WORD A Creative Writing

Author: ABIGAIL MITCHELL

As I embarked on my venture to explore the niches of the creative-writing network at Middlebury College, the renowned Breadloaf School of English seemed the logical starting point.

Benjamin Dimiero '06, an English major awarded a scholarship to Breadloaf for poetry, gave me an insider's view. At first glance, Dimiero personifies the ranks of coffeehouse-goers flocking the streets of Williamsburg or the Bowery. You know the ones: New Yorker in one hand, cigarette in the other. Dimiero looks at me from behind his black, rectangular glasses and tells me he is also a film minor with screenplay aspirations. Of his future, Dimiero says, "I can say the catch-all, 'I want to be a writer,' but what does that really mean anyway, to be a 'writer'?" Good question.

Dimiero admits to feeling intimidated before the conference began at the prospect of working alongside older and more experienced writers. However, by the end, these feelings had completely dissipated. He realized, as he said, that "there's not such a huge gap between myself and, say, Charles Baxter." The seeming chasm is mostly a result of years more practice and experience. There is definitely the talent component, too, but it is not the whole story. The quality and experience of the writers at Breadloaf meant that they had an incredible wealth of knowledge to offer young undergrads like Dimiero.

"The atmosphere was pretty unbeatable," he says. "Where else can you strike up a conversation with an award-winning author over a cafeteria table?" Breadloaf taught him about craft. "There are so many aspects to consider when writing a story," said Dimiero, "It is so much more than getting yourself from point A to point B. There is the architecture to think about, the structure, the syntax, the development." Dimiero also learned the value of practice and discipline, describing to me the existence of a "writing muscle" that, like any other muscle, requires regular exercise so as not to atrophy.

When asked how the Breadloaf workshops compared with those at Middlebury, Dimiero said, "Previously, I had been complacent about my writing [because] people were too hesitant to criticize." At Breadloaf, however, diplomacy was not the main concern. "One of my poems got shredded," he admits.

And as for whether Breadloaf live up to its reputation as "Bed Loaf," as a den of debauchery and mayhem and the perfect break for an artist stifled by his 9-5, Dimiero said the nickname was a bit of a stretch. However, he adds, "The dances were hilarious... no matter how accomplished you are, you can still get wasted and grind to cheesy hip-hop!"