It’s satisfying to hear from someone who found inspiration and motivation at the Women At Woodstock Writers Retreat. But Angela said even more about what that long weekend last October did for her as a writer. In a recent blog post she talked about the expectations she brought to the weekend, and the results she came away with. And she made an insightful observation about the thought process we all seemed to share in common, novice and published writer alike. It was about the struggle of the writer – to be a writer. Angela said:
The first evening in, a group of us ladies from all walks of life gathered for dinner together (Oh my goodness, the food! As a picky vegan who doesn’t eat flour or gluten I expected to subsist on salads and maybe potato chips….but my God/dess the cook was outstanding!)…. We were each asked to introduce ourselves and explain what we hoped to gain from the experience.
A common theme arose – here at this table were women from all over the country, all levels of accomplishment (published to novice to on the verge of creating something but not sure what it will be….). The theme of what makes one a Writer was shared throughout the group. It seemed we each had our own version of “yeah, but” as in “yeah I have written (fill in unique way in which we diminish our work….) but I don’t feel like a “WRITER.”
It seemed we were all struggling to reach that Holy Grail of whatever it is that we tell ourselves stands between ourselves and the W. word.
But the retreat had a way of transforming all of that.