Dear Reader,
It has been almost eight years since I was a student at Taylor University here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. There wasn't anything particularly remarkable about the school, but for me, it held a community I've longed for ever since. Writers.
Taylor was a place where I met, befriended, and learned from writers of various creeds and skill levels. Before that, I was part of a creative writing program in high school, and before that, I didn't know I had an affinity for writing. So, for almost a decade I was surrounded by like-minded individuals who shared my same passion for the written word.
Then, in 2009, Taylor University closed its doors. I took a year off, enrolled in a local college, got my teaching degree, and started teaching. I met, befriended, and learned from teachers of various creeds and skill levels. But I wasn't writing. The one thing I loved more than anything else, the one thing I would have given up almost anything for, was gone. I had papers to write for school. I had books to read for school. I had tests to take for school. Then I was teaching, and we all know how much time that can take up.
It was a little more than a year ago that my wife and I saw an episode of the popular YouTube channel Vlogbrothers wherein they introduced their new project, a storytelling convention called NerdCon: Stories. My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Hank and John Green's videos, and when we heard about the convention, we decided to give it a shot.
NerdCon was held in Minneapolis and was the most hectic weekend of our lives. In the process of our travels, we met a cool person and strong writer, Mary Robinette Kowal (yes, that is her book I am currently reading on the right). She introduced us to a podcast she is on called Writing Excuses. If you are a writer, you need to listen to this podcast. I will provide the link at the bottom of this post. In the year that followed, I have listened to most of their episodes, albeit some of them multiple times. One thing they kept talking about was having a writing group. I had finished a novel and was looking for some alpha readers. I needed a writing group.
So, I searched. And I searched. And I searched some more. I even attempted to form one online, but I didn't have any takers. Then, somehow I stumbled across a local group that meets a few times a month. This group had a good mix of men and women, old and not that old, quiet and boisterous. I have only attended one meeting so far, but it became quite clear to me that I am going to meet, befriend, and learn from writers of various creeds and skill levels. It is a part of me that has been missing. Stephen King has said that one should write with the door closed and rewrite with the door open. My door is open, and I am excited to finally share my writing with like-minded individuals who share my same passion for the written word.
Here is the link to the podcast:
www.writingexcuses.com
Speak freely. Write candidly. Read endlessly.
