WAKEFIELD — There are so many talented storytellers living unbeknownst among us humbly honing their craft. Since 2016 The Room to Write has worked toward providing physical space and supportive community for storytellers of all ages, abilities, and economic means. We are always looking for new ways to reach out to writers, provide learning opportunities and to shine a spotlight on local authors.
As a small nonprofit, we must find creative and affordable ways to fulfill our mission. That means collaborating with area businesses and fellow nonprofit organizations such as Wakefield Community Access Television Studios. WCAT has been an important platform from which our organization is able to showcase local authors, teach local writers, and promote the importance of words.
It is both a pleasure and a privilege to discuss the writing and publishing process up close and so personally with show participants. Since our first guest in October 2017, picture book author Carol Gordon Ekster, 22 authors have sat in the director’s seat in the WCAT studios to talk about the journey of their stories. Viewers benefit from each writer discussing important details and lessons they have learned about how to start a project, getting unstuck once you’ve started, publishing through a variety of methods, how to market a book once it is published, and the reality of earning money as a writer.
I am grateful each time a writer volunteers to participate in The Journey of a Story series. The staff at WCAT exude a radiating warmth and a genuine interest in each writer who enters the studio. They help to create an atmosphere where writers are able to talk intimately about their writing process and how their lives have come to include writing so centrally.
The written word will always serve a powerful role in the lives of humans. How else, but through words, are we able to connect to others genuinely and to truly process love, loss, and life. There is no app for that—but there are words. Words enable us all to connect, to bring about change and to heal.
If you would like to view The Journey of a Story series, visit the “Studio” page on our site: www.theroomtowrite.org or visit the WCAT site: www.wcatwakefield.org.
Colleen Getty is the founder and president of The Room to Write.
