“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life
Write your new life story, word by word, bird by bird.
Happy holidays! As we close out the old year and ring in the new, it’s a good time to pause in this liminal space. As facilitator Juli Williams says, “We can ask and answer important questions to help us create more meaningful lives in the new year. Rather than dashing from winter into spring, we can slow down and use this time to create an intentional year.”
Start Off on the Right Foot with Writing
Let’s begin by setting intentions together in our writing circles. Our initial offerings this spring include a sampler, a mini-series on restoring balance facilitated by Juli Williams, and two 12-week core classes based on the book, Bird By Bird: Some Instructions for Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott. This was our first source text in our first classes offered 10 years ago in January of 2014. Join us as we continue to celebrate our tenth year of writing in Jacksonville! Register soon; seats are limited.
Use These Prompts for the New Year
You don’t have to wait to start writing! Here’s a list of prompts to help you reflect on the year that’s gone by, and begin to set intentions for the new one. Happy writing!
Jennifer Wolfe
Executive Director,
Women Writing for (a) Change Jacksonville
Spring Mini-Series
Restoring, Cultivating, and Integrating Balance
What We’ve Been Up to Lately
Shipping Out Anthologies
We’ve shipped out multiple copies of the anthology in December. You can pick up more copies in person at San Marco Books and More and Chamblin’s Downtown. They’ve both been super community partners with us. Support local bookstores!
The Last Word
Book recommendations from our team
“I just finished Rules for Visiting, by Jessica Francis Kane. It’s lovely and earthy, full of botany and literary allusions. Often delightfully surprising and wise, it asks meaningful questions about friendship and family, how we cultivate the former in this technological age and how we grow beyond the grief that may have derived from the latter.”
—Dr. Tru Leverette Hall, faculty member