In Wine is Truth and Iron Sharpens Iron

"In vino veritas." - In wine is truth. (Plato)

"As Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

In my last post I discussed how I believe I've become a better writer by belonging to a weekly critique group. My Coffee and Critique group is a source of inspiration.  About 8-10 writers show up each week, but some weeks we have a dozen or more members sitting around the table drinking beverages and offering suggestions on manuscripts.

As the middle child in a family of seven, I'm comfortable being a part of a large group and I'm all about inclusion. But in some instances, smaller has its advantages.

In addition to my weekly critique group, I belong to a small group of women writers called In vino veritas--in wine there is truth, or IVV for short. Our IVV monthly dinner is an occasion to share candid, casual, and confidential conversation that doesn't leave the table.

Once a month the four of us meet for dinner at an Italian restaurant, where our first order of business is to order wine. After we toast one another, we enjoy dinner, drink some wine, and share ideas about writing, publishing, freelancing, teaching, editing, books, and almost anything related to writing. 

We also talk about our families and our problems; we share our successes and insecurities and continue to talk until one of the employees dims the lights and lock the doors. Oh, and the servers there love us. Last night the waitress we had in December came over to our table to day hello. She told us she wished we would've sat in her section. Did I mention we all are friendly and courteous to the wait staff and are big tippers?

On nice evenings we stand in the parking lot and talk some more. It is a relaxing, yet invigorating evening. 

I truly believe that just as "iron sharpens iron," when writers are in the company of other writers, be it a dozen or only two, they too sharpen their writing skills and become better writers.