Writing Life By Darren Sant

It's strange and sometimes lonely being a writer. Friends look at you with bewilderment. Your partner smiles at you encouragingly but doesn't quite understand how the one she loves can at times appear to be a complete lunatic. This is how it is when you are a writer. Inspiration is like an exotic disease it can strike you down without warning in any place and at any time. You find yourself reaching for pen and paper in the most unlikely of places.

So it was with some relief that I came across some kindred souls, in the form of the writing group the Renegade Writers (www.renegadewriters.co.uk), with whom to share my angst. It was with some trepidation that I attended my first meeting. I found them to be a warm and friendly bunch of people. What struck me most was the diversity of its members. The ages range from between 20 and 36. The meetings themselves are something I really enjoy.

Recent meetings have changed a little from when I first joined the group. In the early days we tended to concentrate on writing exercises. We have a word box from which we would take a few words and time ourselves to write something themed around the words. Imagine a room full of people in total silence just the scribbling of pens and the occasional sucking sound as someone takes a toke from a rollup. Another exercise we do is listening to a song lyric and deriving inspiration from that. These days we tend to discuss how we can forward the group, when our next performance evening is going to be, what plans we have for our next publication and what we have written recently.

From time to time we all collaborate on themed works, which helps to keep the creative juices flowing. Before I joined the group it was easy to feel a little isolated with no one to really talk to about the whole writing experience. I have found this to be a positive learning experience and would advocate any writer reading this to seek out a local writing group in order to enrich their lives and improve their writing.

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