by Jessica Weible, TWJ executive editor
TWJ vs. WBP and Other Confusing Acronyms
Submitters, supporters and followers of The Watershed Journal (TWJ) may have also heard of the group of writers called the Writer’s Block Party (WBP), a social group for writers that is sponsored by the Journal. It might be confusing when TWJ writers talk about being WBP writers (oh the joys of acronyms!).
Writers Coming Together
To understand the relationship between these two groups, we have to go way back to the year 2017. The Writer’s Block Party started with a handful of local writers from the area who met monthly to drink wine and talk about writing. Topics have included but are not limited to:
Writing to be funny– especially if you are sad
The Poetry Canon– who loves it and who hates it
How to cope with the terror of sharing your work with other people
WBP was initially sponsored by CREATE Brookville, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to education through the arts. CREATE provided the opportunity and space to bring in writers from all corners of the tri-county area, much in the same way they encourage and promote all individuals and groups with a passion. Many writers got connected with WBP after going to some of CREATE’s open mic events to read their poetry or tell stories.
“Inspiration Runs in Circles”
Kirke Wise
From the start, WBP had an uplifting, inspiring and supportive environment for writers of all different background. It wasn’t long before the group grew in size and scope. We started doing writing challenges where we take on different topics or sources of inspiration for the month. We have also done contests with other writing groups. Recently, we started an in house program to help participating writers to target a specific publication so that we can all help each other refine and submit our work.
A little over a year ago, we also started throwing around the idea of publishing our own literary magazine, a platform for quality, local writing that would not base its model on exclusivity, but instead pride itself in being inclusive and uplifting, just like the model for the group itself.
We had several volunteers who jumped right into the new project that ended up becoming The Watershed Journal. Shout out to Kirke Wise, Amanda Carrier, Sarah Rossey and Jo Scheier! The TWJ team of volunteers works remotely using an online workspace called Slack and then meets every couple of months to make big layout decisions or handle interior business. While all members of the TWJ volunteer team are also WBP members, there is no obligation to either end. TWJ has evolved into a pretty elaborate publishing and community development enterprise. WBP is still just a social group.
Stars Align for TWJ and WBP
In January 2019, when The Watershed Journal Literary Group became an official unincorporated nonprofit, it was finally in a position to absorb WBP into its operations so that the organizers of TWJ could help facilitate the group’s meetings, writing challenges and private Facebook platform.
Thanks to CREATE board members, Christine Hoffman and Bill Stein, WBP is still able to meet at Fusion Cafe on Main Street in Brookville, a place that suits the group perfectly with its cozy atmosphere and inspirational artwork.
Get in on the Party!
If you think you might like to join the WBP, we primarily stay connected through our Facebook Page, a private group page. We are now up to over 140 members who are all local writers. Our meetings typically have around a dozen participants and they vary depending on who can make it and we always leave the first hour of the meeting open for writers to share their work. You can also find out about WBP meetings through the TWJ Event Calendar on the website.
So, if you’re a local writer, meaning, if you are person living around here who likes to write stuff, you should definitely join WBP. And maybe also submit to TWJ. Whatever acronym is your choice, we are here for you.
