October | 2015 | paris (im)perfect

Cozy corner – pillows, blankets, cushions. Plus bowls full of writing prompts.

“It’s so funny,” my beau said one morning as I was working through a to-do list to launch WIP. “You had this idea and just did it.” Without my usual hand-wringing, he was sweet enough to omit.

It’s true. Often I’m wracked with indecision. In considering how to proceed (or even whether to), I’ll poll loved ones, tally pros and cons, worry over small details – or become paralyzed pondering the sheer number of details there are.

But every once in awhile, I move forward with little fuss. I make the road by walking.

And thus it was with Write-in Paris (WIP). I had the thought to host collective writing sessions in my home and so…well…I decided to try it! I built a bare-bones website, designed some flyers, then started spreading the word. And voila! Just like that a new community and the highlight of my fall was born.

Y’all, we’re in the first session’s last week and it’s been a joy! I call WIP a “no-angst place to create” and the reality of it matched the hope. I’m so excited to keep going.

I’m grateful for the writers who come each week and work in my salon. Some have returned to novels and memoirs they’d been neglecting for too long; one turned his attention to a new script. There are those who are writing articles for magazines and others keeping a personal journal, jotting down impressions in their diary.

What binds us is the desire for a dedicated time and space to write – with the built-in commitment to show up regularly for our work. In essence, WIP serves as a supportive accountability circle; we know we’ll be surrounded by others also working and so we keep our butt in the chair.

I’ve been impressed with the focus cultivated in the room. Truly, those 2 hours of work time are treated as inviolable and we stick to it. You’ll see some with their pens moving gracefully across paper, hear fingers tapping wildly on keyboards in other corners. Some, like me, spend a lot of time staring off into space (hey, daydreaming is important for creativity!).

I believe we’re all buoyed by the communal feeling that everyone is working as they should. It’s a quiet, relaxed space.

I usually sit in the meditation chair. (Perhaps that’s why I space out in the good way?)

I love how comfortable people feel – that was very much my aim. People get up and make themselves tea when they want; kick off their shoes, too. We have a nice chat at the end, once our work time is through (how much lighter you feel conversing after you’ve done what you said you would do!)

“It’s actually really helpful,” my beau concluded one evening. Yes, he’s the one working on the script and after initial considerate but confused support (creative writing classes – not to mention a write-in! – are still strange concepts in France), he is an enthusiastic participant himself.

Indeed. It is helpful. Sometimes the simplest idea can be the best.

Feel free to check out the kind testimonials from WIP’s first session….then sign up for the next ones.