Post-meeting Write-up - Oct. 2026

The Foothills Writer's Group October 2026 Monthly Meeting opened with a reading from - The Creative Act - A Way of Being by our president Tristan "Sasquatch" Mazurek.

The Foothills Writer's Group was proud to welcome Cindy Webb Morris as our guest speaker for our October 2026 meeting!

Cindy was born and raised in New Brunswick, but has also lived in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Yellowknife, and Calgary, which she's called home for the past 22 years. Her published efforts include a personal essay, poems, newspaper articles, and short stories. She is currently working on the final draft of a novel.

FUN FACT: Cindy self-describes as "not literary person", but she still got accepted into Oxford University for a creative writing diploma!

Cindy also runs Write Now! - a weekly online writer's group in partnership with the Alexandra Writer's Society Centre - EVERY MONDAY: 19:00 - 20:30

The 'Write Now!' Philosophy

The most important part of writing is just getting the words down. Even if all you have time & energy for is a single word, sentence, paragraph, or a page every single day, each & every word adds up over time. Cindy gave us a list of what you can accomplish over the course of a year if you write:

• 1 Word a Day = 365 words/year
  • 1 flash fiction piece
  • 3.5 drabbles
• 1 Sentence a Day (20 words/sentence) = 7300 words/year
  • 14 flash fiction pieces
  • 73 drabbles
  • 2 short stories
• 1 Paragraph a Day (3 sentences/paragraph) = 21,900 words/year
  • 219 drabbles
  • 8 short stories
  • 1/2 novella
  • a great start to a novel
• 1 Page a Day (500 words/page) = 185,000 words/year
  • 1,825 drabbles
  • 35 short stories
  • 3 novellas
  • a drafts of a sizable novel with room to edit

Afterward discussing her Write Now! philosophy, Cindy provided us with a writing prompt: a music box she acquired during a trip to Germany in 1976.

We set a 15 minute time limit to write whatever came to mind, followed by an opportunity for everyone to share their work (if they so chose). Several of our members volunteered to share their prompts here on our website for you to read:

The Guardian

Based on a prompt provided by Cindy Webb Morris during the Foothills Writer's Group Oct. 2026 Monthly Meeting

Foothills Writer's GroupCindy Lee Wutzke

The Sounds of Childhood

Based on a prompt provided by Cindy Webb Morris during the Foothills Writer's Group Oct. 2026 Monthly Meeting

Foothills Writer's GroupTristan Mazurek

After we had the chance to ask Cindy several questions. Here are the questions & answers discussed; edited for clarity & legibility.

You've been involved with various writing groups for decades; what do you love so much about them?

I love writing groups because of the people. I love being around other creative people because I feed of the creative energy of other people. Writing groups cultivate a creative energy that artists thrive on; "If you're writing, I'm writing.

Not only this, but writing groups are important because of the community! You have so many opportunities to make connections and to learn from other writers. You never know who you'll meet and what you'll come away from every meeting with!

Do you think that academic literary culture is a barrier to learning?

Yes, and no. It depends on the instructor. Well-learned people can offer good critique, even if you have to translate from academic to English to extract the meaning from the words.

What matters more is why you're attending school and what you want to get out of it. If your goal is to create art, then only attending classes to 'get good marks' won't help you at all. Attending school to learn, to absorb information, to seek & receive feedback, and to give yourself a structure to help you be productive are!

As for feedback, smart people are often the most 'arrogant' in their writing. For example, many engineers have good technical writing, but the prose & the story is "boring as HELL!" Being smart and have good technical writing skills doesn't mean you're able to capture the spirit of writing.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not all engineers are categorically terrible writers. Cindy was providing an anecdotal example based on her personal experiences.

Craig Alanson was an engineer for 20 years before he wrote his first novel, and he's one of my personal favourite authors! #NOTALLENGINEERS

What are some books and/or resources you recommend for writers?

• www.offtopicpublishing.com; by Marion Lougheed
• www.wildwritersstudio.com; by Finnian Burnett & Andrew Buckley
• www.creativenonfictioncollective.ca
• Off the Mark; by Linda Sanche

Miscellaneous Quotes from Cindy:

• "I have lots of ideas, but right now my goal is to FINISH! FINISH!"
• "I love editing! The problem is I've gotta get the words down before I can edit them. It sucks!"
• "You don't need to be a literary type to be a writer!"
• "I got some feedback from an oxford professor that praised me for making 'great lexical choices'. What the hell is 'great lexical choice'!?"
• "I love teachers! I love schools! Classes give me the boundaries, structure, and discipline I need to direct me towards success!"

Where are You now?
Where are You going?
How can We help get You there?

Following Cindy's presentation, el Presidente Sasquatch (me) gave a brief speech on the importance of self-reflection when it comes to setting goals for ourselves - both individually & collectively.

Too often in the past when I sought to gather feedback from our members on what kinds of activities, assistance, and/or resources they wanted from the Foothills Writer's Group, I did so in a manner that felt rushed, superficial, insufficient.

Writing is inherently a self-reflective exercise. Introspection takes time, space, and clarity of thought for it to be truly effective. True reflection cannot happen in the space of a questionnaire or within the time of a 15 minute activity.

Thus, I felt it was best to change my approach.

I've included the full text of my letter to our members AND the reflection worksheet below for to view and/or download for yourselves.

There is no requirement for anyone to hand in a completed reflection. The purpose of this exercise is not primarily about gathering feedback, but providing an opportunity for everyone to reflect on their own art, their goals for it, and how to achieve them.

However there will be treats at our Nov. 2026 Meeting for anyone who hands a copy of their reflection in OR emails a copy of their reflection to me at fwg@foothillswritersgroup.ca

To close the meeting out we briefly addressed some administrivia for the Foothills Writer's Group:

• Cindy Lee Wutzke was inducted as the new Treasurer of the Foothills Writer's Group.
  • The Treasurer will present a full report on the FWG's financials at the next monthly meeting.
  • Any expenses incurred by members on behalf of the FWG can be remunerated at any subsequent FWG monthly meeting with the presentation of a receipt.
  • The Treasurer and a Witness must sign off on the receipt before remuneration will be issued.