Faculty Voices with Claire Rudolf Murphy: March Madness and the Writing Life

Full disclosure: this does not include brilliant insights. It’s just a fun way to celebrate life in all we do. If you are not a basketball lover, take a pass. But if you are, here goes . . .

For as long as I can remember, March Madness has been a family affair. My beloved Zags have made it to eighteen straight tournaments and the Gonzaga women’s team has had some good runs, too. This year the Zags’ men’s team outplayed all its skeptics and made it to the Final Four, the National Book Awards of college basketball.  So I couldn’t resist sharing how it compares to our writing life.

If you are like me, you don’t need much to distract from your writing, especially while in a challenging stage in the process, as I am right now. This year, I kept revising my book project, but kept tuned in to the games, too.

So how is writing like basketball?

• Producing pages and watching games gives us something to cheer about.
• Writing and watching games can distract us from the ongoing distressing news of late.
• Both writing and basketball helps me channel my dad who was proud of Zag basketball and my books.
• Children’s books are sometimes not given the same attention as adult books. The same could be said of my Zags. National sports pundits would say they come from a small college in little Spokane, and a weak conference. Sure they’re going to win a lot of games, but can they play with the big boys? It’s easy to write a kid’s book, right? And not so hard to get one published.
• Gonzaga men’s team has been called a mid-major for years. There’s that category of midlist for writers. So what can we do? Never stop showing up.

Going to the Final Four is like winning a big award. There are no guarantees but if it comes, let’s celebrate. More importantly let’s celebrate another day of practice and writing, even when it’s tough.

I’ve celebrated March Madness with Hamline students and alums for years. Like Randall Bonser and his Michigan teams and Elizabeth Schoenfeld and her Duke Blue Devils. This year I’m having fun with alum Donna Koppelman whose North Carolina team will be at the Big Dance along with her daughters’ college team - South Carolina. Oh, yeah.

I am here at the final four and would appreciate your cheers tonight for the little engine that could against the  if mAchine of North Carolina.

Seize the day and write on.

Have Fun???

In the previous post Claire talks about happy. I want to talk about fun, something that perplexes me (as does happiness).

I am working on a novel due in August—you fellow writers understand what this means, yes? It means working on my novel, thinking about my novel, living with my novel ALL THE TIME. Except for the occasional rest-bit when I go swimming, walk the dogs, see a movie, or bother my husband (all while thinking about my novel.)

Recently, after telling my mother I couldn’t do something because I had to work she exclaimed: “You never have any fun! You need to have fun!” This reminds me of that dreaded first-date question: “What do you do for fun?” A question I have never been able to answer properly. (Perhaps why I never dated properly.)

What is “fun?” And is it true that I don’t have any? Is writing fun? Is it supposed to be fun?

I gave my mother an example of my ideal fun day: get up, walk dogs, work on novel (or current w-i-p) have lunch, play solitaire, work on novel (or current w-i-p), swim, and ending with some evening activity. (I don’t work on anything serious after dark—my brain only functions in natural light.) The evening activity usually means dinner with husband, watching a movie, and eating ice cream. Oh, sometimes I walk to the local bookstore or farmer’s market during lunchtime. That’s fun.

But this answer did not satisfy my mother. (just so you know she is the type that sends daily emails marked "just for laughs," consisting of photos of animals or vegetables doing various bizarre things.) Fun is perception, isn’t it?

I ask for your help here. Please tell me, what is fun? And do writers need it? (You do not have to tell me what you do for fun--just explain what it all means...)

(ps. Writing this blogpost was kind of fun. Does that count?)