Writers' Groups

I belong to a local chapter of Romance Writers of America. Most of my writing needs are met by this wonderful group of authors. I continue learning from the generosity of published authors such as Gayle Callen, Maggie Shayne, Mary Reed McCall, and Ellen Hartman (to name only a few). I fell in with a fantastic critique group through the chapter. We meet twice a month to plot, brainstorm, offer feedback and constructive criticism. The fantastic thing about a set critique group is the constancy. Crit partners know your story almost as well as they know their own. I love my crit group.

Last week, while researching a Writing Careers article for the Examiner, I stumbled across another local writing group through the online service MeetUp. I'd never heard of MeetUp, so was pleasantly surprised to find a community that isn't MySpace or Facebook. The local writing group is The Creative Writers' Cafe, and from what I can glean, they meet weekly in at a local supermarket's cafe. The organizer, Michael Canavan, is a former co-worker from several lifetimes ago. He tells me that " Everyone is welcome, negative attitude is not.  We are very supportive and our objective is to help each member achieve their own personal writing or publishing goals."

I joined the group. Unfortunately, they meet the same night as my twice-monthly critique group. But on the bright side, it seems there are actually two factions of the Creative Writers Cafe: the short story/poetry group and the novel writers. And the novel writers will be meeting this coming Thursday night, which is not one of my regular critique nights. If the weather stays manageable and I'm not too exhausted, I may check out this group of writers.


Stay tuned.

Writing Retreat: Writers' Treat

I'm back from my annual MLK weekend writing retreat. My PHriends and I have been doing this for at least eight years, maybe more. (I quit smoking on retreat five years ago.) I wrote 20 pages on Saturday and another 20 on Sunday, plus a couple on both Friday (when I arrived late afternoon) and Monday (when I departed early afternoon). It was a very productive weekend.

We had a wonderful time. There was an exercise DVD set up in the basement playroom for the 75% who wanted to work out; there was way too much wonderful food. We did make a concerted effort to bring only healthy food and snacks (see the Fire & Ice Salsa in the photo), but there was the occasional slip. We wrote during the day, then after dinner, built a fire, watched a movie, and chatted. Interesting selection of flicks this year:

• STAR TREK
• JULIE & JULIA
• LARS & THE REAL GIRL. 

Oh, and 75% of us watched a Syracuse University basketball game on our Saturday lunch break, while the other 25% cooked, then cleaned up lunch.

There were scented candles, wonderful wines, and so much laughter that someone who doesn't understand our dynamic would have thought we were wasting time.

Yes, our cellphones tethered us to our families, but without the constant distraction of our regular lives, we were able to focus our energies on the page. Which was the whole point of the weekend.

Label it a success.

Critique Groups

I just published an Examiner article on area critique groups.

New Year, New Goals

My PHriends and I held our annual goal setting session recently. We recapped not only our writing goals for last year, but other areas of our lives for which we'd set goals. I did really well in some areas and embarrassingly bad in others. As did we all. We're only human and life has a knack for getting in the way of the best-laid plans.

We were late doing our goals this year, so I felt a little . . . untethered. I've grown used to having a specific agenda every week, and because I didn't "do"my goals in a timely manner, I was drifting. Now I have something on which to focus again, and I feel a lot more in touch with myself. Early winter holiday madness did not help. Too much stuff going on that distracts, and if one tries to shove 20 pounds in a five pound bag, one will end up with a heck of a mess to clean.

My goals for 2010 are set, and I think I'm happier with them than I was with last year's goals. I eliminated things over which I have no control (something I've always tried to do, but frequently forget).

My writing goals are simple:

• weekly blog (not necessarily here)
• weekly Examiner article
• write 5 WIP per week
• continue involvement with local RWA chapter
• continue with my critique group
• 1 writing retreat (which is coming up next week!)
• keep website up-to-date
• Branding project.
• less time digging worms, more time fishing.
• And, as always, remember to breathe.
  

December: Divine!

My Pitiful Recap

•  SARK Month 12 (yes, I made it through the whole book!) Yes
  
• Blog twice Only once
  
• Final operating manual article for my local RWA chapter Yes
  
• 3 Examiner articles per week (including accompanying photos) Nope.
  
• Critique twice Only once. December is not a month to schedule buisness in the evenings.
  
• Local RWA chapter meeting, holiday party, Rose Ceremony Utterly delightful time. In fact, I was named the Amber Schalk Volunteer of the Year, which is such an honor.
  
• BIAW Believe it or not, goal met
  
• await the Golden Network GOLDEN PEN winners announcement I awaited. Third place. At least I finalled.
  
• My writing buddies annual holiday party This was wonderful. I cannot help but wonder how much more wonderful it would have been had I not been blessed with a sinus infection.
  
• Whatever work on my WIP that I can manage in between all of the above, plus a multiple-holiday month. I actually edited on my lunch hour and during other stolen moments.
  

Now I'm comptonplating how I should handle 2010. This past year threw many kinks into my plans. I'm reevaluating every thing.



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