writing group

Writing to Write
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this at least one hundred times, but I’m in the middle of writing a novel and it’s hard and I keep finding myself in the corners I’ve written myself into. Mostly because it’s supposed to be a funny book and I increasingly end up instead scrolling the internet and reading the news and feeling that feeling in the pit of your soul that’s a mixture of fear and anger and overwhelming anxiety. And I’m playing Hall Monitor to my remote schooling children which mostly consists of me yelling at them to get back to class. I need a whistle. And a bottle of sparkling rose’.

I did finally score some yeast this week so if I can remember what I wanted to bake back in the Tiger King era of lock-down, I can maybe get back into the normal part of all of this. Or at least a jovial part.

But! The most rewarding ritual that has come out of this train wreck of a year has been the once a week writing group zoom I’ve become a part of. It’s fantastic and my favorite part of it is when we chose a starting sentence and go off into our own world for 5 minutes and come back and read whatever came out of us. I love it. Mostly because it’s writing to write, and it has nothing to do with the novel that’s just sitting there starting at me from a tab at the top of my screen. The anticipation it must feel rivaling me and my Tiger King yeast.

So in this vibe of writing without, you know, writing, I’ve decided to do my own little writing prompts game. I’ve planned it all out. I’m going to grab the current book I’m reading and on the current page, I’m going to pick a sentence at random and set my timer for however long, maybe 15 minutes, and see where it takes me. And I’ll do it out in the open, here on my blog in the event anyone wants to do this with me. We’ll call it The Book Club Writing Prompt, or something. I’m bad at titles. So if you want to follow along, that’s how I’ll tag it. If you want to write with me, link your posts in my comments so I can read them!

I just finished the book I was reading last night and haven’t chosen a new one yet, so my first post will be from that book, The Girl Before by JP Delaney, which was a good read, by the way.

He doesn’t reply at first, letting the question hang in the air…

Isolation Day #6 (maybe?): The Writing Group Dilemma

I have a novel that I’ve been writing and rewriting and rereading and deleting and starting over and writing and rewriting for like 5 years now. It’s super exciting and I love it and I also think its a steaming pile of crap that should never see the light of day.

But it should. Because I love where it’s going. But I’m bored of it and how awful it all is.

But I figure I should use this self-isolation time to be productive. No excuses.

There’s also the fact that Camp Nano is coming up and I like doing that AND that I just joined a writing group which I’ve always been drawn to writing groups.

The dilemma with this new writing group however, is that I hate my above mentioned grand opus. Then there’s a story that I have partway written, that I DO like, but it came to me fast and furious, in a dreamlike way and I have no idea where it wants to go and so 10,000 words just sit there like Whitney Houston in sunglasses staring at me from across the fountain. The writing group is going to kick me out for being a waste of their time, probably.

While logging into the laptop in my efforts to have a productive writing isolation, a link came across my attention that Scribd is offering a free 30 day membership to read and audiobook as many books and magazines and whatever else you can find there as is your want. No strings attached. I’m taking this opportunity to finally read (well listen to) Save the Cat because apparently I am scrapping all of my efforts to finish something and I’m going to write a screenplay! Because of course I am. After I listen to this book and maybe a few others, because 30 DAYS FREE BOOKS!!!!

But seriously, what should I do about this writing group? Do I submit something I really like with no signs of an ending, or do I submit the mess that is my novel that I really want to finish but I don’t know that a writing group will be able to help me with, or either that, they’ll collectively tell me it’s a pile of crap and needs to be immediately scrapped with a promise I never write again? I know that won’t happen, no one is that mean. Right?

Alright, if anyone has advice, I’m here for it. In the meantime, I have a book to listen to.