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Join PWACInterested in joining PWAC but hesitant? PWAC members will readily talk other writers' ears off about PWAC. This article, which was first posted on the PWAC Guelph Chapter blog, is a wonderful argument for the importance of PWAC to members' careers.
Top 10 Reasons to Love PWAC by Melody Wren
I'd just attended my third PWAC meeting, and had been chatting about the virtues of the meetings to many of my friends, saying things like "I wish I'd joined years ago" and "I've gotten so much out of the meetings already, and every writer should join." Then I realized that I needed to let others know what I was saying and thinking about PWAC - not just the already converted members, but the wannabes. I started with the Top 10 reasons, attempting to emulate David Lettermen's Top 10 of anything and everything list, but it didn't end there, hence the 11th item.
1. Motivation - hearing what everyone else in the group is doing encourages me to work harder and be more focused.
2. Shared Resources - every meeting so far has resulted in lists of books, websites, and contacts to check out.
3. Morale-Boosting and Cheerleading - I always get ideas and feel more confident when I leave.
4. Exchange of Skills - this is a talented group that is more than willing to share their talents and teach others in the group.
5. Networking - if they don't know about it, it doesn't exist.
6. Brainstorming Ideas - if I am stuck on a rejected proposal, the group can turn it around so I can see it differently.
7. Exposure on Website - link to your own website.
8. Enthusiasm - this is a group that wants to write and be published.
9. Press Pass - When I got my press pass in the mail, I had to resist the urge to clip it to a news reporter's hat and burst into a taped-off crime scene.
10. Accountability - similar to going to a weight-loss group meeting and wanting to report a lost pound or two, when I go to a PWAC meeting, I want to be able to share a new contract or a proposal that got a bite.
And... 11. To evolve from the feeling of "imposter" writer to "professional" writer.
A freelance writer for more than 30 years, Melody Wren writes the series "Green at Home" for the Toronto Star website, and has written for Cottage Life magazine, Verge travel magazine and Guelph Life magazine. She wrote "Melody Wren's Tearooms of Southern Ontario" (Boston Mills Press). Find her online at www.melodywren.com.
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