Writersmind.Surabhi

  Trees are beginning to feel a little lighter. Leaves are changing their costumes, putting their make-up on, getting dressed to leave their old lives, making place for the new to take shape.  I try to add a spring in my step, crunching the dried leaves resting on the sidewalk. Patches of orange and green leaves, specks of yellow on a few others, deep reds peeping from the fresh greens are a welcoming sight for me. I am amazed at the way in which fall walks in year after year, accompanied by a quiet grace, making for gentle celebrations. There is a common thought that crosses my mind at the same time every year. Have I changed? What parts of me have I let go, fall away like the dried leaves that I just stomped upon? Where are my branches leading me? How much longer can I hold on to the green leaves? Am I prettier when I change color? This year is astonishingly different. The virus has changed nearly everything. It has taken away so much from us, including loved ones, jobs...

Writing is a solitary activity. I have seen, read and heard this line many times over and over. I have also met writers who need total silence and shut themselves away from devices and people and keep themselves open only to their thoughts and ideas. I agree that if you have quiet time and no distractions, you can churn out good content and meet burning deadlines. In today’s piece, I am going to walk you through quite the opposite of this. Writing groups. For the past five years, I have been actively participating in writing groups. When I first started out, I had no idea how helpful and inspiring it would be to write with a group of writers. Creative writing groups in public libraries and other avenues in the writing community in Charlotte have given me a taste of how it works. Though awkward and shy initially, I slowly realized that it was a community with a purpose. The purpose was to get your thoughts out on a paper or on a device. Prompts and the ways in which writers in the ...