Hot Writing Fun in the Summertime!

Throw in a few friends, a few strangers, a good family, good food, parties on the beach and kids with attitudes; mix in a wild fire, a great and terrible flood, travel to faraway places, and two friends who maintained peace in the midst of threats to spill blood; top it off with retirement plans, what's family got to do with your man?, the goodness of forgiveness, love won, love lost, and love in 100 ways and you've got the variety of books being written over this summer's glorious days.

Whew! But it's true. The 10 avid readers who came together in late June and early July at Roxanne's ARTtiques in Brookland for the Secrets and Joys of Writing a Book in 30 Days workshop are on the path to becoming authors of their first books. Some came in with ideas as loose as elastic bands. Others knew exactly what they wanted to do. A couple showed up with not one book idea, but two! After the first session, though, every reader turned writer was excited and ready to go get the job done.

No writer completed a first draft after 30 days, but the majority achieved more success than they had ever imagined possible in such a short time. And for some, this journey with other writers has sparked changes of more than one kind.

One avid writer who shared three manuscripts for children's stories with our group has finally been inspired to move forward with a beautifully crafted children's picture book manuscript she wrote 10 years ago!

"Our coming together has been very good for me from the standpoint of getting more work done and gaining confidence in my ability. I think it has done the same for most of us," she recently wrote. "It has also been good for me socially, since I tend to be a-social and have been for all of my life. Believe it or not, I had to force myself to attend the (Writing A Book) sessions because my natural inclination is to be alone. I have always been glad that I fought that inclination each time I have come to one of our meetings."

Because of sentiments like this, what began as a 3-series workshop is now continuing every two weeks in the hope that all the writers will be able to hold a copy of a finished book (or at least a completed and edited manuscript) in their hands by next July. It's a big challenge, but as Helen Keller once said, "Life is nothing, if not a great adventure."

If you've got an idea for a book and have put it off for far too long, contact caroline@carolinebrewer.net and let her help you get started on your own great adventure!