2/1/18
Last summer I joined the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. Every year the statewide club sponsors the Golden Nib Writing Contest. To enter, an author must be a member of both the statewide club and a local chapter. Then authors submit entries to their local chapter. Each local chapter judges those entries as they see fit and forwards the best work in the fiction, nonfiction, and poetry categories to the state level for judging. The Club announces the first, second, and third winners in each category at its annual conference in November.
I initially joined to enter this contest. The submission deadline was the end of July. Over the summer, the Northern Virginia Chapter foregoes its usual monthly meetings; so I had no way of knowing what benefits joining this club could bring. I’m pleased to say that since then, I’ve really enjoyed being a member. The motivation I feel coming out of every meeting, just from being around other writers and discussing writing, is well worth the two hours one Saturday afternoon a month.
There are lots of reasons to join a writers group. Some of those are discussed a little more here. There also are lots of types of writers groups. Some groups you don’t even have to leave your house to participate in. There are many writing communities online. In addition to submitting to the writing contest, I joined the Northern Virginia Writers Club because I thought the topics discussed at their meetings over the last year sounded interesting and possibly beneficial to my writing.
After just six months in the club, I was elected Vice President for 2018. Essentially this means I’m in charge of finding our monthly meeting spaces. However, I also will present the workshop at our next meeting on Saturday, February 24 from 1-3p. It’s titled “Where, When, and How Much? A Round Table Discussion.” I plan to use anecdotes from professional writers to spur a discussion on the process of writing and what has, and has not, worked for the authors in attendance. The meeting location is below. Feel free to join us if you are in the area.
Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library
Adventures in Writing Science Fiction 