I’ve been thinking …
Have you ever signed up for an event and had no expectations?
Have you ever attended an event and had no expectations?
On Friday, I did both.
JOT Writer’s Conference is a low-key meet-up that meets-up a couple times every year at Baker Books in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In that sentence is wrapped the whole bundle of what I knew before I arrived.
As I entered, my thoughts turned to journals – but first coffee. In that sentence is wrapped the whole bundle of what I do as a writer. Isn’t that what writers do? Write in journals, coffee by their side? You see, I’m not really a writer – but I love to write … and therein lies the dilemma. If I have no aspirations to write a book or monetize my blog, can I be a writer?
At the JOT Conference, I was impressed by the authors I met, who are serious about their craft. I met a poet, an editor, a few published authors, a project manager and felt the overwhelming support they had for each other and for men and women within writing communities. As I chose a seat near the front of the venue, I looked around and discovered friends from my past and friends from my present beside me, behind me, and before me.
As the speakers took the stage to talk about their parts of authoring, editing, and publishing, the bond was obvious. They talked about how they supported each other through the writer’s drought and blank page panic. They shared their experiences with supporting budding and seasoned authors through the jungle of edits, rewrites, and design.
I’m not a writer – but if I were a writer, I would search out fellow writers to support me and talk me off the ledge when I wanted to quit.
Anyway … that’s what I was thinking.
This is a 5-minute Friday article. The word for this week is SUPPORT and I wrote for 5 minutes, no edits, not over thinking – just shoot from the hip prose. Are you a writer? Join the 5-Minute Friday group and get support even before you need it.
Jane what a cool things to do. I love it. It took only a moment to read but made me pause and reflect, gave me images of your conference and I wanted to meet some of the people you talked about. I get great response from the short one paragraph post that I do. Good job Jane you got me from I’ve been thinking…. I want to know more
Larry, thank you. Your comment is encouraging. I start most of my random musings with “I’ve been thinking.” And that is a true reflection of how the words get on the page. I don’t blog very often, but when I do I just empty out what is in my heart. What you read is the result.