Friday, December 5, 2014

The Value of an Open Mic Night, To Readers, To Writers

So last night was WriteOn Joliet's open mic night, our second one, a little over a year past our first one. It went very well, higher attendance than last October, less nervousness amongst the presenters, and a wonderful atmosphere that's difficult to describe. But I remember thinking at one point: It's such a blessing to be here.

The readings were as varied as the writers, mostly essays, a few poems, a smattering of fiction. For we as writers, with the majority of us feeling most comfortable not in front of people before a microphone, but alone and before a computer, open mic nights provide an opportunity to learn how to present our work in ways that are entertainng and attractive to others.

For readers and listeners, such a venue provides a different an opportunity, where one may sample a variety of genres and styles - for free - kind of like ordering the chef's speciality platter at a new restaurant, with a promises to order more of your favorites next time 'round.

This time, we also opened up the event for guest writers to present as well. One woman from a New Lenox group accepted our invitation, twice. And for the lovely owners of Book and Bean Cafe inside the Joliet Public Library who hosted us, well, hopefully they saw increased sales between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

I left the venue last night with one thought: We should do more of them, for the practice, to connect more with readers, and because it's just so cool to cram a bunch of people geeky enough to like open mic readings into one room for a couple of hours.

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