Pages

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Watch your language!


Bandon Writers, circa 2009, a year after I joined, a year after two of its members died.
Since this picture was taken we lost two additional members who were not pictured here.  The entire group here is still writing, some of them also painting, and all of us meeting regularly on Monday mornings, rain or shine, holiday or not.

These folks still meet and discuss word choice, grammatical errors, obscure notations, and the ins and out of writing and publishing, I'm the second person from the right, standing up. The first person on the right is a famous writer, John Wadleigh, a.k.a Oliver Lange, author of Defiance, the plot adapted and rewritten for the movie Reds, starring Patrick Swatzie. He can still look at your work and give you a most chilling evaluation that summarizes what needs to be done to improve the piece.  He no longer frequents our little group regularly, but drops in now and then.

Nobody else in this picture is famous YET.  Ginney Eatherton is the most prolific, working on her third book, self published, and self promoted. Look for her Looping for Love and No Broken Bones at Amazon.

A group of friends with a single vision can do wonders. We know each other's personal lives and we know each other's genre, peculiarities, strengths and difficulties. We meet outside of Mondays' meetings too, to chat, to share a piece we are working on, to cry on each other's shoulders.

Go out there and find yourself a group.
Don't know of any?
Stop by the local eateries and ask the waitresses.
Check the library for contacts.
Scour the local papers and fliers.
Write a want ad.

Sure, you have on line support, people you have never met but love what you do and encourage you to  continue writing. You are satisfied with this arrangement. You get plenty of feedback on these sites too.

But, do you get friendship? Real, touching, knowing what motivates you, what keeps you up at night, what you really want to talk about when you ramble on?


18 comments:

Brian Miller said...

this is def wise counsel on finding a group...def need to be particular...you dont want one that will gloss you over with priase but you also dont want one that is out just to tear you apart either...

Terra said...

I have a group of Christian writer friends that meets for lunch once a month. We give each other suggestions and support. My other group meets only via email and we have written two traditionally published books together. I love all these ladies. Our second book is "Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts" and is due out in April.

Suz said...

sounds like you have a great group there....

L. D. said...

Group support is great for many reasons. Sometimes the evaluations help and others hurt but one does learn to dance in the world of critics.

Vera said...

I am quite envious of your support group. Writing is a lonely task, lessened if you have people with whom you can share your work. I have written and self published three books as well, and have hit a wall which I don't think would be there if I had like minded people to share the writing and creative pathway. Ah well, c'est la vie pour moi!

Meryl Baer said...

Moved a year and a half ago where we knew no one. I have found a Writers Group and classes for seniors through a local college that have been wonderful. But - as you say - you have to put yourself out there and go for it.

Joani said...

Thank you for sharing. I plan to get out and find a group after I've had time to decompress. Hugs.

cheshire wife said...

Thank you for the advice. I may be looking for things to do once I have got on top of things in the cottage.

rjerdee said...

It's amazing to find such a fine literary group in your small town...or maybe your town is bigger than I expect.
I once tried a writers' group guided by a lovely woman at Barnes & Noble. I won't do that again...a couple of the published participants were flat-out critical of those they thought inferior to them. I experienced enough correcting by the copy chiefs on my magazine job...

yaya said...

So many people sit around waiting for something to happen to make their lives better. I always find that you have to actively go and seek out people, activities, and other interests to stimulate and bring satisfaction to your life. You are a great example for others on how to do that! Good luck to all of you in your writing journey!

Phoenix said...

I haven't found a group yet, but my mother and I copy-edit each other's writing... maybe that counts as a mini-group? :)

Cloudia said...

this loner is part of an imaginary group!



Warm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral

> < } } ( ° >

erin said...

i might just get more from on-line than i might from real life exchanges like these. (i don't want to say this of my whole life, just this aspect of it.) i'm not sure i've ever met any one as open to receiving as you and some others that i have met on-line, rosaria. who else could put up with my boldness?

xo
erin

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Rosaria .. great to see your group .. friends are so important ..

Cheers Hilary

Unknown said...

Love that you have a writer's group that has been in existence for a while! that must be so fun and helpful.

Christine's Pantry said...

Sounds like a great group.

Hilary said...

It makes me think of the many online forums I know of for writers (via Frank) but so lovely to have the in-person support.

Anonymous said...

There's no substitute for face to face - the "real" thing. I'm happy to hear that you have such a wonderful support group!
Ann Best, Author of In the Mirror & Other Memoirs