What’s Your “RE” Word?
Renew. Revisit. Refocus. Refresh. Re-see. Restart. Redo. Resolve.
Our language is full of “re” words. As a bone-cold January pushes full steam ahead, what’s your “re” word?
While I can’t speak for individuals’ own words, I can tell you with utter excitement about a group that showed up in the hearth room of Bethany Lutheran Church this week, each of them ready to buckle down to the serious business of writing.
They came from varied backgrounds, from various parts of the city. Some were deep into writing projects; others were just on the cusp of starting something. But they all showed up with two things in common: a love for the written word and a humble desire to support and be supported by one another.
Welcome to the Kansas City Writers’ Salon.
It is no accident that it is in this season of “RE” (refocus, renew, etc.) that I am launching a new Kansas-City-based writer’s group. The group is a spin-off of the creative nonfiction classes I have been teaching at The Writer’s Place in Kansas City. But in this group there are no genre boundaries. Our aim is good writing, what that means, and how to get there.
The Kansas City Writers’ Salon will be a gathering place for writers to focus on craft, critiques and community. Backed by a growing interest of Kansas City-based writers, the group aims to establish an ongoing conversation about the struggles and joys, the failures and successes of writing. The Writers’ Salon will be a space for writers to continually gather, talk about the craft of writing and share works in progress with one another.
We kicked off the group this week, with a discussion about starting points. More specifically, how do you put your butt in the chair and get down to the gritty work of actually writing?
Overland Park Arboretum, 2013. Kate Meadows
One group member admitted that it takes her a long time to get going. “It’s a matter of a little toe dip in the ocean,” she said, on the challenge of getting started.
We talked about writing as a form of play (not work) – a mind trick of sorts you can play on yourself to help get yourself going. You show up to play. You show up to dance on the page.
Stephen King said, “Writing is at its best – always, always, always – when it is a kind of inspired play for the writer.” (On Writing)
Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, writes: “Art is imagination at play in the field of time. Let yourself play.”
As the New Year gets into full swing, what’s your “Re” word?
I invite you to join us, Tuesdays from 4-5:30 p.m., in the Hearth Room at Bethany Lutheran Church (Overland Park, KS), to encounter the possibilities.
