Wow! My three-month (May-July) 2023 Arizona State Library Writing Residency serving Chandler Public Library is over.
That’s it. Done. Fini.
Here are five key takeaways from my experience with this wonderful program.
1) Three Months Can Fly:
Where Does the Time Go? Three months is far too short and also a long time. Every week, I have met with amazing people writing amazing stories. Contemporary fiction, historical, fantasy, romance, memoir, non-fiction, narrative non-fiction. People are writing fantastic narratives in the hopes of sharing the dream worlds, their real worlds, their work worlds, etc., with others. It has been an amazing amount of work but also incredibly joyful.
2) Librarians Are the Best:
Librarians are some of the most amazing people on the planet. They share a passion for words and books and knowledge along with a desire to share all of it with other people. The Chandler librarians I met are no exception. They are talented, passionate, personable, caring people, and I am going to miss seeing them every week. It’s the librarians who support programs like this Writing Residency and make it possible for writers to access this kind of writing support. Thank you!
3) Passionate Writers Show Up:
I see this time and again, and I really saw it play out first-hand when, every other Saturday, we had an excellent turn-out of writing workshop attendees, not to mention the writers who scheduled free consultations and came out week after week to learn and improve. Even when it was over 110 degrees! (For those of you residing elsewhere, so far this year, the Phoenix area has seen 31 consecutive days above 110 with temps as high as 119.) Dedicated writers show up! They persevere. And that’s what it takes to be successful.
4) A Writing Residency is a Great Place to Share Knowledge:
It has been an incredible joy to meet and work with local writers and support them on their writing journeys. It has been truly joyful to help them with puzzling out their story issues and encouraging them to write forward. They all have such amazing stories to share with the world, and I am excited to see them put those out into the world for others to enjoy. I can’t wait to see what they do!
5) Saying “And That’s a Wrap!” is Fun, Yet Bittersweet:
Throughout this three-month Writing Residency, I have spent three days each week at the Chandler Basha and Main library branches. Closing the consult room door one last time was hard.
I will miss my time at the library teaching and talking with the wonderful writers I met. Because of that, I am planning to offer some free sessions with my newsletter subscribers in the upcoming months. This will be for subscribers only. So, if you are not already a subscriber, you might want to jump in.
Here is the link to sign up. https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/t9i3t5