Write Now!
Next gathering — Sunday, October 4, 3–5 PM at The Sea Ranch Lodge Date change!
Just Happened — read the recap from our September 5th Write Now! below
Write Now! began at The Sea Ranch Lodge.
Now in its fourth year, it is still where we gather — and where much of Write Up the Coast began.
A prompt. Ten minutes to write. We read, we talk, and we write again.
Somewhere in that rhythm, something often shifts.
We find the story underneath the story — the one we did not know was there, but somehow already knew us.
And we never quite know who will be in the room.
Someone may be there for the first time. Someone may have come out of curiosity. Someone may be visiting the coast. Someone may have been coming for years. Some write often. Some have not written anything in a very long time.
That mix is part of what makes it work.
There is no critique and no need to arrive thinking of yourself as a writer. The point is not to produce something polished. It is to pay attention, listen to one another, follow a thought, and see where the writing takes us.
And then there is what happens afterward.
People who arrived as strangers have found themselves still talking when the writing is over — sometimes over fries and a beer at the Sea Ranch bar nearby. Friendships have begun. Conversations have continued. People have come back.
None of that is planned.
That may be part of the point.
We call our gatherings ruf? draft, after our muse.
This is ruf?. He watches everyone write, and somehow, he encourages. No first draft is too rough for him.
Write Now! meets on the first Saturday of every month at The Sea Ranch Lodge. It is free and open to everyone.
Everything you need is there.
Come for the writing, the conversation, and the view from a place that has made The Sea Ranch Lodge a destination far beyond the coast — a Michelin-recognized setting with its own particular magic.
And, more importantly, come meet the writer in you that you may not have known was there.
A recent gathering
From the Redwood Room — September 5
That is the program. Here is what one gathering actually sounded like.
We opened with a single prompt and ten minutes to write. These are a few of the lines that surfaced in the room.
Lines from the room
“My old raggedy by the dishwasher.”
“The impact of news coverage.”
“When I looked at the big tree fallen in the water, I wondered: does it rot or disintegrate?”
“We all knew he was famous, but now he didn't know his own name.”
“It was a six-floor walk-up.”
“The lens of my dad's mind.”
“My extra baseball cap.”
“A 6 in charisma.”
“Ooze.”
None of it was prepared — and somehow the fragments began finding their way toward one another.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for Write Now!
First-time writers. Returning writers. Residents. Visitors. Someone from Washington, D.C. Someone from right around the corner.
Kyle, Shari, Jeannie, Peter, Michael, Ann, Mary, Michelle, Daphne, Laura, Val, Myra, and Peter — thank you for bringing your voices into the room.
Everyone brought something with them — pens, minds, enthusiasm, and sometimes a little self-consciousness. I never quite know what to expect.
Peter brought something extra: his awesome banana bread. Thanks, Peter.
What stays with me most is how the stories began to find their way toward one another.
The nine-year-old came with her dad and sat watching for a while. Then she reached for a notebook and started writing with everyone else.
Later, something in her story connected with something written by an eighty-year-old. Different generations. Different lives. And yet the stories found one another.
Everyone stayed with it.
Then, as the gathering was ending, the nine-year-old turned to me and asked:
“Do you have to leave? I want to tell you the rest of my story.”
Everyone stayed.
I looked around as people lingered — some getting ready to head home, some toward the bar, some continuing the conversation on the porch — and I smiled.
Yes.
This is the power of storytelling.
The story may leave the room.
The connection doesn't.
It stays with the person.
Sometimes, I think, it stays in the heart.
Next Write Now!
Date change!Sunday, October 4
3–5 PM
The Sea Ranch Lodge
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Want to bring a writing circle to your space?
Get in touchWith gratitude to everyone at The Sea Ranch Lodge for opening the door, making the space, and adding a little magic along the way.
A space for face to face.