Panning for Gold with Barbara Jean Hicks - Peter P. Jacobi

 from the collected notes of
Barbara Jean Hicks

Peter P. Jacobi is professor emeritus of journalism at Indiana University. His guidebooks on writing magazine articles, news stories and feature articles are standard reference sources for journalists. If you’ve never heard Peter speak, it’s worth the price of admission just to hear his resonant baritone fill a room.

In his keynote address at the Highlights Writers Workshop at Chautauqua last summer, Peter dipped into The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for inspiration.

Like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy herself, as writers we already have what we need to make us successful, Peter says: a heart to feel, the courage to dare, a brain to think and the spirit to dream. In order to access those resources, we simply need to believe we have them!

The Wizard of Oz begins with Dorothy’s dream of a better place, an “elsewhere” that is far beyond the status quo. Our stories begin there too, with the dream of writing something worthy and seeing it published. With our brains, we observe, we exercise our imagination, and we find the best way and the best words to tell our story. With courage, we wrestle with our ideas to get them down on paper, we fight to make them known--and we don’t give up in the face of rejection. With our hearts, we connect what is true for us and what we most value, and thus we give our writing meaning.

TO THINK ABOUT:

1) Does your writing dream need reviving? Take a class, join a critique group, go to a writing retreat.  Envision your name in a magazine or on a book's cover!

2) Are you continuously honing your observation and language skills? Keep a notebook with you. Jot down thoughts, ideas, clever or memorable turns of phrase.

3) Is your writing faithful to what’s in your heart? Instead of focusing on what’s “hot,” focus on what you believe in.

4) Do you keep sending out that story that just won’t let you go no matter how many times it’s been rejected? Do it today!