Writing in Community is a book of inspiration and encouragement for writers who want to reach deep within themselves and write to their fullest potential. There is magic in a successful writing group. This book helps writers tap into that magic, and with gentle wisdom and humor, experience unprecedented breakthroughs in creativity.
Lucy Adkins grew up in rural Nebraska, attended country schools, the University of Nebraska and received her degree from Auburn University in Alabama. Her poetry has been published in various journals and magazines which include Rhino, Red Wheelbarrow, Northeast, South Dakota Review, Concho River Review, and several anthologies including Times of Sorrow/Times of Grace, Women Write Resistance,Crazy Woman Creek, and the Poets Against the War anthology. Her chapbook, One Life Shining: Addie Finch, Farmwife, was published in 2007 by Pudding House Press, and her non-fiction book, Writing in Community: Say Goodbye to Writer's Block and Transform Your Life, co-written with Becky Breed, was published by WriteLife in 2013. She also co-writes a blog of encouragement and inspiration for writers which can be found at www.writeincommunity.com.
Flex the Muscles of the Imagination to do Your Bes
One of the greatest joys of writing is the way in which words and ideas appear out of nowhere. How does this happen? Sometimes, of course, we are stuck--we can't eke out a decent sentence to save our lives. But sometimes, we put our pens to paper and feel the muscles of our imagination come alive. It's a great feeling, one we yearn for, and one which I have found occurring frequently in the circle of a writing group, your fellow writers, the generative process making it happen. This is what I hope for all writers, and why Writing in Community was written.
Book Excerpt
Writing in Community
At a recent session of our writing group, the question was posed, “If January were an animal, what animal would it be?” And another: “What does January sound like?” Somerset Maugham said that “imagination grows by exercise,” and in the room that cold January night, you could sense the muscles of imagination flexing, the synapses in the brain beginning to spark and fire like a car engine turning over after a night of twenty below zero. We let the muscles of our minds grow flabby, but the calisthenics of the group help us to get back into shape. We speak of the writing “exercise.” For this sort of writing practice is exercise, and just as muscles that undergo regular exertion grow firm and strong, so does our creativity grow the more it is used. Closed parts of our selves are gradually opened and we begin to believe in ourselves again, and we believe in the power of imagination at play. When we do that, what we write will amaze us.
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