A new writing door opens....

Photograph copyrighted Judi Getch 2017

As my mother used to say, "When one door closes, another opens...."  And somehow, as I move through my life, her words always seems to prove true.  But as 2017 started, I decided not to wait for that door to open,  I grabbed that doorknob, yanked on it and opened my own door.

Last year, my writers group never started up and I missed it.  I missed writing pieces that I would never think to write, I wanted to read other's words and learn from them, and finally, I hoped to write with more feeling and sensory information,  A group forces me to put my work out there for other eyes to read and comment on. Sometimes I hold my breath, but for the most part, I'm pretty thick skinned and am looking for feedback that will make my writing stronger.  This year, it again appeared that my usual group was not coming to be.

Well, I wasn't going to have another year of no feedback.  If you remember, one of my posts last year talked about a book that I had read by Heidi Jon Schmidt, "the house on oyster creeke."  I sent her an email and told her how much I enjoyed the book and her writing.  She wrote back and in the course of back and forth conversations, she said that she conducts an on-line writers' group.  My ears went up, my eyes flew open... yup, I was interested.

So....  I'm now entering my second week with this group.  I've never exchanged comments and posted pieces on a blog, but I am now.  Quite interesting in that all communications between the writers and Heidi take place in posts.  There are only a few of us, so reading others' works isn't too time consuming.  We receive writing and reading exercises as well and so far, with one week down, it has been fun.  It's a group of writers so I'm hoping for more than a pat on the head and a good job.  I'm seeing glimpses of ... "What if you..." or "Can you tell me more about... here."  I want my writing to be stronger, express more, evoke the reader's feelings and senses.  And I'm thinking that this group will help me step up to this next level.

So that's what I'll be involved in for the next seven weeks.  What are you doing to improve your writing?  Find a class, find a group, find a way to make your writing better!

More updates as I move through this writers group.

Till,
Judi