A Lonely Job?

I’ve heard people say that writing is a lonely job, but you couldn’t prove it by me. In fact, you couldn’t prove it by most writers I know. This was my schedule this past Saturday:

• 11:30 a.m.—Eat & Exchange. In this spring series sponsored by the Indiana Writers’ Consortium, writers get together to discuss a writing-related topic.
• 1:00 p.m.—IWC Conference Committee meeting to plan the 2016 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference.
• 3:30 p.m.—Highland Writers’ Group. This is a critique group that meets weekly.

Sure, many parts of the writing process require solitude. When I sit down to put words on paper, I’m the only one in the room. But I don’t know if there are any truly solitary jobs, and writing certainly doesn’t qualify.

Most writers can find plenty of opportunities to interact with people who understand the writing life. By “most,” I mean 99.9%. The only writers who are excluded are those who live hours away from a town and don’t have the Internet or a cell phone. And even those people might be able to attend a conference once a year.

So if you are a writer who feels lonely, seek out other writers. Most genres have a national organization, and those organizations often have local chapters and methods for hooking up with other members. Or see if your local library or bookstore has a list of writers’ groups.

In Northwest Indiana, we are blessed with a number of writers’ critique groups as well as the Indiana Writers’ Consortium, which provides educational and networking opportunities for writers. To learn more about IWC, go to http://indianawritersconsortium.org/.

And while you’re at it, mark your calendar for the 2016 Steel Pen Creative Writers’ Conference with keynote speaker Cathy Day. It will be held on November 12 at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville, Indiana, and more information will be coming soon.

I hope to see you there or at another writing event.

Because writing is not a lonely job.

__________

I took the photo at the head of this post during last year’s IWC conference with keynote speaker Bryan Furuness.

Thinking outside the Stage

 

I spent three hours on Saturday at a playwriting workshop. No, I’m not thinking about writing plays, but learning about one genre can provide insights into another. And venturing out of my comfort zone stretches my creative muscles for what I do write.

 

Besides, Saturday’s workshop was excellent. Hosted by the Indiana Writers’ Consortium, it featured playwright Evan Guilford-Blake and focused on adapting prose for the stage and adapting plays to prose form.

 

One thing I learned, or at least was reminded of, is that writers shouldn’t assume a story has to be told a certain way. After describing some initial principles, Evan had us do two exercises. In the first, we were given either the play or the prose version of a short piece he wrote and had already adapted. Then he asked us to rewrite it as the other type. I had the play version and turned it into a prose story, mostly by adding descriptions of the setting and changing the first character’s onstage monologue into thoughts. But some of the other participants were much more creative.

 

Before I continue, you need a little of the plot. The two-character play opens with a man nervously waiting for a woman he “met” through a dating service, but this is their first in-person meeting. When our working time was up, Evan started with those of us who turned the play into prose and asked which character’s point of view we had used. My first thought was, “his, of course, because she wasn’t in the scene at the beginning.” But one of the other participants did use the woman’s. He got around the POV problem by placing her in the scene from the beginning, but with a twist. She was hiding where she could check out the man before deciding whether she wanted to meet him. It was an inspired approach that had never entered my mind.

 

One of the people who turned the story into a play had backed up and added a new scene at the beginning. It still showed how nervous the man was but started at his apartment as he was getting ready for the date. This participant had also thought outside the box (or the stage) rather than just making the most obvious changes.

 

The main lesson I learned from Saturday’s workshop was to try something new. Experiment. If it doesn’t work, I don’t have to keep it. But if it does, it can take a good story and make it a great one.

 

And that should be every writer’s goal.

 

__________

 

The picture shows my high school senior play, many years ago. I am the spinster on the left.



Indiana Writers' Consortium Website

I am an active member (and current president) of the Indiana Writers' Consortium and was involved in redesigning its website, which is located at www.indianawritersconsortium.org. I'd love to have you look at it and see what you think. If you have comments on the site, don't post them here. Well, you can, but if you make them through the contact page on the IWC website, you will be entered into a drawing for autographed books.

Discover who IWC is by reading the About page, then check out its author members, find a speaker for your next event, and browse through the bookstore. Visit the Events page or click on the link at the right of any page for information about IWC's upcoming banquet on October 2.

IWC is an IRS Section 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. You can support us by checking out the site and leaving your comments.

Thanks.

Not a Lonely Job

Back when I was earning my living as a lawyer, I attended a hearing where a witness was asked why she wanted to work on the exchange floor when she was trading successfully from home. Her answer? "Trading is a lonely job."

That's what they say about writing, too. And it is partly true. I don't have colleagues occupying offices next door or meeting in conference rooms down the hall. When I sit down to put words on paper, I'm the only one in the room.

But I'm not alone.

No, I'm not referring to God. Yes, He is with me, but that's not what this post is about.

A truly solitary job is one that no one else understands well enough to provide encouragement and where no one else has input into the final product. I don't know if there are any truly solitary jobs out there, but neither writers nor traders qualify.

Writers are part of a broader writing community, and traders are part of a broader trading community. Both writers and traders can find others who have dealt with the same issues to provide encouragement.

Good writers seek input from critique partners, editors, and others to improve their manuscripts. Good traders read financial newsletters and study other traders' opinions and methods to improve their own performance.

I belong to a number of local, regional, and national writers' groups, and I am active in several. These include a local critique group (the Highland Writers' Group), a non-profit group formed to encourage Indiana's creative writers (the Indiana Writers' Consortium), and the Indiana chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers. Each of these groups meets several times throughout the year, and HWG meets weekly. They all provide excellent opportunities to interact with other people who understand the writing life.

Saturday was a good example.

That's when IWG held its second annual networking picnic. Although there were a couple of fundraising activities, the day was primarily about the fellowship and the food and the fun. And I enjoyed creating a literary scavenger hunt using books as clues to things people could find in or near the picnic location.

You may have a job that requires some alone time, but you aren't alone.

And writing is definitely not a lonely job.