Preparing to write a novel

A week ago, the Union Hall Arts group selected me to be an artist in residence, with several other rank and file workers. As far as I know, there has never been an artist residency that exclusively welcomes blue collar union members. The program strives to nurture this untapped source of creativity, and I will need to work hard to tap into mine.

When I was 15 years old, my school told my classmates and I to write a brief description of where we thought we’d be in ten years. At the time I pictured myself in a cabin by a lake, working on a novel. Well, it seems that I finally have the chance to bring my childhood visions to life, albeit in a decidedly less rustic environment.

Before summer’s end, the Union Hall Arts program will set me up in shared housing in one of this country’s former industrial hubs. I’ll go on labor history tours of the city and commune with other artists and mentors, hoping to fan this spark of a novel idea into a blaze of creativity.

I’m trying to tell a story about dignity at work, and about the inexorable slide into de-skilling our construction jobs in the name of efficiency and profit. To prepare for this awesome task, I’m conducting interviews with wiremen that have seen at least twenty years in the field. I have a reading list as well.

I plan to read more “blue collar literature” in the weeks ahead, and also some writing mechanics books about character development, plot structure, and voice. A professor I met in Wyoming told me I need to read Harry Braverman’s work, “Labor and Monopoly Capital: The Degradation of Work in the 20th Century.” I need to figure out how to do all this while working outside for 60 hours a week in the humid Tennessee summer.

Wish me luck.

While the residency approaches, I plan to write more about the intricacies of blending a creative life with one grounded in long hours of manual labor (plus the obligatory tasks of home life, health maintenance, and engagement with the union). Now that I am no longer an apprentice but a journeyman inside wireman, my time away from work falls squarely within my own control.

We shall see what I make of it.