377 days- Blog #44 - The Worcester Writers Collaborative turns 3

I’ve determined that two nights a week, I will make my posts about writing.  Tuesdays are meant to focus on my writing, while Wednesdays are about the community of writers that I continue to discover in my own backyard.  The Worcester Writers Collaborative.

I chose Wednesdays because this summer that has been the night when we have gathered in the hall of a local non-profit for an hour of discussion followed (sometimes) by a focused hour of writing.  I was supposed to be at one tonight.  But the whole car thing pre-empted that determination.

Through the creepy and convenient time capsule that is Facebook, I realized that we are just a week and a half or so from the three year anniversary of our group.  Well, three year anniversary of the day I created the group on Facebook and subsequently posted our first meeting (which was technically in October, but the posts about it began on September 8, 2011).  I don’t think we had any idea of what the group would become in the time that has played out since.  We went from our haphazard discussions at the library to regular writeins at NuCafe and then this summer’s discussion/writein at Children’s Friend.  There have been second and third and fourth writeins… which shows me that people WANT to write.  They want to have the excuse to write.  They want to have some social interaction with other writers.

We have had books sales at Annie’s and Tatnuck.  We’ve done events at libraries and town fairs.  There has been Start on the Street with the typewriter.  Our annual Christmas dinner at O’Connor’s. 

Friendships have grown from that tiny seed of a shared love of words.  From casual acquaintances to Facebook pals to new guests at my dinner table.  There have been a couple romances.  A few peevish dramas.  People who have moved away, across the country but keep in touch.  A few deaths.  A memorial writing group.

And so many books.  From new to in progress to editing to published.  Children’s books and romantic comedies and paranormal romances and fantasies and memoirs and mysteries and science fiction and dystopia and women’s fiction and chick lit and poetry and self-help and biography and young adult and plays and screenplays.  We have so many, many books.  So many stories that needed to get on paper and find a life of their own.

The group has a life of its own.  The only common theme through the years is friendship and encouragement.  Because we get it.  We get how difficult a task it is to write, to make oneself write, to go through the rigor of editing and daring oneself to put it out for the world to read and see.

Recently I found myself in the midst of discussions about Worcester’s shortcomings.  Because of this group, I will never be able to be negative about this corner of the world ever again.  There is so much positivity and creative bravery and very little snobbery or elitism.  Just a determination to … make that good art.

A year and a half ago, when we were still at NuCafe on Tuesdays, I remember how Ken Amidon, one of our authors, made a point to come speak to me.  He wasn’t staying for the whole writing period, but he wanted to tell me how very much coming to the group and hearing about the possibility of self-publishing a book meant to him.  He left that first conversation and finished his manuscript and published it.  He died later that year.  We went to his wake, where his novel was proudly displayed for all to see.  As bittersweet a moment as that was, it was humbling to know the ripple effects of our little group.  To know that the WWC gave him that joy and pride in what was to be his last year.

Joy and pride are pretty fantastic gifts to give.

We are always welcome to new members friends.  You should come join us for a cup of coffee, some laughter, and a silent hour to write.