Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Writing Date that Wasn't Much Writing

Monday has become my social writing day. I get together with two other local writers (Naomi Kritzer and Eleanor Arnason) at a coffee shop here in Saint Paul and we, in the parlance of parenting magazines, "parallel play." We each pull out our laptops and write. Usually, there isn't much chatting other than a pleasant "hello" or "so what are you working on?" but, yesterday, for some reason, we were all feeling like talking.

I suppose I should consider yesterday some kind of a failure, but I don't.

There's something really important about face time with other professionally minded writers, even if we only end up talking about good places to dine out. Especially since, by chance, all of us that get together are currently "at home" due to choice or unemployment. Getting out of the house at all is important in those situations, I think. The writing life can become awfully insular otherwise.

Good friends and strong coffee are the fiber of a good life, I think.

Blessed be.