Writers may work in solitude but that doesn't mean they don't crave interaction with their own species. Such is the case with the Acton Writers' Lab which has recently outgrown its study room at the library and relocated its monthly gatherings to the Mexican Way restaurant (Table in the back: 11:30-1:30 pm third Friday of the month, if interested).
“It's called a Writers Lab because in a lab you can experiment, and there's no such thing as a non-result,”said the group's founder Maggie Bartelt. “It's experimental. No criticism, no judgement, and that's important to some writers, because we can be a touchy bunch.”
The Acton Writers' Lab likes to work on assigned topics that areagreed upon at the previous meeting. The writers pass around photocopies of their efforts and read aloud to each other. The topics are generally broad in nature—the last theme was “Christmas”--and the wordsmiths are free to tackle any literary form, whether it be verse, story, personal essay or any other format.
Three of the members are over sixty and Bartelt praises the collaborativeand supportive nature of the group. “I used to belong to writers' groups in Toronto, but in this case the writers are older and moreinterested in the work than tearing down someone else—none of this I'm-smarter-than-you attitude. And then we've got Rachel who is a-little younger, and our Vietnamese member who comes to us on-line from Amsterdam.
“Writers know that when you write something that's how you felt at the moment. But when you read it over sometime later, you can hear something else in it. Then you know you've got to pull these two paragraphs out and put in a more succinct paragraph. Work-shopping is always good.”
“It's the writing that attracts us,” according to local writer Mark Finnegan. “This gives me an opportunity to write about a topic that Ididn't choose and I find that challenging. I need an excuse to write something. From the very first meeting we agreed unanimously thatwhat we want to do is write a story every month and share it. Write it and share it.”
“It's the writing I like, it makes me write,” said Sandra Lucs whocomes to the Lab from her home in Guelph. “But what I also really like about this group is that people listen and they let you talk. I love it back and forth and I can really trust everyone sitting around the table.”
“My first love is writing,” added Rachel Dudley another local member of the group. “I'm actually a writer by trade, a medical writer. By joining the club, I thought this would give me an opportunity to flex those creative muscles again. When I got here Ifound such a warm, welcoming group that I felt I could explore any angle, and everyone is going to listen and provide encouragement. That's given me a chance to do something I really love and had gotten away from.”
After several months of work-shopping varied themes, Bartelt thinksher expectations for the Acton Writers' Lab have been largely met. “You can write anything you want in a vacuum, but it doesn't mean anything until someone says, 'What the hell did you mean by that?' We call ourselves writers but there's all the work that comes after that: there are editors, readers and eventually publisher's, and god help us, television producers.”
As mentioned above, AWL has outgrown the study rooms at the Acton Library and has been kindly offered meeting space by the owner of the Mexican Way Restaurant, Julian Cruz. The workshop is seeking new members and the next meeting will be on Jan 19. The theme for the month is “enlightenment."
Comments