Wildwood Writers Are Going Weekly!

Last night's WWG meeting was good, as it always is. Unfortunately, Lisa couldn't make it, so it was just me, Rich and Michelle.

Michelle read part of a Victorian horror short story she had first written several years ago - I remembered it well. She recently decided to re-write it, since she's in between book projects, and she said she's having fun with it. She's always loved history, especially researching and writing it, and she has a talent for recreating historical settings and customs. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest - I hope she reads it next time. She also read the beginning of a poem that she's working on, to submit to an online poetry contest. Writing expressive, descriptive poetry comes naturally to her, and I can tell that this is going to be another of her great poems.

Rich read more of his book in progress, that's an expansion of his most recent short story. It's an uncommon, coming-of-age-in-suburbia story with intriguing characters, unusual events and his always beautiful prose. His sensory language brings his characters and scenes completely to life - I can close my eyes and see it all in my mind. Last night's scenes really deepened his characters' complexity and their motives, and one scene especially was an important bridge to incidents that happen later. It's so great to hear this story as it's growing, and I can't wait to hear what happens next.

I read the second half of Chapter 1 of What Luck, and Michelle and Rich both gave me good feedback. Michelle said it's very authentic - the main character's awkwardness is so true to life, and the pacing is just right for teens. Rich said the school situation is realistic, and the characters are well-drawn. He did notice that one of the secondary friend characters isn't as developed as the others, so that's something I want to work on in another re-write. But they both want to know what happens next, so I'm going to try to curb my urge to keep re-writing that chapter, and work on getting the next chapter ready for the next meeting.

And now the next meeting is going to be next week! We decided to try to meet weekly instead of every other week, so we can keep up the momentum of our writing. We all agreed that we write more whenever we have a meeting coming up - it's like a deadline. And if we have to miss a meeting, we'll only be away for a week, instead of a whole month. I really enjoy our meetings, and I think weekly meetings will be good for me, because they will drive me to keep writing and pushing forward, so I will always have something new to read. So I hope it works out, for all of us.