When I first joined WCDR, I was looking to build some extra space for writing in my life. I hoped that being part of this community of like-minded writers would help, and I was right—mostly.
Community of writers, definitely!
But like-minded? Not at all.
One of my biggest surprises—and joys—has been discovering how many different kinds of writers exist here in our Durham Region community circle. Writers at all stages of their lives and careers, on their first draft or their eighth published book, writing non-fiction or poetry or any genre under the sun.
I accomplished my initial goal—to make space for writing—but like any other space-making enterprise, I found myself left wondering: what will I do with this space now? How will I fill it? Or, put another way: What kind of writer do I want to be?
I’m sure that each and every one of us will have a different answer to that question. This blog post will be an exploration of my answer: that I am someone who writes because I find writing to be delightful.
Understanding Delight
Think back to the last time you could say you were delighted. Where were you? What were you expecting to happen; and what surprised you? Where did the joy come from?
For me, the experience of delight is deeply connected to surprise. When I experience a sudden shift in perspective—a wonderful twist to a story, or maybe a sharp one-liner dropped by a corporate colleague—I can’t resist it.
The times when I’ve most enjoyed writing have all incorporated this sense of surprise and delight. It might sound odd to think that my own writing can surprise me, but: it does, sometimes! Have you ever found yourself reading back over a scene and thinking, “Where on earth did that come from?”
I’ve found it happens when a few specific conditions are met:
- There is some kind of external source of ideas: a prompt.
- There is a limitation: a word limit, or a time limit.
- There is opportunity to share.
Need some examples? You’re in luck…
NYC Midnight
Before joining the WCDR, I had no idea how many different writing competitions existed out in the world. Several of my newfound writer-friends had participated in NYC Midnight in the past. I checked the website, and lo and behold: there was a contest coming up for Rhyming Stories.
Reader, I love rhyming stories.
It felt like fate. I signed up right away.
For the uninitiated, NYC Midnight gives you very specific constraints: a maximum word count (600 words!), a genre, a theme, and an emotion to be expressed. At first, I was bewildered by my assignment; but after a good night’s sleep and a long, meandering walk, inspiration found me. The experience of coaxing a rhyming story out of the seed of an idea was pure delight, and the bonus step of sharing the experience with friends cheering me on? Magic.
Fanfiction
Have you ever loved a show (or movie, or book) so much that you wanted to keep living in its world after the story ended? Or—and this is how I got into fanfiction communities—have you been so annoyed by the ending of a show that you wished you could fix it?
There’s a massive community of online writers across many different fandoms that publish their Alternate Universes, or Fix-It-Fics, or any number of other wild ideas. These fans find each other online, in communities on Discord, or Facebook, or Reddit, or Tumblr, or goodness-knows-where-else.
These communities often host events where writers contribute stories on a certain theme, following a certain word count of structure: and best of all, the writers are fans too, so they love to read and leave comments on what gets written!
WCDR Split Second Scribbles
Naturally, I have to end this blog post with an example from our fantastic Monthly Network Meetings.
Every month, in addition to fabulous guest speakers, all attendees (in-person or online!) have a chance to participate in our Split Second Scribbles activity. We give you a prompt and a firm time limit—and when it’s done, we invite anyone to come up to our lectern and share!
The delight multiplies: not only am I having fun writing my own idea, but I get to share in everyone else’s wild creativity as well. And believe me when I say—we have a big range.
What kind of writer are you?
Whether you write for delight or are motivated by something completely different—I hope you’ll find some joy in this post. And if you come out to one of our Monthly Network Meetings, I look forward to hearing your Split Second Scribble!