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Monday, February 28, 2011

The Broken Cup & Other Writing Prompts



  • The cup broke....
  • Pets are....
  • Use this quote for inspiration: "Be the change that you want to see in the world." --Mohandas Gandhi
  • My family....

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Photo courtesy of Michael Hashizume

Friday, February 25, 2011

Just Write Group Meetings Discontinued


"If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story." --Orson Wells

After an interesting eight years, I've decided to stop facilitating my weekly writing group.

When I started the group in 2002 at the Northwest Senior Center (a City of Las Vegas center that is now closed), I had a partner: my mom. We planned a six-week class, but the writers who showed up during that first meeting captivated us. They inspired us. And so we stayed.

Over the next eight years, we moved from being a class to being a group. We lost some members; some moved, some drifted away, and some passed away, including my mom.

In 2008, the Just Write Group moved to the Derfelt Senior Center at Lorenzi Park after the Northwest Center closed. It's been a bumpy few years since then. Like so many Las Vegans, I've had to focus more on work than on soul-enriching activities. Late last year, I put the group on hiatus, hoping it would be temporary, but this week I decided it was time to end the Just Write Group.

While I am going to miss the weekly meetings (honestly, who else other than a group of writers cares about apostrophe abuse?), I will be posting prompts, links to interesting articles about writing, and the occasional observation about the writing life. I welcome ideas and guest posts from JWG members. Who knows? Perhaps cyberspace will expand our little group.

One thing hasn't changed since that summer day in 2002: the writers I know still captivate me, inspire me, and encourage me to be a better writer. For all that, I thank each and every writer who has been a part of our group.
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Photo courtesy of Stephen Nakatani