Blog post Jan. 9th, 2012
What an incredible group of people! Redwood Writers members have done it again!
Months ago, President Linda Loveland Reid had an idea to start genre groups before the Redwood Writers General Meeting. Over the holidays, we exchanged a few emails, came up with some thoughts and decided to meet with any interested parties on January 8th before the General Meeting.
The meeting time rolled around and two people showed up. Holy moly, I thought. This is going nowhere fast. Within the next 5-10 minutes we had a dozen people! Okay, so writers aren’t known for punctuality.
We started with a round-table on what each member wanted from the group. With some variations, the resounding answer was—craft support—as in “conversations”. We discussed meetings for techniques to enhance our writing as well as platform building and generally everyone agreed they could use help with this, too. However, the idea of small groups to meet, talk over ideas that pertain to the writing life, offer support and resources was the winner!
So here’s what I’m thinking: twelve people is too many for a discussion group so we’ll split into two. We’ll meet in the Empire Room at the Flamingo on February 12th at 1 pm. I want to designate a moderator for each group-someone who will keep the discussion moving forward and an eye on the time. This will be voluntary but I’d like to rotate the position.
The rules will be simple:
o Disagree kindly
o Wait your turn to speak
o Observe time constraints
Some seriously GOOD suggestions were offered and I want to memorialize them so we can come back to them as time allows (or dictates) later.
o Meeting more often than once a month-off site, probably during the day but flexible
o Topic/education focused groups-technology/platform building is a big issue that many would like more training in
o Critique groups-both genre-specific and general. I would only act as a facilitator to get people together. Group members need to decide their own terms. Please email me at thonieh@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in finding a group.
o Resources-I will be taking this on. Our group is so talented that we should be able to find help for whatever ails the writer in need. Bear in mind, many of our members make their living at technology, social media, editing, etc. Discuss fees before making commitments with them so both of you know what to expect
o Mentoring wasn’t mentioned but I thought we could look at this for writers who have specific issues, for example: a member who doesn’t finish anything she starts. It wouldn’t take too much effort to call, email, or facebook her to keep her on a pre-determined track
I’ll be emailing a copy of this to Redwood Writers members. I want everyone to see the fruits of our labors. Someone might see something here that intrigues them. We can always take more members! Our muses are busy but sometimes they need a little nudge in the right direction. So stand-by for truly dynamic members who want to share and motivate each other!
Inspiration is in the air!
