Anyone for TEA?

One of the best things about taking part in NaNoWriMo over the last month, besides ending up with over 50,000 words of brand new written novel, is the meeting new people with similar interests. I can't begin to tell you how many times previously my announcements that I was to spend the whole day writing were met with a singular, and somewhat demotivational, "why?". So spending a few hours with like-minded fiction-writing fanatics as we all put pen to paper (or, more accurately finger to keyboard key!) was not only a novel approach to getting some work done (forgive the pun), but also a hugely enjoyable and effective one. On average, I managed to get down between 2,500 and 3,000 words a session. There's something about not being able to stop writing while everyone about you proficiently taps away the words. After all, nobody wants to be the one staring out of the window and mumbling something about 'writer's block'.

Having spent a fair amount of time looking for local writers groups, it seems that writing isn't the only thing that us Essex NaNo-ers have in common, either. Having chatted to a number of members at the different events, it seems that many of us have not had any luck with finding any groups locally at all. From this, there had been a few mumblings and mentions of continuing our own little NaNo Writing group throughout the year, and now one Essex NaNo-er has taken the full leap and has set something up.

'The Essex Authors' (or, 'TEA' for short) is a brand new writers group for authors (at both fledgling and sophisticat level) all over Essex. Made up of individual 'chapters' (that is, smaller groups at different geographical areas), the group is an amalgamation of writers from all over the county.

Fresh on the tail of my recent experience with ML-ing for this year's NaNoWriMo, I thought I'd give it a shot and volunteered to run the Maldon chapter (my nearest group area). TEA itself is still in its very early infant stages, so it will take some time to build up - but with a little publicity and enthusiasm, here's hoping it grows up to be a fully formed success. At any rate, as each chapter begins to build then automatically the group will. It's quite exciting to be a part of something so new. So, if anybody lives in the Essex region and is interested in joining a chapter of TEA, please don't hesitate to get in touch! You can also find the TEA website here.