I know the distractions of everyday life. Probably not as much as a few years ago, when I had two children at home, but I sympathize with writing mothers who never have enough hours in the day. To find a few minutes to write is next to impossible. Therefore, my hat goes off to the women of my writing group, Grand Rapids Region Writers Group (http://bit.ly/GRRWG). Most of them have children at home. Some of them work full-time. All of them are short of time. But they continue to write. And critique, finish manuscripts, submit said manuscripts, and sell. I don’t know the percentage of published writers in our group, but I’m willing to bet it’s over fifty, if not closer to seventy-five. I’ll have to run a poll.
They’re a very dedicated group. While everyone doesn’t make it to every meeting (the second Saturday of the month at 11:30) they come often enough that I’m worried we’ll soon outgrow our meeting space (Grandvilla Restaurant, 3594 Chicago Dr, Grandville, MI 49418 (616-538-1360). I read once that the average turnover rate for volunteer organizations is 40% per year. We laugh at that figure. Our membership is slightly over last year’s and we continue to host guests each month.
We hold ourselves to high standards. Along with setting monthly goals, we’ve split into several critique groups who meet outside of the group. The synergy is awesome.
But that’s not enough. This group, who continues to write and sell, wants to take our mission a step further. Come October, we’ll host the “I Always Wanted to Write A Book” conference. A major keynote speaker will be announced soon (shh! I can’t tell) as well as the other speakers and schedule.
I’ll leave that to later. The point I want to make is that the typical excuses don’t apply to these women, and they shouldn’t apply to you. If you have a story you want to write, why aren’t you? If you need support, look around. And if you have nothing to do this Saturday, join us at the Grand Villa Restaurant, 3594 Chicago Dr, Grandville, MI 49418
(616-538-1360) from 11:30-2:30. We’ll be happy to help.
And we’ll be writing.
Cheryl
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