I'm painfully shy. Painfully! I don't like that about myself, so I've been trying to force myself to get out of my comfort zone. My hope is that by doing these things, I might overcome my shyness.
I go to a monthly thing with women. It's a guided-meditation-Girls'-Night-Out thing. It's been great, but the women who go vary from month to month, so I still feel shy each time I go. Plus, they are in the habit of talking over each other, and I was taught to wait until there's a break in the conversation, so my voice is rarely heard, even if I do have something I want to say. I still go because I think it's a good exercise for me.
I started going to a writers' group back in November (a NaNoWriMo kick-off party). I've gone twice since then, but there have only been two of us, so I'm not sure how much good it's doing me.
Today, I went to a writer's critique group. Not knowing what to expect, I went, hoping for the best.
OH MY GOODNESS! IT WAS AMAZING! I felt shy, but not as much as I normally do. More than anything, I felt unprepared, but since this was my first critique group, they understood (I'll do better next time!)
The part that was amazing was the fact that I was sitting around a table with authors, having intelligent conversations about writing, and we all share the same goal of working toward being published. I think it was the most stimulating thing I've ever done. I've always been afraid of doing something like this because I was afraid I couldn't keep up. Or I'd sound like an idiot. Or... any number of other fears.
This wasn't like that at all! I felt like I was on-par with them. Like they appreciated my input and like they will be able to give me some really good feedback for my manuscript. I feel like I found a group that will be a really good fit for me. YAY!!!!!
I'm kinda sad that we're not meeting for another two weeks, but I'm sure I'll survive. I'm kind of on a high right now. They have runner's highs - do they have writer's highs? This is exactly what I've been looking for. I'm so glad I found them!
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