The Candlewood Writer's Workshop

The Candlewood Writer’s Workshop has become, quite unexpectedly, a most exuberant experience………who would have thought?

The exuberant part wasn’t where I was heading when I formed the group. The primary focus was to encourage the writing….have each of the participants become, first more secure, then begin their own climb up to whatever peaks they wanted to tackle in order to take the writing to higher levels.

We started by learning the benefits of commenting on each other’s work. Oh, they were so kind and careful at first, alert to giving praise, then tentatively making suggestions, sometimes prefacing with “Now, this is just my thought…just an idea.” Some resisted, they wanted to justify why they wrote what they did…they wanted to explain it. And it went on for a while like that and then….as if by magic…they got it.

“Ah, you’re right. The reader isn’t sitting next to me waiting for me to explain what I wrote. Oh, I see…..I have to make sure what I want to say is in the writing. Oh, why didn’t you say that earlier?”

It was Tracey who first wrote a quirky little piece and submitted it to a Skirt Online….100 words or so….cleverly done….and she won. Woo Hoo….she brought confidence to the group. Then Beth, with her stream of thought sense of humor, submitting to a Chicken Soup for the Soul series, after work shopping the piece with the group….it was accepted. A big deal. Chicken Soup books get thousands of submissions. Now Sandy submits a travel piece to a contest. “What, you won the trip to Ireland?” She did and took her whole family along….to the Castle.

They support each other…encourage one another and are overjoyed as they see each other’s writing get better, clearer, succinct….now their individual voices are coming through.

I treasure these women. They have given so much back to me. They’re excited by their writing which excites me. They have incredible, creative ideas on what they want to say and how they want to say it. They care deeply about each other and after three years together I know things about each of them, as they know about me, that other close friends have no idea about. Writing can do that for you. It explores, then brings together cohesive thoughts and introduces you to a unique voice. Your voice. And it makes you feel safe enough to divulge some of those very private emotions which no one else knows about. Such gifts, for all I did was invite five women to come into my home every other week to work on their writing……it was really that simple.