Writers’ Tour of Denver

I fell in love this weekend, with the 5th floor of the Denver Public Library. OK, so I am a dork, but it is true. And if you are looking for a way to incite inspiration, this might be a good place for you to check out (no pun intended).

The reason I discovered this find was because I went on a Writers’ Tour of Denver with Cynthia Morris. Cynthia normally does these great writers’ tours through Paris and I’ve always dreamed of joining her, but…well…haven’t. So, when I heard she was doing one in Denver, I had to jump at the chance.

And I am so glad I did. We started the day by meeting in Denver’s Civic Center Park and walked across to the library – where, after a short but invigorating free write, Cynthia introduced us to a librarian named Bruce.

Bruce can be found on the 5th Floor, which houses Western History and Genealogy. He shared with us as many resources as he could in 1 hour and did an amazing job. We all agreed, we could have spent the whole ‘field trip’ right there, but Cynthia had lots of other great things to show us. First, however, we had another 10 minutes dedicated to writing whatever we wanted.

Just a quick view into how what Bruce shared inspired my writing session: While showing us the card catalog of newspaper articles, he explained how in the 1800’s (before mailmen), when packages came, the newspaper would list the names of anyone who had a letter waiting for them at the post office. This, combined with an historic photograph he showed us, of a woman standing on the street in front of the then-opera house, sparked a story about the day a letter came that would take this woman on an adventure to San Francisco.  It was a blast to get lost in this character’s world.

This post would run too long if I shared even the small slivers of resources Bruce revealed to us, so I will leave you to discover them all on your own. Go visit the 5th Floor. Tell them you want to be inspired.

The rest of Cynthia’s tour was just as exhilarating:

A visit to The Denver Woman’s Press Club (DWPC),one of the oldest women’s press clubs in the nation had us laughing as we listened to a food critic talk about his experiences with area restaurants.

And no tour would be complete without a ride down the 16th Street Mall. While listening to Cynthia quote what other writers had to say about their visits to Denver, we discovered Walt Whitman was quite a fan of our little cowtown.

We had a lovely lunch at a new Italian eatery, then for dessert headed over to the Tattered Cover. There, Cynthia sent us on a quest: “Go to the section of the store, where your book will be placed (once it’s published) and tell me whose company you will be sharing.”

This exercise, alone, would have made my day. I found out I will be next to Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, one of my all time favorite books, once my picture book is in print. Yet, Cynthia had more ideas in mind. Over cupcakes and cookies (comfort food), she took us out of our comfort zones with some one on one consultation about our individual ‘writer’s wants’. It was rather powerful stuff for me – let’s see if I can do justice describing it: “I could tell you all the things to do,” she remarked, “but what I think you need to tell yourself is why you aren’t doing them already.” And then she helped me to unearth what it really was (not what I said it was) that kept blocking me in the re-visioning stage of my picture book.

I came home filled with ideas and inspiration. So, my advice to you: Next time you need a mini writer’s vacation, join Cynthia or visit the 5th floor of the Denver Library. You don’t even have to have a card, but any resident of Colorado can obtain one.

It’s great to incite you own inspiration, but when you need help, consider taking Cynthia’s tour.