Creativity Valve

I majored in Communications because I figured, "What can you do with a bachelor's degree in English??" With a Comms degree, you can work straight out of college. Now it's been years since I've really done much creative writing and my fingers are positively itching to open up that valve and let the creative juices flow!

I know that I ought to be able to just stay motivated on my own, but I need feedback and brainstorming and human energy. So I'd like to start a writing group that meets once a month. The goal would be to keep each other motivated and learn about different genres of writing. What I'd love to do is this:

* Meet once a month.

* Each month is a different theme, presented at the previous month's meeting. So if I were hosting at my home in July, I would choose a theme in June, teach a mini lesson about it or just give an overview of what the "assignment" is for the next month. So I might decide that I want everybody to do a science fiction short story, or a humorous limerick (that could be entertaining...) or a three page ghost story, or a 4th of July picture book or whatever. The "assignment" can be whatever you feel like, not just a defined genre from writing textbooks.

* The "assignment" is emailed to the group one week before meeting so we can all read each other's writing privately, mull it over and provide constructive feedback. I find that it's hard to provide the best feedback when I am first exposed to something. I like to think it over for a bit.

* We could do a Saturday brunch once a month or a Girl's Night or Saturday Afternoon Tea or whatever is filled with awesomeness.

* If we got really organized, we could occasionally ask a published author to join us and be our guest for the month. I know one or two authors off the top of my head who might be willing to share their wisdom with us.

* Good food, creativity, and good friends (what better way to make a few friends?) -- I can't think of anything funner. If you're interested, please leave a comment with your contact information and we'll get started right away. I'd like a minimum of three people to make this work and I'd love to have 5-10 so we can really get a feel for different styles and viewpoints.

* Yea!