Writing

So in the last few months, I've started writing again. I've written since I could read, just about, and done it pretty well, I guess.  In the second grade I wrote a poem that the teacher had me copy and illustrate on big flipchart-size paper, and posted it for the school open house.  In fifth grade I won county and state prizes for another poem I wrote. In high school I was selected to be copy editor of the yearbook; that plan was interrupted by an unplanned pregnancy and wedding (oops!).  After I finished grad school and moved to Buffalo, I picked up writing again, and was publishing and reading poetry locally. I've co-edited and been part of publishing a chapbook anthology and an arts magazine.  After I moved to Tennessee, I joined a literary group there, and published a piece of memoir/essay in the MTSU literary journal, and that piece received a mention in "Best American Essays" for 2012 or 13, I think (can't find the book right now; can't remember the exact year).  So yes, I've written.  I've always kept a journal, blogged for a while, went to the occasional writing workshop, did Julia Cameron's morning pages for years.  But since I moved back to Buffalo in 2014, my creative writing has really languished.

Now 2022 has been the year of getting that piece of my true self back again.  Mostly, I write longhand.  As I sit out here at my table and write, I remember that little girl who spent hours in her room, reading, writing stories, reading them to her friends, writing poems.  I've missed that little girl. And I feel her again when I write.  Here's what I did:

In February, I joined the Hay House Writer's Community. It's a paid subscription, but somehow paying for something keeps me more accoountable.  They offer "tracks," depending on your self-defined level of writing; I started right at the beginning, and it's a very slow, very gentle, step-by-step process to lead you into the process of becoming a writer (again, for me). There are weekly and monthly assignments, and a progression through one track and into the next one.  I'm about to finish up Track One ("Beginning Writer"), and will then move into Track Two ("Aspiring Author").  I've stayed on track for six months now, which is amazing. At their suggestion, I began reading more, some fiction, some memoir, some books by writers, about writing. That helped energize me.  I've come along.  Then I joined a "Scribblers Group" at the old people's residence across the street (independent living for seniors).  That got me writing a couple of actual pieces that I could read to the group. Then I finally joined a community called "Yale Women Writers." They meet online twice a month.  I was afraid it would be only young, brilliant, successful writers, but that's not the case at all.  There are all sorts and levels of writers, from well-published people to "women of a certain age" who are just getting into their writing again -- like me!  And I'm doing morning pages again, and rereading Julia Cameron ("Artist's Way" and "The Right to Write," currently, but I have a whole collection of her books that I intend to revisit).  And obviously, I'm revisiting my blog.  I'm even toying with the idea of putting together my own chapbook -- pieces I'm writing, or have written in the last few years.  This is the first time I've seriously considered publishing my work!

This all makes me very happy.  I've rediscovered an important part of myself.  If anybody's interested, I can post a list of the books I've read over the last few months, as they excite and energize me, and maybe they will do the same for you.