At our monthly Bayou Writers' Group meeting today, we discussed business and our annual conference coming up next Saturday, and then we had member readings. For five minutes any member who wished read aloud something she or he wrote. You'd think that would fill up two hours, but it didn't. So I asked members what goals they had set for themselves and whether they had met their goals.
We gave mixed accounts of ourselves, had met some goals and were still working on others.
I always get the feeling most of our members like the chance to talk about things like that, and I wish we could have meetings where we did simply pick topics to discuss and turn each other loose on them. That might or might not work. I'd recommend having a backup plan in place. (Maybe it's fate that I'm thinking of this only at the end of my tenure as group vice president and the one responsible for the monthly programs.)
Anyway, it's important for writers to have goals, even if we don't meet them. It's too easy for us to drift. Even a modest goal is worth setting: finish a short story this month or write three poems, send out query letters or submit to a contest. We need to aim for something, especially in writing. Creativity is ephemeral, and not something easily picked up again once its set down.
4 comments:
You planned a good meeting, Jan. And I loved the story you read!
Hind sight may be 20-20, but you did a great job as program planner. I enjoyed the readings and wished I had remembered to bring something. So glad you will keep the Newsletter position so we can keep abreast of what is going on in the writing world.
A goal can be to simply write so many minutes or an hour a day. It needn't be anything conclusive, such as finishing a poem or story. Just write. Make it a habit like brushing your teeth.
Plenty of time for you to toss those ideas out there. You're still on the board for 2011. :)
You've done an excellent job. Keep up the good work. It's time for some of us to be moving on. And time for more of us to step up to the plate and grab some of the gusto.
Honestly, I think you all need to take a hard look at how many speakers you want to have during the year. We had a lot this year. We had more writing exercises and challenges last year. The great thing is... 2011 is 100% unplanned. Jot down your ideas and blast them out there! It's been fun for me. I've learned a lot and made some new friends. Still, I'm glad it's over. I'm really, really tired.
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