All Student Success Letters

Regina Landor

Dear Gotham,

In my Google search for places to submit work, I came across a 100-word writing contest—The Josie Rubio Scholarship at Gotham Writers. I submitted my words, won my first-ever contest, and was presented with a generous scholarship to use for taking classes.

I had a story which lived inside of me for four decades. I wanted to find that story a home, a place for others to read and connect to this heartbreaking tale. The vignettes and dialogue I’d written about my childhood friend had no structure and needed coherence. Dana Miller suggested I try a one-on-one session.

She paired me with Nina Boutsikaris. Nina read my material, made some edits, then took me on a craft journey with a series of questions and explanations and connections. She led me to understand that I’m building something here and every brick matters. Every word, sentence, paragraph supports the structure of the whole. It was a lightbulb moment for me.

She sent me an article with diagrams of different forms a personal essay can take, such as a set of stairs—each step in a story leading the reader closer and closer to the gist of the work and the questions the writer is attempting to answer.

I worked on that piece until the vignettes started coming together, until I found my questions and even some answers. Nina’s observations helped me dig into what I was trying to say about the memories of my friend, until I cried all over again when I felt I’d figured it out. In December, my piece, Goodbye to Clocks Ticking, was published in The Rappahannock Review. By being able to share it with others, in some ways I feel like I’m breathing a little more life into my old friend.

I’m grateful to Nina and Gotham Writers for leading me up the stairs of my own story of searching to become a better writer.

Regina Landor

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You can learn more about Regina and her writing here and follow her on Substack here.