Happy NaNoWriMo kick off day! I churned out almost 2500 words this morning so I let myself pop in to update my site. I hope everyone else who is participating is off to a great start!
So, I live in the cutest little writing city on earth. Truly. Soon after I started writing, I found out that a neighbor was also working on a novel. When I mentioned it to my mother, she responded, “Who isn’t working on a novel in this town?”
Fair point. You can’t throw a rock in this town without hitting an aspiring writer, which, I suppose, could be discouraging, but it isn’t. We also have our fair share of famous authors in town, and a large Festival of the Book each year. The best thing, however, is a little building near everyone’s favorite bagel shop. I’ve walked past it a thousand times in my life and never questioned what was in there, but it turns out that this nondescript house nestled between an industrial zone and the small of baking bread is the Writer House, an organization devoted to helping writers improve their craft. They host readings, seminars, classes, writing groups- you name it, they have it.
So last winter I was patting myself on the back for completing the first draft of my very first novel and trying to decide what to do next and my mother (who always seems to be coming to my rescue) told me to see if the WriterHouse offered any classes that I might be interested in. Coincidentally, another friend who is a VERY talented writer sent me a link to their classes around the same time.
What the heck, I thought, and signed up for an Advanced Fiction Writing class, despite having absolutely no right to consider myself advanced in any way.
It turned out that this was a great decision. Next time, I’ll tell you why.