The Room to Write

  Critique Groups are coming! Critique Groups are coming . . . back from summer hiatus:) We are very excited to see our critique group members again. Please be sure to check the deadlines for submission below or by clicking the link to the Critique webpage on our site below. The Kid Lit Critique Group deadline is a week away--so gather up your writing and be sure to check our submission guidelines on our Critique page. See you soon:) Deadlines approaching!!   Click to see critique page for deadlines, meeting dates and guidelines. Next Multi-genre Critique Meeting: Thursday, September 21st (Submissions Due: August 31st) Kid Lit Critique Meeting: Tuesday, September 12th (Submissions Due: August 22nd)

It's summer--so we're taking it easy here at The Room to Write, but even during our down time a few things manage to get done.  One much-anticipated website restoration milestone is the return of our podcast page where those who would like to tune into our Journey of a Story author interview series with only their ears can now find most of our 30+ interviews on three podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , & Spotify .  If you would like to give them a listen and learn all about the writing, publication and book making process click here for our podcast page and take your pick of platforms.  Betsy Ellor A great big thanks to our wonderfully talented and series collaborators at Wakefield Community Access Television studios along with the IT wizardry of George Getty who helped us get everything up onto podcast platforms and integrated onto our website. The three most recent interviews, which were conducted in the May/June timeframe coincidentally all inv...

Despite the unpredictable weather, we had an amazing time at Wakefield's Festival by the Lake on Saturday, June 10, 2023.  The Festival by the Lake is always a great opportunity to connect with our supporters, educate visitors about our organization and make connections in the community. This year we were fortunate to have four local authors as guests in our tent available to talk to, purchase books from and to have books signed. Local author essayist and TRtW's Coordinator for Senior & Veterans Programming Linda Malcom joined us to start the day at 10am with her collection of essays, Cornfields to Codfish . To learn more about Linda and her book click here or watch her interview as part of our Journey of a Story series here. Local writer Lisa Varchol Perron stopped by next at 11am with her nonfiction picture book, Patterns Everywhere , and her very sweet board book about unconditional and enduring nature of a mother's love, My Love for You . To learn more about L...

There's something about spring and, in particular, the month of May that makes everybody buzz about seeking new ways to grow, not only in the garden but in their spiritual life, family life, professional life, and--hopefully--their creative life.  Sometimes our creative lives take a back seat to all the other lives we maintain. If you're hoping to grow in your creative life, a wonderful and free resource is available to you thanks to a collaboration and sponsorship from Wakefield Community Access Television (WCAT) studios titled The Journey of a Story interview series.  No matter what genre you write in and regardless of the age your target audience is, some things remain constant in writing and we have uncovered some really helpful insights that can save you a lot of time and frustration when it comes to the publication process. In The Room to Write's interview series , The Journey of a Story , we focus on the writing and publication process rather than the content of e...

Never underestimate the importance of building your creative community. Even though we often shove social situations aside because they are too uncomfortable or they don't seem productive, they can be the gifts that keep giving well into the future.  A creative community is even more important because it can be lonely creating on our own and so often ideas get better when they bounce around a little.  NESCBWI's Spring Conference returned in-person this year and it was so great to be tangibly reminded of the creative communities all around us if we choose to engage with them. So, find one or two or four or five and build your creative community one conversation at a time.  Big thanks to Kris Asselin and Jim Hill for going above and beyond in the volunteer department to bring writers and illustrators back together to celebrate the joy of creating books for kids!

The Room to Write's Founder & Director, Colleen Getty, recently accepted a donation from the Wakefield Co-operative Bank raised through their staff Jeans Day! What a great way to end the month of March as we look forward to the spring season. We are so grateful for financial support from the communities we serve as they help us fulfill our mission to connect and support writers of all ages, abilities and means by providing the physical space and structured support individuals need in order to express themselves more effectively for academic, professional and creative purposes. Pictured with Colleen are Mohammed Bezzat, VP, Business Development Officer and Rosa Bertolone, AVP, Main Office Branch Manager Wakefield Co-operative Bank.

 As part of The Room to Write's Senior and Veterans programming , we have writing days that are more casual and unstructured. We call those writing days: Gather & Write . It's a way to make time for writing during the week that is less structured. An instructor shows up and offers a writing prompt or two or whatever to the group--something to get the wheels turning and the pen writing. Being the only "poet" in the group has propelled me to utilize the time I am at the writing prompt helm to offer up something poetic. Not everybody in the group that gathers is necessarily interested in writing poetry--per se--but, really, poems are simply words that sometimes appear in a flowing sundress, sometimes in a polo shirt, and other times squeezed into a tuxedo and bowtie.  For Valentine's Day, I decided to give the group a glimpse of a well-dressed poem. What form stood out to me as appropriate for the special day? The Sonnet, of course. When you think Sonnet, you oft...