Mary Bridgman’s Journey to WAG

“I began to think of myself as a writer again.”

Mary Bridgman practiced law for 30-years in Jacksonville. She was successful. Then she retired to relative isolation on Kingsley Lake near Starke, where she imagined she could begin writing more seriously. It didn’t work out that way.

Mary’s inner voice, the one that troubles most writers, began telling her she wasn’t doing enough, wasn’t good enough. That she would perhaps never be a “real writer.”

            So Mary compared her writing career to her legal career and found writing wanting. “Some of the things I used to measure success by in the legal world, I don’t have in writing world,” she says. “You don’t make much money doing this and you don’t get much feedback, like you do in a work setting.”

            Comfortably retired, the lack of feedback bothered her the most. No longer connected to her critique group in Jacksonville, Mary spent less and less time writing, and she wasn’t happy about it. Then she found the Writer’s Alliance. She had “an epiphany.”

            “Things changed when I got involved in the Writer’s Alliance, specifically Wendy Thornton’s short fiction pod,” Mary Bridgman says. “Although I wasn’t concentrating on short fiction they welcomed me because there wasn’t a pod for my specific writing interests.

            “In the pod I immediately found support with other writers. I felt alive and inspired when we talked about their work and as we brainstormed ideas.

            “I had to be in touch with other writers, critiquing their work and having them critique mine. That, in itself, makes me feel like a writer. I found a new level of professionalism and support and creativity that I hadn’t felt before and was very impressed with the talent available just for the asking. The group is very unselfish, very supportive and offers good, constructive ideas.”

            But how, specifically, did the pod help Mary’s work?

            “I’ve been sending a book out to agents for a while, but I’ve never been satisfied with the beginning and kept tinkering with it. In the short fiction group, one of writers (Jack Owen) suggested starting with a newspaper article, using a news summary as a hook. There was a fictional weekly newspaper in the story. Well, I tried it and it worked! I was happy with it.”

            Mary Bridgman believes it’s important to develop relationships with other writers and work on the craft together. “I began to think of myself as a writer again once I got involved with the pod. Writers who are looking for agents, trying to get published, deal with an awful lot of rejection. Being in a supportive writer’s group is really critical to maintaining your perseverance.”

            Give us an example.

            “I think of Wendy Thornton saying she was good at spotting potential and that my writing had potential. She said that with conviction and I can’t tell you how much that meant to me. It has been the difference between sending it out again and putting it in a drawer and thinking this isn’t the life for me. That encouragement got me started sending work out again and thinking in terms of finishing my second book.

            “Writing isn’t something I depend on for income and there are always plenty of distractions and excuses, especially when your work isn’t being accepted right away.”

            So the WAG pod has become a critical part of Mary Bridgman’s craft, but what does she bring to the pod? After all, membership in a successful pod requires thoughtful give-and-take from each member.

            “What do I bring to group? I have a lot of training in writing,” Mary says. “I have an English degree and am a good and supportive editor, especially in technical things. I look for areas where meaning isn’t coming through.

“Plus, I have a sense of humor and writing is very personal. I try not to be so intense all the time.”

            And thus, another secret of pod success!
 

Susie Baxter is Volunteer

Coordinator for WAG Pods