Writing: Not Always a Lonely Pursuit

We are only one month away from our fourth writer’s conference on July 18, and I couldn’t be more excited! We have an amazing lineup of local and regional speakers who will not only educate but inspire you. Writing is a job and a joy. Women Who Write started the conference to explore the craft of writing, and bring authors at all stages together to share their experiences and best practices. This past year, I have taken advantage of all that greater Louisville has to offer writers, and what I learned is that you can find support and encouragement in three areas:

Writing: If you are putting words on a page, you are a writer. Many people think writing is a lonely pursuit, something to be done by yourself in a room or attic. That is simply not the case. In Louisville, we have a number of writers’ groups such as Women Who Write, Green River Writers, and Cherokee Roundtable, that meet to support their members on the very personal journey of writing. From time to time, you may want instruction, and the Shape & Flow Writing Studio in Louisville and the Carnegie Center in Lexington provide workshops on a variety of topics.

Reading: For many of you, writing is the heart and soul of your expression. Writing lets you explore areas of your own life in a way that helps you make sense of it. Writing is, in many cases, very personal, and that can make engaging in it seem daunting. Sharing it can be scary. However, there will come a time when you have to share your work with others to get feedback and critique, so you can edit and makes the necessary changes. Reading out loud in a writers’ group is one of the most important things you can do.

Sharing: When you are ready to share your work with the public, you can publish or perform. There are thousands of online publication sites, magazines, and journals to which you may submit your work. Women Who Write lists monthly contests and calls for submissions on our webpage and in our newsletter. And finally, there is performance, the ultimate act of sharing your work with a live audience. In Louisville, many monthly venues sponsor open mic nights. These include the InKY Readings at the Bards Town, Homegrown Art, Music & Spoken Word at the Cedar Grove Coffee House, and Flying Out Loud at the Sunergos Coffee House, to name a few.

I encourage everyone to keep writing, to maintain a daily practice that will lead to satisfaction on so many different levels. Come out on July 18 and hear from fellow writers about the amazing and inspiring effect that writing has had on their lives. I hope to see you there!

—Jessica Luetzow