TRIP TO NEW YORK CITY- PART 2

In my last blog post, I shared a clip from my trip to New York City. So, you might ask, how and why did I end up in New York City?

Once a year, the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that supports wounded post 9/11 veterans and their families, teams up with the Writers Guild Initiative for a two-part writers workshop/retreat. The retreat consists of two all-expenses-paid weekend trips, six months apart, and is open to the wounded veteran’s support person, also referred to as a caretaker. The event is applied for through the Wounded Warrior Project, and upon acceptance, the applicant is only allowed to attend the retreat once.

There are two things you need to know about me to better appreciate my journey. First, I really enjoy writing. I find words and their power to influence others very fascinating. Second, I have always wanted to visit New York City.

As you can guess, the event is hosted in New York City, and it is all about writing. Thankfully, I was selected for this amazing opportunity.

I was so excited about what I would do and who I would meet on the trip. I went out and made business cards, listing WRITER as my occupation. I didn’t really embrace the title, despite getting my degree in Journalism/Professional Writing, but I was willing to take the first step toward it.

I could not wait to get on the plane!

According to what I understood of the trip information, we would be paired with a professional writer who would be our mentor, and he/she would follow up with us, via email, in six months. We would meet other caretakers and would be given writing assignments throughout our stay. I had NO clue about our return trip to New York City in six months. I was shocked when I found out!

The trip was wonderful! We stayed at the New York Marriott Downtown and were transported to the Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) building for our sessions.

The WGAE team members separated us into small groups and assigned each group two mentors. Every mentor came forward and presented us with a short bio, including their accomplishments and current projects. The writers were playwrights, screen and TV writers, poets, and book authors, many of which had received prestigious awards. As I listened to the mentors’ introductions, I was hoping I would get two mentors in particular, David Tucker and Jenna Jackson.

Guess who I got.

Our group, four other caretakers and our two mentors, spent two days doing writing exercises and critiquing each others’ work. It was so much fun! My favorite exercise involved describing a “first time” experience in descriptive detail; adjectives and adverbs were flying all over the room.

Two of the exercises were particularly challenging; they were meant to draw out strong emotions. Let’s just say, it was a tearful and healing experience for most, if not all of the caretakers.

Most of my sightseeing was during the evening, since I didn’t know anyone to go with when I arrived and we worked most of the day on Saturday and Sunday.

I got to visit Times Square and see the tree in Rockefeller Center. I saw were The Today Show and The Tonight Show are filmed. I rode in a cab, but did not get to ride the subway, yet. I rode the Staten Island Ferry to Staten Island (see my previous blog for a video from the ride), and I saw the Statue of Liberty along the way. I saw the One World Trade Center, because our hotel was right next door to it, but did not get to go up in it. I ate my first slices of New York Pizza Pie and New York Cheesecake.

I had a great time on my first trip to New York City.

I went on the trip to do something I enjoy and get a break from my everyday routine. I wanted to meet professionals in the writing field and connect with other caretakers who like to write as much as I do. I got what I hoped for and so much more.

Interestingly, the most important thing I took away from the weekend was something I didn’t know I needed; the realization that I can write more than jumbled words on a page. I can draw the audience into my world, entertain them, and help them discover new things about themselves. Most of all, my two decent feature stories, published in the local newspaper, were not some fluke.

I am what my business card says; I AM A WRITER.