I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends: Beatles’ Song, or my Writer’s Creedo?

Posted by: pageadaywriters on: April 22, 2010

• In: writing
• 5 Comments

Sleepy, Happy Writers at the end of a Great Weekend!

I have to admit that I actually like the isolation at the computer, clicking keys, playing with characters’ lives, heaping all kinds of problems on them that only I can solve – or not. Whhooahh-ha-ha!

But sometimes writing gets a little on the lonely side, or I get attached to some turn of phrase that kind of sucks. That’s where my writing buddies come in. The Page a Day Writers Group meets at various locations once a month, but we  communicate via group email whenever we feel like it: one of us just uploaded a couple more chapters of a novel for members to read and give feedback, someone found a random website with something cool, funny, or informative that the rest of us might like to see; we give a heads up on a post of interest on one of our individual blogs; a great writing opportunity shows up on someone’s laptop and it gets passed to the group; one of our members wants to share exciting news …

You get the idea.

All of us write in different genres, and each writer offers a unique spice that creates the most delicious blend of flavors that makes the group an incredibly encouraging, nurturing experience. Rejections, writer’s block, ups and downs with editors, a scene that needs more work, motivation to get our butts in chairs, building platforms, pitching agents, all the things writers struggle with get smoothed out, or hammered out in some cases. And we don’t have to face challenges alone. The best part is, we get to share our triumphs when things go right.

The coolest thing we’ve done to date, in my opinion, is we spent last weekend at my parents’ cabin in Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains at our own Page a Day Writers’ Retreat. Six of us read chapters aloud and received feedback from every member of the group. We learned new things about each other, shared lots of laughter and a few tears. This weekend added a depth to the group that would not have been possible without the intimacy and time we spent together alone in the mountains sharing work and insights.

If you’re a writer, you’ve probably figured out by now that normal people don’t understand what it’s like to craft a story with all the elements necessary to make it work, to meticulously revise your words until a point is made in precisely the manner you intend. A writers’ group allows for communication with people who understand the ups and downs we all face.

When I joined the Page a Day Writers’ Group a couple of years ago, I had no idea how lucky I was to share the writer’s journey with such positive, supportive, talented people.

May every writer who wishes to connect with others who understand to compulsion to click the keys, to create characters and worlds from imagination, or bring a true story to life in creative nonfiction find a few kindred spirits to share the road to publication and beyond.

Happy writing!

Trish Wilkinson