Imagine yourself surrounded by other writers. You have this in common, this one thing.

Now ask yourself, are you a stereotype? What makes you so different, besides everything else?

The Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop kicked-off yesterday, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Certainly not silence, but there was nervous silence and post-fight/flight energy drops. My workshop leader is Charles D’Ambrosio, and I think MFA’s are scared of him.

I decided to meet everyone in my group before I read their stories. As we went around doing introductions, I wasn’t sure who had read and who had not, but it became more obvious once we got up to leave for dinner. Everyone had read. Some had researched.