October Writers' Club Meeting - Networking

Sitting by an open window

A gentle breeze plays the flimsy curtain

The writer waits while

Thoughts and ideas flip and spin

Desiring to settle

But where, and in what order

The writer looks out

past the window

and through, to the open field

and dreams

Ⓒ Deb Smith - 29 Oct 2011

Writing can be a very solitary activity 

No one can join with you to get those words, your words down on paper. If you don't sit down and begin, then the words will stay silent, locked away inside you. Writers must commit daily to putting their words down on paper. If there is no commitment, then again, no words will appear. Writing is a slave to time, or is time a slave to writing? Or, is the writer a slave to their writing?

Writing, even just thinking about writing is time consuming

It is important for the writer to diarise a date and time to write - everyday. This should be a priority. No one said it would be easy, but if writing is to you, like oxygen is to the body, then you need to prioritise. So, make time.

Balance is the key

Writers need to get out. Out and about to meet new people and observe characters who walk the streets and inhabit our world. Writers need to socialise. They need to note down life's idiosyncrasies, the ways, the why fors and whens. I'm sure I just broke some grammatical rules with that last sentence, but I love it, so it is going to stay. Writers get to choose what stays and what goes, at least for some of the time.

Writers on missions

Writers owe it to their readers to go on missions, so they can report back, create scenes with authenticity, build upon the real, with creative flair and imagination. Writers frame what they observe with their pens, like photographers frame with their lens. Photographers must go out into the world, as must writers.

Writers who network

Networking simply makes sense. Writers who mix it up with other writers develop layers of experience, absorb wisdom, share their gifts and impart snippets of knowledge, that would be missed if left back at that window with a view.

Writers UNITE AND CONNECT with other Writers

Writing Clubs are a great and informal way to connect and share ideas with other like-mindeds. They are a source of information and wisdom, and, along with the odd tale of desperation, juicy depictions of adventurous journeys, and wondrous encounters with success makes for very interesting fodder. Listening to other writers share their work is like an elixir for good health; a definite source of inspiration. Writing festivals and writing courses are also great ways to inspire and ignite imagination.

So...what's stopping you?