Splash No. 127 - Writers' Group
Writers' Group
For a long time, I thought writing was a highly solitary career path— one which involved countless hours staring at word processing software without any external communication. That’s what I would do to write all of my newsletters, the only form of writing I really knew. My brain figured out the math: time plus solitude plus a writer equaled a completed piece of work, right?
Despite my STEM degree and many hours of calculus, this formula was faulty. Writing, like any other art, is best done in collaboration. I’d known about the quasi-mythical stories of the Lost Generation’s artistic group (Hemingway, Picasso, Stein, Fitzgerald, etc.), yet dismissed the approach for myself, thinking that it was reserved for real artists, real writers. Eventually, feeling lost and confused in my writing, I decided to try it out anyway, hoping that perhaps some feedback would help me figure out new directions for what I wanted to say and how to say it.
I expected to join something rather transactional, where we would read each other’s work and offer lists of comments and criticisms, forgetting that we were sharing our creative babies. Our acts of sharing were forms of vulnerability— first meeting by baring our hearts, showing our insides before knowing much else about each other. And so, we formed communities.
In order for someone to dedicate so much time to putting words on a page and call themself a writer, they must adore words in all of their forms. They must have obsessions with story structures and reading and punctuation marks. And this zeal must be shared. And so these logophiles write. They create futuristic societies and small scenes and alternate realities. Yet, even the most productive author cannot exhaust their love for the art. So these people come to a writers’ group— a time for writers to express their joy over each other’s work. We find joy in each other’s consonance and characters and conflicts. Yes, we give feedback and encouragement and suggestions, but we also bond over our art, letting each other in on the oft-solitary process of figuring out our thoughts and our stories. We push each other, teach each other, and ultimately shape each other and our work.
I now understand why every book has an acknowledgments page, and that to be featured on such a page would the greatest achievement. A page that says that these people inspired this book, these people saved this book, these people shaped this book. A page to remind everyone what art is— love from many sources, shaped by an individual, to be shared.
Drops of the Week
i'm bringing back my recommendations,
let me know if there's something in particular you'd like to see
PLAYLIST - Paradise Garage - great playlist of 70s and 80s tunes, named after a famous discotheque in NYC during that time period!
ARTICLE - "Twilight of the Ethical Consumer" by Elizabeth Cline - must-read about our personal responsibility for climate change and the environment
FILM - On the Rocks - not an amazing film, but a fun one, mainly due to Bill Murray being exceedingly charismatic
The new president may not be a white supremacist, but there's still work to be done. With each day, we move closer to a more equitable world. Reminders:
Ways you can help
Anti-racism resources
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With a hot cup of tea,
Nikhil