Writing in a Changing World

Those who know me know that I firmly believe in the power of networking to make great things happen in your career, writing or otherwise. Now I have the chance to give a boost to some other writers who have produced a book about how their on-line writing group has kept all five of them across the US writing, getting published, giving support, and developing and using an unusual workshop technique for birthing novels.

After attending the 2004 University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, these five women kept in touch with each other for a year, exchanging their writing long-distance and nurturing one another through the pain of rejection and revision. Wanting more one-on-one help with their writing, they asked the University of Iowa to offer a different style of workshop to better suit their needs as writers. They received a polite rejection, but didn’t despair. They formed their own on-line workshop—Screw Iowa!

Check out their website to see what the power of group support has led to. Then, take a look at the description of their book, The End of the Book, Writing in a Changing World. You may find this group will inspire you to find or form your own support group of fellow writers, painters, chefs, or whatever it is that you do.

We can do accomplish great things "with a little help from our friends"! I should know. I would not be published today without my writing critique group, and I treasure their friendship.

Now, as a postscript, how did I find out about this interesting group of writerly women? By networking, of course! One of the members, Marni Graff, and I recently became Facebook friends. :-)

Blogging about Writing Organizations at Inkspot

Today is my "turn" to post a blog at Inkspot, the group blog for Midnight Ink authors. I'm talking about how vital it is for every fiction writer to join three types of writing organizations and what those three types are. I also talk about the importance of volunteering for the writing organizations you belong to. At the end of the blog post I ask, "What writing groups do you belong to? Which ones are your favorites and which would you recommend to fellow writers?" You can post your answers here or there, and hopefully we'll get a discussion going about writing organizations!