The Sunday Night Writing Group

I was simply trying to make it too hard. Today it came to me with a kind of clarity I have not had in years.

This is to be my work now, and it will take a bit to find my way into it but here’s the thing, I have written seriously for 55 years and been a writing teacher for 40 years. Writing is my way in the world. I have written both fiction and non-fiction, had several small presses, written for magazines, newspapers, been published in anthologizes, created a number of different zines, had several blogs, this current one for 11 years, I have run the gamut, but the main thing is I write like I breathe, writing has healed me, and in fact saved my life since I was a young girl. And I knew that finally it was time for me to come back to teaching a writing group but I didn’t know how.

The problem, you see, was that I was trying to make it too specific. I don’t want it to be on a particular theme, I want it to be all inclusive. If you write, if you have something specific you are working on, a novel say, or an article, or a blog post, or you just need to get juiced to write at all, I want this group to be the place you come.

I am trying to figure out exactly how to format this but I think, in the manner that I always have, I will used timed writings. Whatever you are working on you can write about within those timed writings, and maybe you will use the timed writings for just the sheer joy of whatever comes up, no destination intended or needed. These writings can also bring up for you what is in your mind and on your heart right now and can lead you to where you need to go with your other writing. They can be like a journal entry or the lead-in to a short story. There are no limitations.

As I see it we will write together, I will lead people into exercises, set the timer, and bring us to a close. I will ask for volunteers to read. We will write and read together for 2 hours. It is as simple as that.

Of course this is the bare bones. I see this having the potential to grow into something far beyond what I can imagine but I am not thinking of anything beyond showing up for 2 hours on Sunday nights to write with whoever can come that night.

Here’s what occurred to me. When I said yesterday that I wanted people to commit for 2 years — of course that was ludicrous! — it was because I had this sense of wanting this to be ongoing, wanted people to commit, was scared what would happen if no one showed up. Well, here’s the thing, I am committing to write every Sunday night from 8-10, EST. If nobody shows up but me then I am there writing for 2 hours. It is very Zen in my mind. It is my writing time, and I will be there, and if you can join me I will be delighted. That way you aren’t afraid to have to commit to something you might have to miss sometimes, and you also won’t be committing to something you can’t yet quite grok as far as how it will feel, if it will benefit you, and if this is something you really want to do.

Logistics. No video program, I can’t find a free one I like and a lot of people don’t want to be on video anyway. I have a free program that I used for mentoring in which people can enter the call with a dial-in number and special room code, we are all there together, it is audio only, and I can record the call (for participants if they want a recording. This is absolutely private for participants only!). This free program will actually allow for 1000 people to be in the conference call though I laugh imagining that I will be lucky, at least to start, to get a handful, and seriously, I couldn’t begin to handle that many people! But it allows for more, if more people did want to come, than me saying that I would only take 12 people.

This Sunday Night Writing Group will be for both men and women, all ages, sexes, races, genders, all inclusive. But I will say firmly that any and all work I ever do is rooted in compassion and loving-kindness, and I do not and will not allow anything of a sexual nature to be shared (What you write is your own business but you cannot share it in the group if this is what you write.) and I also will not allow people with an agenda, political, religious, or otherwise, to get up on a soapbox and use this as a forum for irate diatribes. Sorry, my group, my rules, you’ll have to take that elsewhere. A person will be immediately removed from the group for this. I don’t expect people’s writing to be all love and light by any means, but nor will I allow sharing that is contentious, ugly, or unkind. And this will absolutely be safe space. What you hear here stays here. You can share your own writings however you choose. You may not share what you hear anyone else read. This is a sacred trust and one I have held dear in my classes for 40 years.

There will be no fee for these Sunday night gatherings but it will be a lot of work on my part, a serious commitment, and I would appreciate a donation if you are able in any amount that feels fair to you. There is a PayPal link after every blog post, and there will be one on the page for The Sunday Night Writing Group. This page is now up on the website but there is nothing there yet. That will be fleshed out in the days ahead.

Also fyi the Free Conference Call program that I will be using has dial-in numbers that can be used from all over the world. While this is a free service if you have charges applicable from where you are calling that will be your responsibility.

For more information — I will be putting a special email with information together in the days ahead — or to sign up and get the information for the dial-in number and special room code, write to me at: TheSundayNightWritingGroup@gmail.com and I will get back to you asap. If you are out of the US please let me know where you will be calling from so I can look up your special dial-in number. I am thinking about creating a Mail Chimp mailing list to send information out to participants and since I will be manually adding you to this list you will have to send an email saying you give permission for me to do so. This will be taken care of at the time you sign up and get your dial-in number and codes. And once you are “signed up” you will not be committing to being there every week but you will be on the roster as a participant for whenever you can come. I’d love to see you every week but you do what you can.

I am not sure when the first group call will be. I’d like to jump in this Sunday night but I’m not sure if I can get it together by then. If you will email me and get on the list I will let you know. It could be a last minute notice for this Sunday or one or two Sundays out. The thing is the technology to do this on my own and manage the call is a bit much for me to manage and I am looking for someone to assist me. I have someone in mind who has offered to help me in the past but I don’t know if she will be available, even for just the first few weeks while I get the kinks worked out.

But the thing is this, as in everything else in life, I have been trying to overcomplicate, as I have so many things in my life, this whole thing. This is going to be a group where people who want to write, people who love to write, can come together for 2 hours once a week and write. I will provide the space and the material. I will be there. It is as simple as that.

Please bear with me as I get this all together but, after struggling for some time now to try to figure out how to do this I can say that I am just absolutely delighted, excited, and ready, more than ready. Get your notebook and pen, or computer, or tablet, or whatever you care to use, and let’s write!