Bruce Conforth

During the Sweetland Writer to Writer conversation, a typical student was able to get a rare glimpse into the writing that Michigan’s very own professors do outside the classroom and how they overcome challenges that we, as students, tend to struggle with ourselves. This week, the Sweetland Writing Center interviewed Bruce Conforth. Bruce is famous for writing about the story of Robert Johnson’s life since he spent the last forty years researching him. Although this was intriguing to hear, what was most inspiring was what Bruce stated later on in the interview about his writing techniques. He talked about how he thought there was a relationship between writing and music. He believes that these two ideas are both performances since when you are writing/playing at your best, you tend to forget what you are doing – It just flows out of the body and the soul. I also thought that it was interesting that academic writing for him was extremely tough. It was hard for him because he struggled with the idea of “whether or not he had the authority to write what he was writing about.” It wasn’t until he read a book that opened up his eyes to the thought that academic writing could be literature. He figured out, as most of us are figuring this out now, that you need to put yourself in the writing because if you do not acknowledge your presence, your writing lacks a sense of audience engagement.

            The other part that I found fascinating was that during the beginning of his writing process, his room is a mess. He said that at this writing stage, his room is filled with random papers. I found this amusing because this is exactly what my room looks like. He also doesn’t have a writing ritual even though he stated that he does most of his writing during the early morning and late night, while taking the afternoon to rest.

By listening, I noticed that I had similar challenges that I faced during the writing process and I was also able to learn how a professional overcomes these challenges. Bruce believes that the most important tool for students when they are writing is not to think what other people’s opinions are. He also hopes that other people’s writings will make him forget that he is reading. By attending this interview, I was able to listen to great advice that I could use when I am beginning my writing process for my next essay.