What is Writer’s Anonymous? A Prologue by Kelly.

Hello Readers!  I stumbled upon Writers Anonymous while looking for something resembling a social life.  I had just relocated to the Boston area from Washington state and knew pretty much nobody outside my workplace.  A lot of east coasters assume that because I’m from Washington, I must be from Seattle and have Starbucks coffee cup permanently glued to my hand.  Looks of disappointment abound once I tell people I’m from Eastern Washington where there’s no trees, no rain and not a whole lot to do…and I don’t drink coffee.  In reality, its a perfect incubator for development of one’s imagination.

I was absolutely ecstatic to find a group of people who love writing just as much as I do.  The atmosphere of our meetings is nothing less than superb.  We’re following in the footsteps of famous writers who gathered in pubs and hotels all over Boston to pretty much just BS, chat a bit about writing and the goings on of the day.  We do it all in Beacon Hill, an absolutely gorgeous neighborhood where several famous writers lived…Emerson, Hawthorne, Longfellow, Alcott.  Our group is great about sharing ideas and resources and providing encouragement to each other not just with writing but also in our personal lives.

I hadn’t really thought about becoming a writer professionally when I was younger.  It was just something I liked to do…a hobby more or less.  Then one day in the fall of 2005, I suddenly found myself without a job.  I was frantically searching for work and found an ad in the classifieds calling for freelance writers.  I had nothing to lose so I called the phone number that was listed and before I knew it I was sitting in a meeting room with other hopefuls.  I was told that the job was for freelancers for a new weekly newspaper.  I had never had ANY training in journalism and only took a few creative writing classes in high school and college.  We were given a quick tutorial on inverted pyramid style and then given facts and told to write a story.  We were also given a list of subjects the newspaper would cover and told to check off the ones we were interested in.  I checked off all the sports and arts and entertainment.  Several hours later I got a call from the editor asking if I would like to cover hockey for them.  YES!  Of course I would!  I had been playing since I was 13 years old.  I wasn’t paid very much and the publication folded six months later but it showed me that I might actually have a future as a professional writer.

In the future I’d love to try my hand at novel and travel writing.  One thing I am looking forward to about getting old (which is still quite a ways off since I’m only 26) is writing my memoirs.  Maybe I should just start now and add to it as things happen. 

I have a few recommendations for resources for writers.  One is www.languageisavirus.com.  It is a fantastic website with a lot of interesting and useful articles.  I also really enjoy the book Naming The World, edited by Bret Anthony Johnston, which I picked up from the Harvard COOP.  There are some great articles by a bunch of different writers that help provide some inspiration and good pointers.

This entry is currently being typed up in the Teele Square Cafe in Somerville, MA.  This is my first time here so I’ll give you a writer’s review of it: There is FREE wifi, great selection of coffee, juice, and food, but only a select number of power outlets. They also only accept cash. Overall my first  experience is pretty good.

Thanks for stopping by the blog and we’re looking forward to hearing from you!