the trajectory of her professional life from a dancer to a published author, with a detour in between as a student and teacher of literature.
A short excerpt from the talk, "For the Love of Writing" which was addressed mainly to aspiring students of creative writing:
"Preparing for this lecture this week, I found myself typing a rather unexpected sentence:
"'Writing, my friends, is a forgiving process.'
"I looked up from the screen. I tried to conjure your incredulous faces. I tried to guess at your thoughts. (Is the woman mad? Does she know anything about writing? Does she know how hard, how often I struggle?)
"Yet I marvel at it. At how forgiving writing is. Look at how you can take a pass at a sentence. And then another and another and another. Each time trying to bring it closer to what it is you are quietly, or urgently, trying to say. Writing allows you to do that.
"Writing is forgiving. Writing is forgiving. Time is not. Deadlines are not. Deadlines are stone. The trouble is, at various points in our lives, we're invited to confuse the two.
"But writing is not stone. Writing is range. Writing is luxury. It is not miserly. It is never stingy. We may experience miserliness in relation to writing–deadlines–what we call writer's block–sometimes it's the impulse simply to grunt toward the bare minimum, and see if we can get away with it–but as a medium, written text is never miserly. It is ever, ever generous. It forgives you. It forgives you even that.
"Never doubt that writing is there for you. That it places at your disposal an incredibly successful, finely tuned, intensely tested technology, one we've all been sailing with for over three thousand years now. The rudder may fight you at times. But it is in your hands. It was made, in fact, for your hands.
"Try to remember this."
For more information on Mylène Dressler, her books and her writings please visit her website and her blog.
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