The warm glow of other writers
Last year I joined an online Writers Digest course on memoir writing. The course was a great motivator to get started putting to paper all the events swirling in my head from a decade on our family farm. At the end of the course, and only 20 000 words in, I was invited by the facilitator, Gloria Kempton, to join her Finish Your Memoir group.
Joining this group gave me the impetus to keep at it. Knowing I was expected to submit a piece each month helped move my work along, while the feedback and encouragement improved the work massively.
Sometimes, slogging away on your own can make you question whether your writing will be of interest to anyone outside your own cranium. This group helped answer that question for me, and led to an even deeper understanding of the craft and commitment it takes to make something truly readable.
Yes, during the course I learnt a lot about myself, but the biggest discovery was that the warm glow of other writers casts great light.