Today I’d like to put in a plug for Tina Laurel Lee’s brainchild, The Practice Room – which operates as a little think tank for the writing community. You can check out the sidebar on her site for the weekly schedule, but I usually run a session on Monday nights, while Tina and other writers host sessions in the mornings and afternoons during the week.
We’ve got a wonderful group of people who attend the Monday night session: many regulars like Krystalyn Drown, Maria Mainero, and Marcy Hatch. Krystalyn’s sister Serena has started coming, as well as Krystalyn’s friend Jen, and Marisa Hopkins is sometimes there. I’ve recently invited Mary Waibel and Christine Danek, and there are other visitors as well.
Here’s how it works:
- Come to The Practice Room anytime in the 30 minutes before a session to “check in” and set a goal. (On Monday nights, that’s between 7:30 and 8:00 pm EST.)
- During the “Unplug” time, write like crazy. (On Monday’s that is 8pm to 9pm EST, but people do what suits them best. If you can’t write for that hour, you can still chat afterwards. Some people in the later time zones come to the chat first and then write afterwards.)
- Return to The Practice Room (IMPORTANT: REFRESH THE PAGE) after the Unplug to attend the chat between the writers. (The chat starts at 9pm EST on Mondays.)
Why do this? Well, the one hour dedicated writing time is important, but the real gem here is the live chat between the writers. We vent; we share; we brainstorm. I have seen people share links, match up as critique partners, and brainstorm through trouble spots. You might not think that a simple question posed by another writer who has never even read your story might solve the one thing that’s been giving you fits – but I’ve seen it happen lots of times.
We always love to have new participants, so I hope you’ll check us out! Maybe I’ll see a new face (okay, a new profile pic) there tonight!
Thanks for the info. I’ll check it out.
You’ve told me about this before and it sounds like such a great community activity! Unfortunately 7:30pm US time would be more like 1:30am Paris time:( Maybe there’s a european version?
I miss spending time in Tina’s practice room. I’m going to try like heck to stop by, tonight. One of my son’s has hockey practice starting at 8:25PM, and I have to bring him. Maybe I can start and then pause….
thanks for the reminder 🙂
Sounds like fun. I won’t be able to join y’all, but I’ll be thinking about you.
I’d love to join, but sadly EST is 6 hours or something like that behind my timezone, so I have to be sleeping by then.
🙁
If not for night class on Monday evenings I would most definitely join
I need more dedicated writing time! It keeps getting lost. I’ll definitely keep this in mind.
Love the idea, but my evenings are always too hectic!
This is cool. If my schedule will allow it, I’ll check it out : )