Writing Marathon

What is a writing marathon? Simply put, it's a day of writing. The brilliant Natalie Goldberg created the idea of the writing marathon and it's in her book, Writing Down the Bones. 

Marathon is defined as a long-lasting or difficult task or operation of a specified kind. We define writing marathon as finding a new location, meeting up, getting into groups, and walking around and writing all day long. We end our marathons with an invitational read around.

Our place today was Fredericksburg, VA. It's about seventy miles away from where I live, so I've never been there. I am definitely going back though! I loved it! We met up at 9:30 this morning and got ourselves set for the day. 

I spent the day with Matt and Jen...two wonderful writers! We started near the river. 

We sat on some rocks and wrote. I am pushing myself to try fiction, so that's what I did. This morning I read a blog post, from my blogging friend Linda, about shoes...so I focused on my shoes. Here it is: (sorry about the messy handwriting)

As we finished, we got up and walked some more. Jen went to college here, so she knows all the great places. Our next stop was Goolricks Modern Pharmacy. 

The woman working at the counter got a kick out of us. I was so excited to be at a real pharmacy counter again...it reminded me of Sims, in Springfield, MA. I ordered a vanilla coke and the taste immediately brought me back to my childhood. Some more writing got done here too.

We walked to an antique store, a restaurant, and finally to the college for our sharing.  

Our walking included telling each other our stories. Our writing was private and personal. I gave up on fiction pretty quickly and wrote snippets and noticings from my surroundings.
 

When the scenery around me changes, I feel changed. When I'm with others who love writing and commit to it, I'm changed. Today was a good day. I'm tired. I've written. I'm changed. I look forward to see where these changes lead...