Writing is my vocation, avocation and passion. It makes me crazy and keeps me sane. Yes, all at the same time.
In the spring of 1980 I moved to Huntsville, Alabama, with the express goal of making a life, and a living, as a writer. Thirty-plus years later, I am still grateful every day for that move—physically and creatively.
For one thing, the lore about southern writers isn’t a myth. There really are more writers in the south. More attention is paid to the art of writing, and some status is carried within the title. Huntsville being Space City, USA, of course, we are awash in rocket scientists and positively inundated with engineers. Some of them are writers, too. At a recent conference I heard it said that Madison County, Alabama, has more writers, per capita, that any other county in the US. As the 2010 census is still being tallied, I can’t verify that statement. However, as a resident of Madison County I can vouch for the spirit of the pronouncement.
For another thing, there are lots of writers around here who are strong supporters of other writers. Writers’ associations and support groups come in all sizes and genre. They are creative life blood for a struggling writer—which includes every one of us, doesn’t it?
Writers’ groups come in all shapes and sizes. The one that keeps me going, for instance, is very small. We meet weekly, in one another’s homes. My home is an old house with really little rooms. Hence, the small size of our group. Other groups meet at the public library, in church basements, at local colleges and universities, in the meeting rooms of banks and real estate offices. Life blood flows everywhere.
You don’t have to live in a county with a high density of writers to be part of a writers’ group. Look around. Check your local library for groups who meet there. Ask folks you meet in the daily busy-ness of life. My first writing group started with an introduction to another parent at my child’s school’s PTA meeting.
Life blood flows everywhere.
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