A LOCAL WRITERS' GROUP?

I realized about mid-afternoon that this week is a day shorter because of the all-day trip to Portland Tuesday. Had to get the column for the paper done early—and I still have lots of stuff to do before I go. I won’t be back until late Tuesday, but Wednesday morning early I’m following up on a job, then rehearsing (for the first and probably last time) for the puppet show; Thursday morning, we take the stage to City Hall (because I’m anal about performances, and want everything set up in advance for the show on Friday at 1 p.m.). I still need to get the harmonica part recorded for the “Cinderpiggy” theme song, “My Happily Ever After”; maybe I can drop a CD by Doc’s house on my way to Portland, and then record him Thursday. I won’t have time any other day.

And because I’m busy, I end up running into fun new things to do on top of everything else. (That’s how it goes, I’ve decided.) So when Vaughn Andrew announced at the Arts Center’s board meeting that he wanted to start a local writers’ group, I immediately offered to help. (And I wasn’t the only one. Songwriter Jim Nelson, who’s also on the BCAC Board, was interested too.) We agreed we’d try to rope in other writers we know. Our first get-together will be Thursday, June 23, 7 p.m. at the Arts Center.

What does one do with a writers’ group? Three things, I think. Peer review—everybody’s getting their material critiqued constructively by other writers. That those other writers may be (or are) approaching from completely different perspectives is (my opinion) a plus. Performance tips and experience—one of the best things the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. did (and does) is provide opportunities for writers to perform their material for other writers. I’d want us to critique each other’s performance, too. And a resource base—who’s a bass player, who knows someone with a recording studio, &c. (I myself can design album covers, for instance.) This is the materiel from which bands and albums can be made. And of course, we have the Arts Center to use as a performance center.

When I first moved to the Coast, 11 years ago, I was the only writer I knew (or that anyone I knew, knew). I found other musicians—I can do that—but one reason I sought out online writers’ groups (one in England, in fact) was there weren’t any around here, and I have to have feedback in order to progress. I have run across more writers in recent years; some of them were like me, unaware there was anyone else around, and some of them were operating in near-total vacuums. So I think the group will help.

I have cautioned my cohorts not to expect this to be a path to big-time commercial success—not with the way the music industry is run these days. What one can—and should—expect is that we will all become better at what we do as a result of doing this. (And really, that ought to be sufficient reward in itself.) It might be reasonable to hope that we, or the bands and recordings we generate, could help fill the void that cries for entertainment—entertainment that the Big Boys can’t provide because nobody in these Troubled Times can afford what they’re selling. But we can deliver records people can afford to buy, and concerts people can afford to attend. We just have to become better at what we do so people will want to buy it.

Very tentative (and belated) approach from the Willamette Writers Group, about playing somewhere around their summer conference. It’d be one or two days before an already-scheduled gig in Garibaldi, so it’s doable. And busy is good, right?

Joe