One of the most rewarding—and most surprising things—about doing these Literary Locals interviews is seeing how many writers there are in the area, plugging away at the craft—and how many different groups there are of them working together in one way or another. I’m not alone in this, either, some of the authors/leaders of these groups are surprised to see how many others there are.
I can only assume if this is true for Southwest Idaho, there’s a decent chance that it’s similar wherever you are. Go look for them. Even if you’re not an author, aspiring author, possible aspiring author. I met someone this week who’s a board member of one of these groups who just wants to support the writers in her community while not being a writer—how cool is that?
I met—and had the beginning of a conversation that could’ve gone on for hours in another setting—her at the monthly meeting of Idahope (I interviewed the Secretary and President about their recent relaunch last month). I’d been invited/suckered into coming to talk to them about how to participate in an author interview—and, most importantly, how to come across as non-boring or generic in them. (hence my recent surveys about them—which I’m going to try to turn into something for the blog soon. So, maybe February)
My bit went okay (I think)—sure, I forgot a couple of the points that were in my mental outline for weeks (remembering them once I left the parking lot), and too many jokes fell flat (I’m sure it was the delivery. Or the material. Not the audience). But we had some good discussion and most of those in attendance didn’t seem to mind my blathering. Also…I somehow only talked for more than 10 minutes and only dropped in references to two books, which is a personal record.
But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about the meeting—we started out going around the table talking about our current projects and whether we were participating in NaNoWriMo. Only one person was doing a modified version of it, if you can believe that. I’m not 100% certain it’s allowed for a group of more than 6 independent writers to get together in November without multiple NaNo participants present—I kept waiting for some NaNo Agents to burst through the wall like the Vegan Police in Scott Pilgrim and start issuing fines and forcing Chris Baty material into our hands.*
* I guess the NaNo people could’ve been home getting their daily counts in. Maybe that’s why the authorities were lenient on us.
Once my prattling on was done, we all did a writing exercise—which resulted in some wonderful turns of phrase and the display of some…shall we say, interesting…imaginations. I really want to read some longer works by everyone around that table (even from the self-professed non-writer). This includes some novels and children’s books that are in various stages of creation mentioned throughout the night that I’d love to read when they’re done.
But for me, the best part was just seeing this group of people at various stages in their writing/creative careers come together to talk and share a little bit and support each other. It sounds good on paper, but I got a little buzz off of it in reality. It’s an infectious spirit and I can see me coming back for another hit or two of that, at least and maybe becoming another member just to support the work of the group.
Also, in the room next to us, an Improv Class was in session. Other than the fact that they were occasionally distractingly loud, I loved that. I don’t know how many there were in the class, but I think it’s safe to say that in that building there were at least 20 people out on a chilly Tuesday night to talk about and work on their art/craft/passion in one way or another. How great is that?
I don’t have a conclusion here, and I really should. I guess I’ll just encourage you all—your tribe is out there to help you on your creative way. Go find them.
Grab a book, any book.
