I’ve taken a big step; plunge might be a better word. I found a writer’s group in the Bakersfield area and joined it, and am now a part of a writer’s critique group, a sub-group of the larger one. I’ve been feeling it was time to get back writing on my book, which I started quite a while ago, but which I put on the shelf after my first writer’s conference when we newbie’s to writing were encouraged, while working on our first book, to also write shorter stories for publication, researching the various publications we were interested in. I had looked especially at writing devotionals since my writing tends to that application. I did the research; every publication has their guidelines, all variations on a theme, and after a while I figuratively threw up my hands and said, phooey! I’ll write what I want the way I want! A bit of the belligerent in me, I guess you could say.

Now, about 15 months and a move across the country later, I believe it is God who has prodded me to pick up the book again. I read through what I have already written and actually got misty eyed and choked up in places. I feel like it is going to be a chore to get my brain back into the right thinking mode for the book but I have to take that first step. Or plunge.

Enter the writer’s club and the smaller critique group. I am hoping for good feedback on what I write; some guidance and direction for moving forward. I’ve felt like a boat adrift at sea: no sail, no wind, and no idea in which direction I should be headed!

The Writer’s of Kern (WOK), based in Bakersfield, welcomes writers from all over Kern County (which covers a huge geographic area) as well as writer’s from all over the central valley of California. One of their boasts is that not even Fresno, their big sister to the north, has a writer’s group! WOK is a local chapter of the California Writer’s Club, founded in 1909 by none other than Jack London. Like I say, I am hoping to get some good input for my writing.

One of the things I learned at my first monthly WOK meeting is that everyone is writing something for publication. Well, naturally (not to say ‘duh’), all these writers are writing for publication, ultimately. But I mean articles and stories for popular magazines and books, like Chicken Soup for the Soul. And most of them are working on books. The members of WOK write across various genres: fantasy/sci-fi, other fiction, non-fiction. It appears, from my first critique group meeting (a sub-group of the larger group), that the others in my group of 6 are writing fiction of one sort or another. One woman is a screen writer. My short-article writing, the kind of thing I often post on my blog, as well as my book, are non-fiction and within the sphere of ‘inspirational’ or ‘spiritual’, according to the genre options listed to check as a new member.

So, being encouraged once again to write articles for publication, guess what? I’ve capitulated! I’ve written a story to submit to a popular publication! Whether or not it is published is another story, the important thing is it gets me writing. In fact, one of the requirements in the critique group is that each member must be writing and submit something at each meeting for critique by the other members. We meet twice a month so I have to write frequently. I’ve made a start on my book by submitting the first chapter for next meeting’s critique. It is not all that long and hopefully it is not too long as a submission.

Like I said, I believe God is prompting me to continue what I started. If my book, whenever I finish it, helps others, the work will be worth it. And maybe I’ll have some fun along the way and see some articles in other publications. You never know until you try.