One day two years ago some ideas came to me for a couple of short stories. I hadn’t written any kind of fiction in decades, but the ideas were so clear, and I had so much free time to fill at my office job, I had to follow through on them. One was the story I published here on my blog on March 16, 2005 called “The Day After Valentine’s.” After I wrote that one, I decided it was time to find some sort of writing group and get feedback on my writing. I went online and found the website for the Neighborhood Writing Alliance. Their Rogers Park Library workshop was closest to me and their meeting time fit my schedule, so I dropped by. And I’ve been going ever since. It’s a group of about 10 people, six to eight of which tend to show up on any given week. People bring in short stories, poems, plays, screenplays, essays and biographical writing. I’ve also brought songs, a newspaper ad and even an employee self-evaluation.
These days we’re no longer affiliated with the Neighborhood Writing Alliance and have changed our name to the Rogers Park Writers’ Group, but we still meet on Thursdays from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Rogers Park Library at 6907 N. Clark Street. We’re on hiatus at the moment, but here’s my question for you: who wants to come join us? We welcome people of all writing levels and backgrounds, especially amateurs and people who don’t think of themselves as “writers” (I don’t think of myself as a “writer”).
Interested? We are a sort of support group that nurtures writers no matter what your writing looks like. We’re also investigating how to self-publish our work. If you’re interested, please come to a meeting. We’re on break for the rest of August, but we’ll meet again starting on September 8, 2005. Stop by just to check it out. If you’re not into it, you never have to come back.
Rogers Park Writers’ Group
Thursdays, September 8, 15, 22 and 29, 2005
6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Rogers Park Library
6907 N. Clark Street
Maybe I’ll see you there!