Early Morning Writing

I am participating in the March Slice of Life Story Challenge. Thanks to the co-authors of              Two Writing Teachers for creating this  supportive community.

I’m up early this morning. The house is quiet. In a few minutes my phone will buzz with a text message from my on-line writing critique group friends. We write together on Wednesday mornings at 6:30 for as much time as each of us can put in. We text what our plans are for the morning and at the end we say a few words on how it went. Sometimes there are questions. Always there is comradery.

I met these ladies a few years ago at a Highlights writing workshop and I spent another few days with them at a writing retreat some time later. It’s been only recently that I formally joined the group, and already I can see the benefits of talking and learning together. But it is this early morning writing time once a week that is comforting and also productive. There’s some accountability built in, but no hard and fast rules. It’s nice knowing that somewhere there is a friend maybe struggling to find the right word just as you are, or wondering how to better develop a character. And if you have a question, they are just a text message away.

I decided several years ago that I would get serious about writing for children. But it’s been only about a year that I’ve really jumped in with both feet to learn and write as much as I can. I had plenty of excuses, and sometimes I let other excuses, uncertainty, or fear hold me back. But here I am, having fun (but taking it seriously).

        Bzzzz…there’s my phone. Morning…

        …I’m finishing a blog post for Slice of Life, then tackling revisions. There’s snow

           already so I guess it will be a writing kind of day.