In early 2017, Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild was formed to help people improve their writing skills, provide a supportive environment for improvement, and provide them with possible avenues for publication. In September 2019, the Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild became a non-profit organization and the guild is still going strong today despite the challenges presented by COVID-19.
Members are encouraged to develop their creativity, whether that be to take up a new hobby or turn a current hobby into a career. Some members are published authors in print or eBook, while others are satisfied merely as writing enthusiasts. Guild workshops provide an opportunity to learn writing foundations, techniques, applications, and publishing opportunities within a supportive environment. Between workshops, participants, as part of one of several writing teams, can take advantage of peer-review to improve story structure, grammar, punctuation, and receive constructive feedback. After all, hasn’t it been said that writing is all about sharing ideas, thoughts, and inspirations?
Writing teams are meeting via Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Discord during the pandemic to maintain their connection and motivation. Networking and sharing within the guild has led to many publishing their work in print and online publications.
The Hamilton Mountain Writers’ Guild membership has collaborated, written, and published six books of short stories in different genres which can be found on Amazon.com. Profits from the sale of the books are donated to Neighbour2Neighbour Centre, a non-profit organization serving those experiencing economic hardship in the Hamilton Mountain community. At present, the members of the guild are collaborating on Book Seven. This book will also be an anthology of short stories featuring fiction, non-fiction, and poetry in many genres.
At present, the guild has biweekly meetings scheduled in the basement of Terryberry Library from 6:30pm to 8:00pm (January 11th being the first meeting for 2023, and every other week from that date). All writers and aspiring writers are welcome.