writer's club

I just got encouragement and motivation at a meeting of the local chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. I saw an announcement on the bulletin board of the library and decided to drop in. Turns out it's an association of professional writers, which I interpret to mean those who have been published.

The first half of the meeting was a discussion about a symposium some had been to with a summary of the highlights. The second half of the meeting was feedback on previously distributed chapters of books in progress. This part of the discussion was fascinating because everyone spoke up and no one felt intimidated. The authors getting the feedback were really glad to get it and took it very professionally. I loved it. I've had a lot of jobs and worked for other for quite few years so I know what business is about. It was great to finally find a place where that same professional attitude was applied to writing.

I was asked to come back so no one was put off by my being unpublished at the moment. I was asked to bring in some of my work. I guess I'll have to get busy.

In the category of stupid revelations was my realization a couple of weeks ago that a book represents work. Yes, work goes into writing a book. They don't magically appear for my entertainment. I've known, of course, all along that work goes into a book but somehow when I'm lost in a story I tend to forget that.