“The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.”

Albert Camus

The Don’t Send Your Characters to College Theory

“To think about love and passion and political correctness all together, it doesn’t work. Art has to go way past the political to be effective.”—Louise Erdrich

I have a memory that is only partially true: My graduate school mentor, the legendary Carolyn Doty, poured herself a giant glass of red wine and fitfully chugged it every time a student in workshop complained about a character’s moral fiber. She would lean forward and hiss, “Do NOT send that character to college!”

This did not always happen IN workshop. Sometimes she waited until she and I were alone with that bottle of wine before she downed it out of frustration and despair.

Now, as a mentor in my own right, her wisdom and despair haunt me. As partners in creation, in workshop discussions, our job is not to pass judgement on a character’s morality or actions. There is no place for I don’t like this character. He needs to quit drinking and go get a degree. Our job is to explore how effectively the writer expresses on the page the character’s actions, inactions, turpitude, and goodness. If our characters all had to meet an arbitrary standard of sanity, clean living, and impeccable choices, Shakespeare would have been out of a job, the exploration of the human condition would be null and void, and literature would be dead.

So next time you find yourself in a workshop and don’t like the fact that Character Y is a barefoot heroin addict who never sends his mom flowers on Mother’s Day, that’s okay. You don’t have to like him. You’ll be of greater service to your fellow writers if you steer away from personal, morality-based judgements in favor of questions such as How vivid is this character? Do his actions within the fictional world make sense? Even though I wouldn’t want to be friends with the guy, his dialogue is great . . . how did the author accomplish that?

Breaking News!

Literary Agent Darlene Chan Joins the Vermont and Santa Fe Writing Retreats!

International Bestselling Author Samuel Kolawole Joins the Santa Fe Retreat!

Darlene Chan, Senior Agent at the Linda Chester Literary Agency, will hold a Zoom session for attendees of InkBlossom’s Vermont Novel Retreat and the Santa Fe Writing Retreat. Samuel Kolawole, author of the debut, international bestselling novel The Road to Salt Sea, will give a reading by Zoom and answer participants’ questions at the Santa Fe Writing Retreat.

You can learn all about both retreats by visiting InkBlossom.

And, by the way, whether you’re writing long or short forms, novels or CNF, InkBlossom’s Vermont Novel Retreat welcomes you.

Virtual and In-Person Retreat Deadlines!

InkBlossom’s Virtual Spring Writing Retreat takes place April 25-27. Contact me ASAP if you’d like to join us!

Here’s a crib sheet for making the most out of your retreat writing time.

What to expect at the InkBlossom Spring Virtual Writing Retreat:

• A daily, early morning arrival of inspiration in your inbox.

• Three days of dedicated focus on your writing.

• Late afternoon readings and discussions about your work.

• Immersion in your art, craft, and community.

Tips for a successful retreat:

• Clear your calendar.

• Talk to the beloveds you live with and explain to them that you might look present, but actually you are on a deserted island where your only job is to write. They are on their own.

• Meals: For 3 days, skip any elaborate cooking. Remember, during the retreat you have one purpose in life and it doesn’t entail standing at a stove.

• If you need a different setting, rent a hotel room or a cottage; maybe even team up with a writing peer and retreat in-person together.

InkBlossom’s Vermont Novel Retreat takes place June 20-27. The deadline to apply is May 1. Our retreat headquarters, The Green Mountain Inn in gorgeous Stowe, VT is holding a block of rooms for us until May 20, so if you’re interested in attending, please don’t delay! And remember: writers of all genres and forms are welcome; this retreat is not just for novelists!

IMAGINE immersing yourself in your writing, free from disruptions and distractions.

IMAGINE the joy of having a single responsibility: your writing.

IMAGINE being part of a supportive, nurturing, legendary community of writers.

IMAGINE a self-directed retreat in which you decide if you want to dip into craft and publishing talks, workshops, readings, and prompt sessions or if you’d prefer to remain focussed on your stories.

IMAGINE inspiration and rigor, conviviality and friendships, learning and growing, drafting and finishing.

This Little Bird is Flying

I am finally jumping on the Substack wagon. I have tons of things planned for you and will, in all likelihood, move my newsletter to Substack. I’m unsure of the timeframe. For some reason Substack intimidates me, but once I figure it out, I’ll let everyone know!

Blooming InkBlossoms

Longtime InkBlossom Adela Najarro is a fabulous fiction writer and she’s also a fabulous poet. Her publisher Red Hen Press says of her poetry collection Variations in Blue, “The poems in VARIATIONS IN BLUE cycle through the traumatic residue of dysfunctional relationships, the complexities of Latinx representation through a series of ekphrastic poems, and reimagine Nicaragua as a homeland set in a volcanic landscape.” Click here to purchase your copy.

2025 InkBlossom Offerings

Cool Gifts for Writers

Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write just might inspire you to spruce up your own writing space!

Do you have a writer in your life who needs a literary lift? Perhaps an InkBlossom workshop, conference, retreat, or private mentoring is what they need. Email me and we’ll set it up!

“I’ve been working with Connie for four years, since I got my MFA from Vermont College. I credit her with facilitating so much of my growth as a writer. A lover of the word and writing, with a broad understanding of the ‘human situation’ we're all in, she is a talented and versatile mentor, as adept at identifying thematic issues and underlying structural problems, as she is at sentence-level editing. An amazing mix of intelligence, acumen, and empathy, her advice has both encouraged me and helped me master how to “go deeper” in my personal essays and the memoir I am writing. It’s a privilege to work with her.” ~ Judy Padow, Memoirist and Essayist