Discover your talents with new experiences

When you abandon your vocation, you have opportunity to explore an avocation or a hobby. Some would say it is a calling just like the need to live close enough to the ocean to smell the salt air. Until I retired I had no interaction with other writers, so I was elated to learn about a local organization, the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, which affords local writers the opportunity to hone their craft and share their work with others.

Many readers have expressed an interest in writing too, but are afraid to take a class because they aren’t certain they have talent. Hogwash. Everyone has the capacity to tell a story, and now is the time to try it! Perhaps a free write is a good place to begin.

What is a free write? The guild describes it this way. “Free Write! is an informal gathering of writers of all skill levels who meet to practice their writing in a friendly and nurturing atmosphere. The goal of the Free Writes! is to provide a place and an opportunity for people to have fun with their writing, to explore different genres, and to do this in the company of other writing enthusiasts.”

I had never experienced a free write until I wandered into the Lewes library one Wednesday evening about five years ago and found a small group of people sitting around the conference table. Facilitator Tom Hoyer said, “Welcome to the world of madness.”

Here is how the process works: A facilitator provides a writing prompt (sentence) and then in the next six minutes of silence, the participants write freely about what comes to their mind. Two recent examples of writing prompts might be,  “Objects at rest will remain at rest.” and “Her childhood was something out of a storybook.”

At the end of the six minutes, each person shares what they wrote or maybe decides to pass. Sarah Barnett, the facilitator at the Saturday morning free write at the Rehoboth library explains, “A free write is like throwing a surprise party for yourself.  You never know what is going to spill out on your computer screen.  Is an evil twin lurking in the machinery? Or is it my fingers that somehow acquire access to long-forgotten memories, buried dreams and nightmares?”

Each Free Write! is facilitated by a Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild member who has experience in teaching, writing and/or leading such groups. People write prose, songs, poetry, fiction, work on novels, start short stories or just clear out the cobwebs of their minds.

On the fourth Thursday of every month from 4:30 to 6 p.m., I facilitate an Art Inspired Free Write on the Rehoboth Art League campus in the Children’s Studio. I invite local artists to share their art, which can trigger a memory in the writer or perhaps the colors in a photograph will lead to a poem. Writing prompts are given as well.

Writers and the artists both perform creative processes, and we want to stand back and admire our creations and think, “Look at my work. This is what I wanted to say or feel.”

With the support of the Delaware Division of the Arts, the RBWG will begin a new adventure this month called Art in the AM. On the first Wednesday of every month, a one-hour show will feature visual artists, RBWG writers, and musician Stuart Vining.  We are seeking artists to join us.


For more information about writers and art, go to rehobothbeachwritersguild.com or email lgraff1979@gmail.com.