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About Writing Mamas
Dawn Yun is the mother of the Mothers Who Write classes at Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., which was born in 2004.
After she had her daughter, Mimi, she, like millions of mothers nationwide, joined a mothers' club and spent much of her
time at parks.
One of the first questions always asked: "What did you do before becoming a mom?" When Dawn said the magic
word, "writer," the response was overwhelming. Many women said that since becoming mothers they had begun to write but
didn't know what to do with their words.
Dawn later wrote an article about Book Passage, the iconoclastic, influential and much loved book store, for The
San
Francisco Chronicle. She approached the store's owner, Elaine Petrocelli, a mother of four, about starting a
writing class just for mothers. Elaine eagerly agreed. And so began a series of four-week classes for mothers to have
a dedicated time and place to write and to share their writing with each other.
The popular classes soon morphed into The Writing Mamas Salon, which now meets the second Sunday of every month,
from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Some of the mothers have been published and many have not, but all share a love of the
written word.
The first 15 minutes of the salon are spent talking about writing and mothering. Someone might have a question about
how to make dialog more believable. Another mother might want to know how to get a baby to sleep through the night
(wouldn't we all like to know that!).
For the next 45 minutes the salon breaks up into groups of four and everyone reads and reviews each others' writing.
Tables are then switched. The idea is to get as much feedback as possible for your work. Later you can incorporate the
changes that most resonate with you.
At the next salon you can bring in that same piece for further review or a new one. The goal of the salon is for you to
gain confidence, improve your writing and get published.
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