Writing My Life

Now and Then

Tag Archives: Writing Groups


by 3 Comments

Why I need a face 2 face writing group.

If you live in the state of Utah, you are in luck…there is plenty of support for both the new and the experienced writer alike. Joining a group that is especially for writers can be a very helpful thing. Not only do you get support, but you can network and learn new things from others in the field.
Freelance-Zone.com

Upon leaving WIFYR last June, I was all excited to write AND to help create an online writing group that included all the friends I’d made during that fun week. BUT here I am 3 months later, and I have NOT helped with the writing group that the kind and talented Jared organized. I have to ask myself WHY NOT.

It’s not that I don’t want to be part of a writing group because I really do, but I realized I want to meet face 2 face, NOT computer 2 computer. Even though it means adding one more meeting to my busy life, traveling to who-knows-where through wind, rain, snow, sleet and occasional sunshine or moonlight. That didn’t appeal to me in June, but it does now.

So these are the reasons an online group doesn’t fit the bill for me:

  • I need DEADLINES – not just write-and-submit due dates, but show-up with-manuscript-in-hand-and-face-your-peers kind of cut-offs.
  • I need to HEAR someone besides MY inner or outer voice read my writing to see if it sounds as good or bad as it does in my mind.
  • I need feedback THAT VERY MINUTE, not when an online buddy can get around to looking it over, because if they are as pathetic as I am, they will NEVER get to it.
  • I need living, breathing bodies to interact with because I spend enough time staring at a screen, and as much as I love listening to i Tunes or Pandora, I crave the energy of human beings. I like to see their faces, not just their Gravatars.
  • I need people to laugh at my craziness, to encourage me when I miss the mark, and to share ideas that are better than what I glean from Me, Myself, and I.

With that said, this is what I’m looking for – a group that …

  • meets once a month
  • includes experienced AND INexperienced writers
  • experiments with a variety of genres – from sci-fi/fantasy to contemporary; from paranormal to mysteries; from romance to historical.
  • includes Millennials as well as the Geritol Generation, and
  • can laugh out loud.
  • is willing to take risks with their writing and who encourage others to do so.
  • can give constructive suggestions without making the writer feel inferior, and can receive suggestions without becoming all defensive.

I don’t really want much. But if you know of such a collection of aspiring writers, please let me know. I’d love to land there!


by Leave a comment

“No time to wallow in the mire”

“Get an idea. Write. Edit. Sigh, ‘Finally my masterpiece is finished.’ Take a week off. Look at your masterpiece. Exclaim, ‘What was I thinking? This sucks!'”

~ from Kristen’s Guide

I hope I’m feeling this total lack of confidence because I’m tired and because my little PT Cruiser, Cream Puff, is still acting out. Her condition remains undiagnosed, but something is draining her energy – ahhh, she’s just feeling sympathy pains for ME!

Anyway, because I am tired and thinking I am a better blogger than novel writer and will forever travel the blog-o-sphere versus the published authors’ circuit, I’m not going to write much tonight. I won’t mention how I continue to search for my authentic, honest voice or how I wonder if I’ve grown too old for the YA market or how I’m wondering if the workshop will send out rejection e-mails for the 1st page contest so I can add it to my little collection.

No, I won’t take the time to bore you with all that. Instead, I’ll post this gallery of pictures so you can see what good writers look like! (While I wallow in the mire of self-pity!)


by Leave a comment

“One is the loneliest number you’ll ever do.”

“The writing profession is reeking with this loneliness. All our lives we spend in discoursing with ourselves. . . .”

~ quoted by Fred Hobson in Mencken: A Life, Random House, 1994

Today was the second day of WIFYR workshop. Other than missing my exit because I was thinking of a better lead for a new story thus making me late, the day has been an improvement over the first one. Okay, I knew this going in, but writing is NO LONGER a lonely affair. I kinda wish it was because I could live in a world where I don’t know there are SO MANY aspiring authors! Nor would I know how GOOD those writers are. Nevertheless, what I am gaining from all the experts and NON-experts, I could NOT teach myself.  

Let me tell you that this workshop is organized-PLUS; thus maximizing opportunities to learn.  The day is set up like this:

  • Mornings: Work with Cheri Pray Earl and Rick Walton, two published authors and writing instructors at Brigham Young University and 20 peers who crack me up! (That’s because Cheri and Rick introduced us to SASS that first day!)
  • Afternoons:
    • Plenary Presenters – Authors, editors, agents share tips and ideas. SO helpful! (By the way, PLENARY was a new word to me. I think it is a very cool word. It means, “fully attended or constituted by all entitled to be present.”)
    • Break-out sessions – Participants choose an author, editor, or agents or a panel of these folks who address various topics, concerns, and questions. Very informative.

     

While I knew this workshop provided support for writers, I am still amazed at the amount of sharing, consulting, suggesting, listening, encouraging, inspiring, informing that takes place. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I know authors buddied up in days gone by, but I think that was AFTER writers published. I picture Hemingway partying in Paris with Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald or Carl Sandburg talking shop with Theodore Dreiser and Sherwood Anderson. But who did they brainstorm ideas with BEFORE their break? Who did they chat with when their plot lines flat-lined or their characters refused to develop? Maybe there were friends who provided what Hemingway or Fitzgerald needed over drinks, but I’m not sure that turned out in the long run.

Water was the only beverage we received at this confab. That only happened on the first day, and it was a mistake. So no potential authors need worry about ruining their lives because of booze provided by Writers and Illustrators for Young Readers Workshop. I know some were concerned when the conference moved from Brigham Young University to Salt Lake County, but don’t stress;  it’s still a dry environment.

Putting my drinking concerns aside, I found that one of the most helpful AND  scary activities is “work-shopping” participants’ writing. We read our papers while peers followed along. Next, writers listened to praise AND suggestions. It was all professional – civil even, and yet, my stomach clinched tighter and tighter as I watched my golden rod paper work its way to the top. Nervous as I was, I appreciated the feedback and think the suggestions strengthened my paper.

I was also inspired by reading the works of my fellow writers. WoW! What fine writing! Compelling and creative ideas that were fun to read. I also gleaned ideas from my colleagues’ comments to all the writers in the group. Sometimes a suggestion given to Amy or Jared applied to my work as well. I can’t tell you how beneficial this has been for me, and I want to soak up EVERY hint, idea, tip, suggestion,and critique I can. I really want to do this thing!