When Third Story Writers Guild's email inbox contained a message from a woman who works on projects for NPR (National Public Radio) we were ecstatic little writers. We had been discovered!!! Of course all one need do to "discover" us is to use the proper key word, such as Wisconsin writers, Wisconsin writers groups, to name but two and voila' our website will appear, contact information included. So maybe its not such a big deal.
Or maybe it is.
Not all of our members chose to work on the NPR project, but several of us did. This is something different, something larger than we're used to. Our work will appear on a national multi-media website with the possibility of "hits" by folks all across the country and beyond. Scary? Yes. Worthwhile? Definitely.
Unless its a very personal journal or diary most writers write to gain an audience. We want others to read what we've written. To that end we practice our craft in small ways at first, then put ourselves in another position. We step out of our comfort zone in search of something bigger.
Most writers I know have little faith in their work. Arrogance may belong to the likes of Ernest Hemingway for instance, but the burgeoning author is a mass of nerves, a jangle of whatifwhatifwhatif, certainly lacking in self-esteem. Our own worst critics.
Enter the writers group, or critique group -- whatever name you ascribe to it goes to the heart of the matter with the same end. Feedback. Then it grows from feedback to sharing of information. I went to this conference and have this information to share...There is an author who is willing to visit with us and give us tips on...I found this website, this writing contest, this possibility...
Possibility.
The NPR project is a possibility for all of us. A possibility that someone may notice one of us folks who meet in this big library in this little town. Some of whom have spent years honing a craft they were not quite sure how they were ever going to put to use. State of the Reunion, as the project is called, is a possibility for true discovery. Not because someone typed keywords into Google, but on each individual writer's work. On that writings own merit.
Ego-boosting or ego-blasting we're ready for. If there's one thing I've learned on this writers wroad (I so enjoy doing that) its to grow a thick skin. We may have to undergo setbacks, I refuse to call them failures, on our journey to publication. But we must persist. Look at the 14 of us who comprise Third Story Writers Guild. We're growing. We're evolving. We're spreading our wings. We're reaching for the stars.
May we shine.
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