A Conversation with Michael Brub:
A Writing Program Writers Studio Event
Rebekah Shultz Colby

The Writing Program recently had the honor of hosting A Writers Studio Event with Michael Brub -- an in-depth discussion in the vein of the Actors Studio. Doug Hesse, Kelli Custer, and John Tiedmann took turns asking questions to lead the discussion, and then, time was given for the audience to ask questions at the end.  Brub, a Literature Professor at Pennsylvania State University, is renowned for simultaneously existing within both the spheres of the academic and the public. His writing has appeared in periodicals ranging from the highly academic (and cloistered) Yale Journal of Criticism to the large public news venue of the Washington Post. He has written Whats Liberal About the Liberal Arts?: Classroom Politics and Bias in Higher Education and Rhetorical Occasions: Essays on Humans and the Humanities. Yet, he is almost more notable for his blog, which, like the rest of his writing, embodied both spheres as a blend of literary theory and social-civic and news commentary with a splash of popular culture thrown in for good measure.

Unfortunately Brub has since stopped his blogging. When his readers demanded to know why, he explained with one of his final blog posts:

Theres still the problem of the invisible blogging. I dont write these posts out in advance, you know. . . . Which means, among other things, that I do a great deal of the planning-before-the-writing while Im not blogging. And thats whats been so mentally exhausting. Its like ABC from Glengarry Glen Ross: Always Be Composing. And while its been great mental exercise, and its compelled me to think out (and commit myself in public to) any number of things that otherwise would have laid around the mental toolshed for years, its not the kind of thing I can keep up forever, and it wouldnt be seriously affected if I went to a lighter posting schedule.

As an often struggling academic writer and teacher, I found this insight into Brubs writing process compelling for several reasons. Yes, writing is mentally (and even sometimes physically) exhausting. However, with the ABC Glengarry Glen Ross allusion, Always Be Composing, Brub also hints at an important writing truth: composing, like breathing, is a perpetual part of life. We mentally compose constantly, whether we know it or not, whether we admit it or not regardless of whether or not we actually think it will end up on a page. And regardless of whether we actually think it is academic, intellectual work, ready to be instantly commodified for a grade or within the academic publishing market, or not.

Which leads to the second reason I found this particular quote compelling. While the blog was probably exhausting, it also seemed to be a great catalyst for ideas that may never had had any outlet or reason even for existence -- for this very reason. As Brub said later during the discussion, The blog wont reject it.

In fact, his Always Be Composing reference also sheds light on how he manages to find time to write so prolifically while also leading the busy life of an engaged teacher, contributing colleague, and devoted husband and father. Although Brub ruefully admitted that a lower teaching load helps, he explained that he works in short, intense bursts in between other activities he does during the day. So, he literally is always composing. He also explained that he makes himself stop in the middle of an idea, not at the end. This forces him to come back to his writing so that he can finish these ideas. I imagine this method probably could also lead him to some new ideas as he struggles to remember exactly how he originally meant to finish an idea. And, of course, he creates false deadlines for himself.

Finally, Brub discussed some of the connections between his different spheres of work. For instance, he explained how his own writing makes him a better teacher because it makes his feedback to his students on their writing more insightful. He is more aware of the fact that his students are writing papers for multiple audiences and with different rhetorical occasions in mind as well. He also told about how writing within a non-academic genre has also improved his writing. For example, space matters in a newspaper column, influencing him to become more deliberate and careful with his academic writing. For every point he argues to keep in a newspaper article, he has to deliberately cut something else. But this seems to have also taught him a valuable lesson about publishing and revision: it helped him recognize times when he needs to fight to keep certain points in his work and not to simply acquiesce and take out key points just because he wants to get published. He told of several times when he knew his point was important, that he knew he was right in making it, but he took out the point to get his piece published, only to discover afterwards that he had been right all along. To me, this seemed to be a particularly empowering point a point that gives a new sense of integrity to the act of writing even within a publish or perish academic world.

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