Writing as a Group

Is it seriously already December?

I’m still wondering where October went.

November though, was an absolute blast.  There’s something about NaNoWriMo that invigorates me in ways I can’t even describe.  This year was my first year being an ML in a brand new region and I loved it.

For our first year, we decided to go with a crazy, complicated theme to kick off the start of our region.  Our theme was ‘A Trilogy of Trilogies.’ A combination of Indiana Jones, Star Wars and the Hunger Games.  The rules were intricate and convoluted, but I think that everyone had fun.  My favorite part was that we separated our group into three ‘districts’ and they competed against one another for word counts.  I think it was just the boost they needed to get to their 50,000.

I was pretty proud of our little group.  We had five or six of our regulars, the active ones who came to the write-ins, achieve the goal for the first time.  One of them had attempted seven times before, but this was his first year to get to 50,000.  At our kickoff, we learned that two of our writers, who’d met at our meetings last year, were engaged.  We even had a baby who tried to be born during the month.

I love interacting with other writers.  Having someone who knows exactly what you mean when you talk about researching derogatory terms, or how to properly tie someone up (and then practicing), is really the best kind of support a writer can have.  I love my husband, and he’s very supportive of my writing, but I still get to a point where I can see his eyes gloss over when I talk too much about my characters or novels.  I have some awesome online friends through writing groups and through this blog that have become staples of my writing life, but every once in a while, it’s nice to interact with people face to face.

Not only that, I love watching new writers as they discover the joy and addiction of writing.  I feel that too often, when someone new begins to write, if they don’t have someone to support them, the ‘hobby’ drops by the wayside as other things become more important.  I know that almost happened to me.

Have any of you been mentored by someone more experienced?  Did it boost your confidence and give you a foothold in the crazy life of a writer?  Is there someone you’re helping right now?  I’d love to hear your stories!