Prairielands

First meeting of Summer Invitational Institute 2007.  The excitement of reuniting with fellow acquaintances, the looks of confusion on new fellow faces are all part of the first meeting of the yearly PLWP Summer Institute.  Of course, Tom P. opened with a selection of writing prompts for a 10 minute write.  You could almost tell the mentors from the new fellows.  Those were the people that could write and write, while many of the new members were struggling to get words on paper.  I remember some of the fears I faced on those first writes:  Am I spelling this or that word right?  Is that a sentence fragment?  Do I need to correct it now?  What will people say if I am ask to share?  Did I write what was expected?  I soon found out that all of the above did not matter on those first writes.  I also loved the option of writing about what ever is on your mind.  Some times the 40 mile drive to PLWP was uneventful and others I seemed to have to dodge every piece of farm equipment known to man (I am a farm wife and usually pretty patient about that) and some animals along the way.  Once I arrived in the city, it seemed like I was wearing a sign that read “pull out in front of me”.  So a few times it was good to get that frustration all out on paper and then my mind could function better.  I participate in SI in 2002.  In 2004 I started working for PLWP at the Technology Liaison.  As the TL I try to make sure I attend at least 1/2 of the SI meetings, just to get a good feel for the participants and the activities.  This helps when I start putting together the Anthology on CD, plus I just like to hang out with writing folks.  Next meeting is April 21.  The fun has begun.  Mary in Missouri