The thing about being a writer is that one must actually perform the act that makes one a writer. From what I can see on Twitter, with my fellow writers, sitting down to write can be the most difficult task to get to, and yet to be a writer, well, putting words on the page is required. It isn’t that we don’t have great ideas, that we don’t dream about characters, situations, and settings, or that we can’t imagine all manner of detail for our stories.

I know how to write. I have a ba-zillion stories half-begun. And when I do sit down with a pen and my notebook, (yep, call me old school), I can block out the world and enter the one I’m writing in without coming up for air. But I’ve gone weeks without scratching out a single word. It’s gotten much worse since I left the brick-and-mortar world because I don’t have that set time where I open my notebook and write without stopping, well, until recently.

I discovered the Rosefire Writing Circle (RWC), when I found the courage to join a session on New Year’s Day this year. I made a decision to make time for my writing again. I was nervous and a bit terrified because I’d not been a part of anything like this, ever. I left that experience feeling supported and inspired as a writer and I’ve made the RWC a priority since that first time.

I meet with other writers, where Deborah Lee Luskin creates an incredible space, online for me, to simply take a breath and write. Once we’ve written, we can choose to read our work to the circle of writers, and gather in all that the other writers loved or resonated with in our words. It is so affirming, so life-giving to a writer, and to both hear those words from other writers and give them back to other writers is, well, like riding a horse on a mountain trail through a beautiful forest and then coming to the opening where the view takes your breath away.

Check out Deborah’s online spaces and think about joining a writing circle. Your writing life will be changed. This is her website, and pay special attention to Writing in Community and Support, and of course, the Writing Circles Page.