Sockmonkey Hosted In Person Writing Group Looking for Input and More Local Writers

 

Image: An orange/beige background with a circle frame in the center that has a small spray of different colored leaves on the upper left and lower right portions of the circle. The PCSockmonkey Writers Est 2009 logo with Polly Esther and Pierson is in the lower left corner. Brown all caps text in the center of the circle reads: Sockmonkey Hosted Writing Group In The Proctor Area Looking For Input.

Hello there, Sockmonkeys!

I hope you're all doing well. This post will be a quick one, but if you live in or near the Proctor area of Tacoma and you'd like to get together with some other local writers at a cafe, please read on.

One of our members posted the following announcement in our Sockmonkey Discord looking for suggestions:

Image: Screenshot of white text on a black background that reads: Hey folks! My writing group is gearing up for some extra writing meetups in November. We have our usual 'shut up and write' style meetings every Thursday at 5pm at Knapp's Restaurant in Tacoma (in the Proctor neighborhood), but we want to host a few extras, maybe on weekend mornings. Anyone have a suggestion for a day or time when you'd like to attend an in-person meetup?

So far, I have seen no replies to this question, so I reached out to the author and asked if I could share it with the rest of the group at large. The reply was yes; thus, this post.

To make it simpler for interested parties to reply, and easier to collate responses over a variety of potential social sites where people could leave comments, I have created a one-question Google form you can look at and select options on, if you think you'd be attending something in that area this November. Based on her post, and past experience hosting November events, I limited the choices to Saturday and Sunday mornings. You are free to click on as many as might work with your schedule. I will close the form the last week of the month (or sooner, if asked to) so that the organizer can use the information to plan events and I can get them on the calendar. If you don't live in or near Proctor or are not interested in attending in-person meetups in that area, please disregard this post and ignore the form.

I am not collecting emails, so I will not be contacting you directly with updates. Keep an eye on the blog and the Google Calendar for more details.

Here is the link to that form if you're hoping to attend and want to let the organizer know which days/times might work best for you: Proctor Writing Meetup Google Form .

If you have specific questions not answered by this post, please contact the organizer via our Sockmonkey Discord.

Reminder: North Tacoma Write-in March 7

Greetings, sockmonkeys.  Looming write-in!

Where: Wheelock Library, N. 36th Street, Tacoma (Proctor District) Public Meeting Room

When: 1:30 - 3:30, March 7

What: A time and place to put your fingers to whatever word producing media you favor: laptop, notebook, papyrus scroll, cuneiform tablet, lambskin. Whatever floats your character arcs.

Note: If you are interested in some kind of structured activity for part of the (see the Graham Writers extensive playbook) let me know. Options include:

Extreme Scrabble (only words with Z allowed)
Prompts
Exercises
Timed public reading of your WIP
Sprints
Web Boggle

Yours in text

John

North Tacoma Write-In

We are trying to get a Tacoma write-in group going in 2020. So here's our second stab at it! The meeting room sits 130 frenetic sockmonkeys, but we won't be that many. To quote from the British comedy, "Beyond the Fringe":
'Please, sir, I want to join the few.
I'm sorry, there's far too many already.'

Where: Tacoma Public Library, Wheelock Branch - public meeting room When: March 7, 2020, 1:30 - 3:30 pm Deets: light food and beverages allowed, so it's BYOC. Cots for the mid afternoon slump will, however, not be available. We apologize for the inconvenience. I will bring a couple of plug bars to make sure we have enough typewriter lubrication. If you are planning to attend, please use the comments to indicate interest. Thanks!! John Newsom

Tacoma Writing Group Update

Hello Sockmonkeys!

After the comments left on the last blog post showed that some writers had attempted to attend the write in on January 11th, but couldn't find the host, I contacted them and thought I would come post a brief update, especially if those who tried to attend didn't see the comments in the previous post.

First of all, I'm very sorry some of you tried to attend but were not able to connect with the other writers who were there.  I think it's great that you made the effort!  This is a learning experience for everyone, I think, but I'm sure we can iron out the proverbial kinks and get some folks connected in the future.

I won't type it all out, but above is the comments section on the original post.  I took a screenshot of it so I could post it in a few places I knew the host would be able to see it so they would know there had been interest.  I also replied and let them know that I'd be willing to help facilitate being found in the future with tips from NaNo or a table tent or things like that.  I'm glad that this meetup was close enough to some of you that you were willing to attend and I hope you don't let this little hiccup stop you in the future.  It's always great when writers get connected during NaNoWriMo - but it's even better when you can meet writers during the rest of the year for encouragement and dedicated writing time.

To make this easier to read (especially if someone is using a screen reader) I will type these two comments out:

"LS Schulz: Oh, wow, great to see there was some interest!  Sorry you weren't able to connect with the group that was there.  I'm in contact with the host and will work out a way in the future for them to let people know who they are/where they're sitting so they'll be easier to find at future meetings.  (I've also asked that they keep an eye on the blog posts in the future so they can post identifying info as well as reply to any comments or questions like these in the future.)"

"John Newsom: Hi, all. Sorry I didn't check the blog!  Also bummer that I didn't do a better job of identifying myself.  I only told Josiah.  I'll post on the blog next time!  Glad to see there was interest.  I'll be traveling most of February, but will plan another in March. And I'll post on the blog first!  And get some kind of table ornament.  I'm not sure Bluebeard is the best place - it was very crowded.  I'm certainly open to other suggestions.  There's Anthem in Old Town, and Anthem and Jewel Box at Point Ruston.  I'm sure some of you in Tacoma have favorites."

Thank you for popping into the comments here on the blog, John and updating us.  It's nice to know there will be a bit of a break but that you'll be planning another in March.  Also good to know about the lack of space.  You've put some potential suggestions in your comment, so I'll add them to this post.

Those of you who tried to attend, or who might like to attend a future Tacoma area write in, do you know any good coffee shops that might work as a place for a small group to meet?  Do you have a preference between Anthem in Old Town, Anthem at Point Ruston or Jewel Box at Point Ruston?  Do you have another favorite?  Please, leave your preferences and suggestions here in the comments to help with the planning for the March meetup.

Whether you are planning to attend this group or not, I hope the New Year finds you making progress with your writing.

Stay tuned, more changes and announcements will be coming in the near future that I hope will help knit our spread out group of writers together, including some posts asking for feedback and ideas that I hope more Sockmonkeys will weigh in on.