Writing Group

I read a post about the benefits or negatives of writing groups a couple days ago. I didn’t think much of then but it has been floating around since. I have thought about joining a local write group either online or in person. However, there isn’t a lot of stuff going on in my neck of the woods, but there seem to be quite a few aspiring writers around.

In fact a gentleman I know, has written and published a children’s series. His Bobby B books touch on growing up as a young black man and learning to make good decisions. He also goes into the schools and does several programs throughout the year. One of the newspaper writers is a published author and the former county library director’s husband published a math based sci-fi/fantasy novel. A young lady I met is interested in writting a memior type story about things she has learned. She inspired me because she felt she was to young to write and no one would take her seriously. I passed on some very valuable advice I got from somewhere. “The book you write at one age, will not be the same book you write two, five or twenty years later.” I kinda paraphrased but that is the main gist. And then there is me, a scribbler, a dabbler and a storymaker. At heart I believe words touch and empower our lives, but they can hurt and destroy too.

I think by setting up a writing group, and getting different people involved, ie the schools, the college, and community leaders something positive and good could come from it. Inspiring our children breathes fresh life into our future. We in the present need to look to and respect the elders that have come before, celebrating their acomplishments and strive to make sucess from their failure. All while keeping in mind our sucesses and failures will become the foundation our future rests upon. Writing, stories, memories connect us together. There is my two cents worth on writing groups.

Cheers, james

Cold Weather Writing

The weather has turned cold for the moment, tempture is around 37’F. They should be a balmy 60 by the next weekend again. North Carolina has an interesting weather pattern in it never lasts and is always changing. Everyone seems busy battening down the hatches for the nasty winter storm coming tonight and this weekend.

I am hoping with the weather being disagreeable. I will have be able to sneak time to write. It seems I have been unsucessful getting anything written. Even my blog posts have been troublesome and fight against being wrote.

Here’s wishing you good weather, and better writing. Cheers, james

Saving Emilsa Update

Saving Emilsa is a niffty story that started life as a dream. After I woke up I grabbed hold of what I remembered and wrote it down. While I was writing the last of dream the story took over and I could see, hear them talking. It was powerful, it was a heady intoxicating feeling. Me and the Universe were in sync. After that session of writing I tried going back to the beginning of the story. But I never could get that feeling back.

In defense of my next action, I was working on Owl and that story was pulling me deeper and deeper in. So I put Saving Emilsa up, not to be forgotten. But to let the story marinate and simmer while I worked on other things. A year and change went by and then last week I picked it up. And it was good, rough in places, but solid bones to build upon. So slowly I have been reaquainting myself with both story and searching for the rest of my notes that got seperated from the story.

So that is what I have been working on mainly this week. Cheers, james.

Getting back in stride

I have been trying to re-establish the good writing habits NaNo instilled in me. I took most of December off trying to catch up on non-writing projects and Christmas stuff. I did spend some time writing, but I didn’t fully engaged with all the other stuff screaming in the back of my mind. 

So now is the time to say, “Enough you lazy bum, pick up that pen and get writing.” Things have calmed down from the holiday rush and there is a whole brand new year waiting to be scribbled on. So if you got lax consider this your metaphorical kick in the britches to get writing.

Cheers, james