Central Coast Writers – they seem cool

Get a group of writers together and you never know what might happen. The term “herding cats” springs to mind. But the term “universe of awesome” also comes up in my head. There are so many different types of people who write, from those who think they’re the next Douglas Adams to those who think the majority of their submitted work is laughed at by some editor with arched eyebrows and a penchant for whips – before ultimately ending up in the shredder.

Having been involved in writers groups in the past, I had no intention of submitting myself to that particular kind of torture again. The groups scared the hell out of me. Upset writerly types can be painful. They can be persistent as shit and they remind me why I love writing to begin with, because writing is solitary. But I’m asking myself a lot of questions now that I’m sinking in the quicksand of middle age. Did I make the right life decisions? I already know the terrible answer to that question. But bulleted under that question is another question (it’s somewhere near the “Should I have chosen Prozac instead of Effexor?” question. Did I give up on writing groups too soon?

I think the answer to that is yes. Following a recent writing retreat at Esalen in Big Sur, I felt the need to reach out a bit more, especially to others with interests similar to my own. They don’t have to write the same stories, read the same books, but they all love writing and stories. The retreat, it turns out, gave me a little more than I bargained for: comradery, totally unexpected comradery. Rather than travel the world to as many holistic retreats as I can find (ones with “healing baths” rise to the top of the list), and realizing that any over zero is more than I can afford, I thought I would try out a local writers clique.

Writing groups, organizations, circles, whatever, cover the globe. It’s like that paint logo that drips over the planet. They are everywhere. Groups of writers meet to read and share their stories, travel writers meet to see who’s going where, journalists meet to make sure they’re still unbiased and still drunk; we all like to meet. This realization, stemming out of Big Sur, got me all souped-up to try out the Central Coast Writers (CCW) group, which meets monthly at Point Pinos Grill in Pacific Grove near Asilomar. I tried to go in with no preconceived notions about the predominant age I would find (I had a suspicion people who maybe hung out with my mom would be there), the predominant level of accomplishment (that I should care nothing about anyway), or the predominant income (I was thinking riches, being that they meet next to a golf course) and am happy to report I found nothing I expected. I did, however, find a pretty cool group of people.

Articles on, and websites for, writers groups have quietly broken the Internet. A Kardashian loudly breaks it, but writers are only loud in their stories – unless you’re a drunk Ginsberg or an armed Hunter S.  Here’s an article, here’s another, and another, and so on. There’s a reason people write about them, just as there’s a reason people join them. Writers groups are worth the time. Maybe they’re not all that great, but the CCW, as far as my initial taste went, seemed like a solid chunk of literary folk. The articles include a number of great reasons to join a writers group. You make friends (which may be called networking), you hear about opportunities that could change the course of your career, and the list goes on. While many writers may try groups out here and there, often leaving after a bad experience, remember to try again after a few years, with a different team of writers. You may be surprised. If you happen to live in the Monterey Peninsula I would say take a try with the CCW, who meet at the Point Pinos Grill restaurant on the third Tuesday of every month.

The garlic fries are pretty damn good there.

CCW website: click here.