Last week we started talking about writing groups and how the support within can help you on your road to writing success.  Every month I can talk to the group and express my fears, writing blocks and other issues and gain encouragement and even ideas to help me move on to the next step. <

     Writing exercises and games are something we do in writing group to liven things up and get the creative juices flowing.  Some of my and others best short stories have come from writing exercises.  To me, these exercises cause me to go to my creativity and flow.  By flow I mean just start writing without trying to think everything through.  Like an artist, I go to the creative side of my brain instead of the logical side and before I know it the story is on paper.  Logic is okay in editing but gets in the way during the initial write.

    Connections made during writing groups can be fruitful.  Many groups have guest speakers such as editors, published authors and even publishers that can give you valuable insight into their world, what they think and what they want in a story.  Groups can also open doors to conferences, workshops and online groups that can again broaden your perspective on things and possibly allow you to meet someone who can help your career.

    One of our meetings was about getting your work professionally edited and an editor/writing coach from another state came in and talked about what she did.  I had brought along a small non-fiction work I had written in case the opportunity came to show her.  She glanced at it and asked me to send the first 10 pages by email for her to check out later. 

     She liked the non-fiction thoughts I had but asked me if I had ever considered taking these thoughts and turning them into a fiction story that might be more interesting for the readers.  Turning the principles I believed into fiction had not really crossed my mind but I decided to take the thoughts in one chapter and write a story.

     It quickly grew into fifty pages and we began talking by phone and email.  Her insights were invaluable and I hired her to edit my work.  My first novel is finished and edited with the second in the series two thirds of the way completed.  I have ideas enough for at least a seven book series and all of it grew from a writing group meeting where I made a life-changing connection. 

    So do not despise the day of small beginnings…classes, groups and just plain hard work.  You never know where these can lead…next week we will look at getting started writing through journaling…