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  Join a writing group? Me? Baring my soul through writing and sharing this with
people I didnâ??t know sounded like something I couldnâ??t emotionally handle but it seemed to be the next step on the road to becoming a career writer. The courses on writing I had taken were over and the ladies in the class thought it would be great to start meeting monthly to talk about and share our writings. The instructor agreed to start the group in her home and we were all informed by email where and when it would be.
    I suffered up until the day of the meeting, going back and forth as to whether I would attend or not. Fears assaulted me as I worried about every little thing regarding the meeting. Later I would realize that this was just one of the many steps and obstacles I would have to take if I wanted to continue to pursue writing. Coming to crossroads has happened over and over again and each time I had to decide, â??Do I want to step out in this area? Is this a positive road in my journey to becoming a career writer?â?
    You might say, â??I can be a writer without classes or group involvementâ? and I am sure that some people have and you might to. Writing classes and groups have been invaluable to me however, not just for what I have learned but for the connections I have made with different people.
    Going to the first group meeting was difficult and I soon realized that we all had different styles of writing, goals and areas we wanted to pursue with the written word. We also all had many things in common such as worrying if others valued our writing, wondering how much time and money we wanted to invest in this and the big question, â??How good am I?â?Â
    Working with others monthly in a group has helped me with these questions and others. Every month we bring an original work, either something given by assignment or freestyle. We listen and bring encouragement to the writer, first and foremost. Our biggest critique is in clarity; is there something unclear or hard to understand in the writing? Our groupâ??s goal is to encourage and learn, not tear each other down. We rejoice when others take big steps and encourage when some are struggling. A few months ago we had an assignment to write a short story using three key words picked out of a hat and mine was so well received that I am turning it into a novella! So you never know what could happen.
     Keeping in touch is important especially when feeling burnt out or discouraged by the slowness of the process of building this career. Mostly we communicate outside of group by emails; after all, we are writers!
    Next week I want to go a little further in talking about writing groups and classes by discussing how connections with people who can help you can be made through these avenues. One such connection led to the writing of my first novel�
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in over 50 articles she has written for several different article websites and being a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
 Last week we started talking about writing groups and how the support within can help you on your road to writing success. Every month I can talk to the group and express my fears, writing blocks and other issues and gain encouragement and even ideas to help me move on to the next step.
    Writing exercises and games are something we do in writing group to liven things up and get the creative juices flowing. Some of my and others best short stories have come from writing exercises. To me, these exercises cause me to go to my creativity and flow. By flow I mean just start writing without trying to think everything through. Like an artist, I go to the creative side of my brain instead of the logical side and before I know it the story is on paper. Logic is okay in editing but gets in the way during the initial write.
   Connections made during writing groups can be fruitful. Many groups have guest speakers such as editors, published authors and even publishers that can give you valuable insight into their world, what they think and what they want in a story. Groups can also open doors to conferences, workshops and online groups that can again broaden your perspective on things and possibly allow you to meet someone who can help your career.
   One of our meetings was about getting your work professionally edited and an editor/writing coach from another state came in and talked about what she did. I had brought along a small non-fiction work I had written in case the opportunity came to show her. She glanced at it and asked me to send the first 10 pages by email for her to check out later.Â
    She liked the non-fiction thoughts I had but asked me if I had ever considered taking these thoughts and turning them into a fiction story that might be more interesting for the readers. Turning the principles I believed into fiction had not really crossed my mind but I decided to take the thoughts in one chapter and write a story.
    It quickly grew into fifty pages and we began talking by phone and email. Her insights were invaluable and I hired her to edit my work. My first novel is finished and edited with the second in the series two thirds of the way completed. I have ideas enough for at least a seven book series and all of it grew from a writing group meeting where I made a life-changing connection.Â
   So do not despise the day of small beginnings�classes, groups and just plain hard work. You never know where these can lead�next week we will look at getting started writing through journaling�
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in the over 50 articles she has written for several different article websites, as well as being a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
During the last few weeks I have had several people approach me and ask me, â??How did you get started in your pursuit of becoming a writer?â?
While I have not arrived at the goals and dreams I have concerning writing, I will be glad to share a little bit of what I have learned over the past few years.
Three years ago I began to seriously pursue a career in writing. Writing had been part of my life since I was 9 years old and I had enjoyed writing for fun through school and into marriage. Starting with poetry, I then went to short stories but early in my marriage and while my children were young my writing ceased as a busy life took over.
When my children were older I began writing for a church newsletter and worked on Bible studies that I shared with my friends. I wrote a short non-fiction book based on some of the Bible studies and sent it to a few publishers in the early 1990â??s with no success. The desire to write was something I could not get past however and a chance peek at the local newspaper one day changed my life and its course forever.
Advertised in the paper was Community Education and its winter schedule of classes. I had participated in Community Education before, taking a hair braiding class a few years earlier. What caught my eye this time was a writing class; four weeks for a small amount of money. With the state of my finances this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to see how serious I was about writing.
This brings me to the first topic in this series of articles on pursuing a writing career. Topic one is to take a writing class. Whether it is a course in college, community education or lessons on-line, go ahead and sign up for a class to get your feet wet. How will you know how serious you are if you never step out of the boat? Many people talk about doing different things and living their dream but never follow through. Here is one easy step if you want to be a writer: take a class.
When I arrived at the first class I almost ran back out the door. There were eight other ladies and I was sure they were all expert writers and would probably laugh at my feeble attempts to create on paper. Taking a class made me realize what little self-confidence I had and how afraid I was to share what was in my heart. On a more positive note, it also introduced to some wonderful ladies who were really no different than me and helped me to realize that I did want to go to the next step in becoming a career writer, joining a writing group. Join me next week for more tips on pursuing a career in writing.
Jennifer Hallmark is a writer, artist and ministry leader who works with women’s ministry groups. Her love of writing is evident in over 50 articles she has written for several different article websites and her being a contributing writer for brandlady.com magazine. She has finished her first in a series of novels, Journey of Grace: A New Beginning.Check out her websites at www.jenniferhallmark.com and www.aclarioncall.com .
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