{"id":1316,"date":"2015-09-22T15:42:05","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T20:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lyndalambert.com\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2020-02-09T07:58:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-09T12:58:12","slug":"the-benefits-of-a-writers-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/the-benefits-of-a-writers-group\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of a Writer’s Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Walking by Inner Vision \u2013A Personal \u00a0Journal of Faith<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBenefits of a Writing Group\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Photo98_4PoetryLadies_ChristmasMtg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo by Lynda McKinney Lambert, 1998.<\/p>\n

Left to right: June Moholon Kerstetter, Lynda\u00a0 McKinney Lambert,<\/p>\n

Danae: Ida Barton, Jean Cooper<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Note: This story\u00a0is inspired by The Poetry Ladies Group – 4\u00a0friends who met to discuss and write poetry from\u00a01985 to about 2003, in Ellwood City, PA<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>If you are a writer, you are well aware writing is a solitary activity.Writing is not a group activity, nor is it a spectator sport, normally. Like most creative endeavors, you work alone in your office or dedicated writing space most of the time. It’s no secret, the \u201cwriting Life\u201d can often be a lonely life.<\/p>\n

At some point you might be willing to work alone in a secluded place to get your \u201cwork\u201d done. I know there are some writers \u00a0who do work in public places, such as in a library or caf\u00e9.\u00a0 I admit it’s not how\u00a0I work. I crave quiet and solitude and I must have this in order to listen to my inner being.\u00a0 Thinking requires lots of “alone” time.\u00a0 Thinking is a job.\u00a0 The only company I have in my writing space is my cats and my dogs. They each have a little bed in this room and they love being with me \u2013 and very quietly nap while I write.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

I found\u00a0\u00a0several ways we can interact with other writers through participating in a writer\u2019s group. We can get involved with a writing group, or even form a small group of friends who can encourage and challenge each other to push on. It’s a great way to brainstorm ideas together.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

During my\u00a0 undergraduate years, I became a part of a small local group of women who love poetry. The group began in 1985 when June Molohon Kerstetter invited three of her friends to come to her home one afternoon to talk about poetry. She invited Danae: Ida Barton, Jean Cooper, and me.<\/p>\n

We developed a deep friendship that continued as I earned my first degree in an \u00a0undergraduate program; \u00a0through my years of graduate studies for two degrees in two different states; the 2 years I worked at a college \u00a0in California;\u00a0 and the years when I was the executive director of the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts; \u00a0and finally, throughout my teaching career\u00a0 at Geneva College.<\/p>\n

I participated in a small group of four local writers.\u00a0 We met monthly to share our thoughts, new works in progress, and just to fellowship together and talk about literature. \u00a0We met for lunch at each other\u2019s homes. After a delightful lunch together, prepared by the hostess, we \u00a0then had a meeting where we shared our work. We called ourselves \u201cthe Ladies Poetry Group.\u201d We met monthly for about eighteen\u00a0\u00a0years.\u00a0 We celebrated our birthdays and we celebrated Christmas ever year at Jean’s home. She loved to be the Christmas hostess!\u00a0 It seemed to me that Christmas was something special those years, as we warmed ourselves by \u00a0Jean’s living room fireplace and admired her decorations. We brought little gifts for each other – things we made or things that were for writing.<\/p>\n

Some months we traveled to another city to meet with a group of poets who lived there. We sat in a circle with members who gathered in a community center. We listened to them reading their poems, and we shared our own at times. I’ve never experienced the same feeling \u00a0that I had during those times of poetic fellowship \u00a0when sitting with other poets. There is a deep bond that we have and it is so memorable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our little writing group:<\/p>\n

_June worked as a journalist in her early career.\u00a0 Later in her life she went back to college to earn a BFA degree with a major in photography. June was articulate, jolly, artistically talented in writing as well as fine arts. June shared her latest writings with us and showed off her recent art adventures. She was working on her memoirs for a couple of years, and recorded them in a notebook.\u00a0 She read them to us when we met each month. She wanted to leave some of her life experiences, relatives, and memories behind for her family.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Photo97_JuneKerstetter_\"<\/a>June Molohon Kerstetter (1926- 1999)Photo: December 1997.<\/p>\n

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**<\/p>\n

Danae: Ida Barton served as \u201cPoet Laureate\u201d of Beaver County (Pennsylvania). It was a position that brought her so much pleasure as she visited different organizations in the county to speak and give poetry readings. Ida was a flamboyant woman who loved to dress in bright colorful outfits and wore scarves with all of them.<\/p>\n

\"Ida<\/a>

Danae: Ida Barton, Christmas 1997<\/p><\/div>\n

Danae: Ida \u00a0Barton<\/p>\n

(1920\u00a0– 2001)<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Photo97_JeanCooper_\"<\/p>\n

_Jean\u00a0 Cooper wrote human interest stories and memoirs \u00a0for two county newspapers.\u00a0 Jean loved nature\u00a0 and wrote\u00a0 about what she experienced on her long morning walks on the rural\u00a0roads where she lived. Jean was also very active in her church and spent over a year doing a special book on the history of her church which spanned two-hundred years.\u00a0 the historical book she wrote was available to church members during the 200 year celebration event.\u00a0\u00a0 Jean was a quilter, spinner, weaver, and craftswoman who had many friends in her community.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Since our writing group met together regularly over so many years, our little literary group eventually ended after June and Ida passed away, and Jean was unable to write any longer due to Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

After June passed away in 1999, the three remaining members of our little group published a chapbook. We called it, “Now,\u00a0\u00a0we are three” and we dedicated it to the memory of June.\u00a0 The chapbook includes June’s poetry and her photographs.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

My teaching career kept me occupied after our group no longer was a part of my life. As a professor of fine arts and humanities, I worked on lectures for courses, papers for academic conferences,\u00a0my \u00a0own\u00a0\u00a0literary projects. My international travel\/study course in Europe each summer gave me material which I developed into a book. \u201cConcerti, Psalms for the Pilgrimage.\u201d\u00a0The book includes \u00a0poetry, historical notes, and reflections I created over a ten-year period while traveling, published by \u00a0Kota Press in 2002.\u00a0 While I wrote the book, my Poetry Ladies Group read all of my writings and their input into the production of the book is invaluable.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

In October 2007, \u00a0I suddenly lost most of my eyesight. I retired from teaching in 2008 \u00a0and now I continue writing projects for literary publications. My writing centers around poetry and essays. I still love esoteric literature and continue to write from my own world view.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

I work on writing books with the aid of technologies for the blind and special programs. Because of modern technology and rehabilitation training, I am more productive than ever with my writing life.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

You may find many writer’s groups on the internet. I’ve had interactions and participated in a couple of them since sight loss.\u00a0 But there is never the personal and intimate friendships we have when meeting in person with other writers such as what I have described in this article. How could there be?<\/p>\n

Meeting through electronic equipment can never replicate a personal experience with others.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we do not have lunch together or personal face-to-face contact. There is no visiting in the warmth of each other’s homes, or any memorable personal contact in an on-line group. We can’t see each other’s facial expressions, or touch each other, or smell the coffee brewing in the kitchen, or hear family stories in our lively chatter around a dining room table. Just about everything that makes us human is absent from a long-distance group.<\/p>\n

Nothing can replace the years of sharing our lives and our poetry with each other. I miss these years of fellowship with June, Ida, and Jean.\u00a0 Rest in peace, my dear friends.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Happy Writing!\u00a0 I hope you will take the challenge and reap the benefits of a writing Group.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Essay by Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright 2015. Revised February 9, 2020. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

All photos by Lynda McKinney Lambert. Copyright, 2015.\u00a0 All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Walking by Inner Vision \u2013A Personal \u00a0Journal of Faith \u201cBenefits of a Writing Group\u201d \u00a0 Photo by Lynda McKinney Lambert, 1998. Left to right: June Moholon Kerstetter, Lynda\u00a0 McKinney Lambert, Danae: Ida Barton, Jean Cooper ** Note: This story\u00a0is …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1320,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trusting-god"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/Photo98_4PoetryLadies_ChristmasMtg.jpg?fit=3429%2C1826&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4gbwn-le","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6510,"url":"https:\/\/www.lyndalambert.com\/wordpress\/a-poem-a-day-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1316,"position":0},"title":"A Poem-a-Day – National Poetry Month","author":"Lynda Lambert","date":"April 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Poem-a-Day, by Lynda McKinney Lambert. Pennsylvania's award-winning poet, author and artist is writing a poem every day in April for National Poetry Month. Each day her blog will feature a new poem, and a photo she took that day. 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