The Writer's Meeting

My choice:
Robert Ross's Back Yard

Ok, so I am dialed into the writer thing right now. To be fair, peddling my books is the only source of income for my family. So please excuse my Socials. I'm annoying to me as well. I am pleased to say with what I've made so far, I could buy two gallons of ice cream and a tank of gas. Go me. 

Anyway, I went to the Volusia County Writer's meeting today. I thought it was sweet that we met at the Art Museum, until I found out I had to pay to enter the art museum. Um... that could have been mentioned. To be fair, even with the $10 price tag (so I'm down to one gallon of ice cream and a tank of gas), I still had high hopes. I met someone else entering, Zoe, who seemed as eager as I was. I wanted to ask her all the questions: what had she written, where was she in her writing journey, what genre did she specialize in, anything published? But we never got that far. 

Instead, we were shuffled to a workroom/closet, where three tables were set up. The woman running the whole show asked us to sign in, grab a pen and take a seat. She then wanted us to give our name and where we were from. I wanted to know everyone's lore, and would have been willing to share mine if that were the assignment. But Madam In Charge (MIC) only wanted location. MIC then told us she's been a fiction writer for four years. She told us in a few moments, after the raffle, we'd mosey out to the art museum and select a painting. We were to stare at the picture for 15 minutes and answer basic questions. 

Basic question--I am not making this up: 

• What do I see. 
• What details do I notice
• What words come to mind when I look at the picture
• What looks out of place
• What would I ask the artist
• Why did I choose the picture
• How does it make me feel

THIS IS A WRITER'S MEETING not a 10th grade art appreciation class. Just saying. 

When our fifteen minutes were up, she then had us come in and (I'm not making this up) "write in the voice of the artwork." MIC said we would not be sharing our writing. She then gave everyone notebooks so we could do this longhand. However MIC had a computer with a keyboard. I looked back at their web site. Nowhere did it say we needed a computer--or a notebook. Did I mention I have a broken hand and cannot write longhand? I can sorta type.* After a bit of this, I decided I wanted to go home. So I did. 

I did not sign up for a creative writing class. There are those who need it. Hopefully this worked out for them. I signed up for writers working with writers. I will stay on the lookout for this. 

I would like to address the raffle. If this is your thing. Go you. No judgement. No judgement to MIC either, cuz this is definitely her thing. But she was raffling off tarot cards. Yep. MIC the fiction writer writes tarot cards for a living. My issue isn't tarot cards exactly--though the Catholic/Church of Christ adjacent girl in me cringed. My issue is that tarot cards as a raffle for a writer's meeting is as appropriate as raffling cat litter as a prize in an upscale Italian restaurant. Why not some cute pen/notebook/bookmark? 

They have another event coming up that is swinging towards the new age vibe. We can share our writing there. However, I can tell this venue would not be the right audience for my "writing." I'm guessing this group isn't for me. At some point, I might stick around and go to something more mainstream and see if I can meet a few others. But not just yet. 

*There was a lot of editing today.