Every time I meet another writer, I always want to know how long they’ve been writing. For me, the answer is wrapped in the realization that I’ve been writing since the last time the Dallas Cowboys won a Super Bowl (all my life). Writing lyrics, writing poems, writing blog posts—some of my earliest memories have involved writing.
It hasn’t always been a smooth journey, though. In school, I seemed to thrive on procrastination, putting off 12-page papers till the night before they were due. Then there was the time in eighth-grade English class when I accidentally turned in one of my raps as homework. My teacher, obviously more of a Biggie fan, gave me a C minus.
Inspiration is everywhere, but it’s not enough. In this fast-paced world, the idea of sitting in a room alone banging on my keyboard, trying to fill all the empty space on my screen, just isn’t appetizing. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t get distracted, that I didn’t pick up my phone and get lost in the scroll. Writing was something I was good at from an early age, but as I grew older, my tendency to procrastinate only got worse. I envy the writers who are disciplined enough that they can write every day at the same time. But that’s not me.
What is me? If I’m being honest, I’m still getting to know myself, and writing has been the lie detector test throughout my years. My most vulnerable times and my proudest moments have come from writing; some of my toughest times have been helped by it. It can be thrilling to see where spilling words onto the page can take me. At the same time, writing is discouraging. It’s lonely.
I once saw an old ratty football shirt that said “IRON SHARPENS IRON.” How do you know how good you can be if you’re not surrounded by the best? How would I know if that procrastination wasn’t really my mind trying to save me from embarrassment? I knew one thing for sure: in my own writing journey, I needed help. So I started showing up to Saturday Scribe, an informal creative writing community that meets in locally-owned coffee shops all over Tulsa—and which, to my amazement, is working for me in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.
“Saturday Scribe was birthed out of a practice that I used to have with myself,” said Vondell Burns, who co-founded the group with Eddie Washington earlier this year.
Burns is originally from Belleville, Illinois; she moved to Tulsa from Brooklyn, where she worked as a Goldman Sachs strategist after graduating from Howard University. She spent years honing her voice in between classes and in weekend writing sessions at New York City coffee shops, and she brings that same spirit to Saturday Scribe, with the goal of inspiring writers through curated prompts and collective reflection. Burns is now the marketing and communications director at Atento Capital, as well as a creative consultant and entrepreneur. Her experience sharpens the writing group’s edge, linking creative vision with strategic execution in a way that turns this casual meetup into a weekly transformation session.
Burns found that, when she moved to New York, shifting locations to write in each week “was a good way to learn about the city and support local businesses.” “[It was] just something to stimulate creative energy,” she told me. “I would go to a different coffee shop each week and sit and let the coffee shop be the inspiration for what I was writing that day.” That practice became part of her vision for Saturday Scribe: on any given Saturday, participants check the group’s Instagram for the reveal of that week’s location. Adding a little bit of urban adventuring to the mix loosens everyone up; for me, it’s also a way to see my community through new perspectives each week. And the rush of finding a possibly new-to-me spot makes the prospect of getting out of the house to write on a Saturday a little more appealing.
Likewise with the Saturday Scribe writing prompts, which are also delivered via the group’s social media before each meetup. Not having to come up with something to write about by myself is a relief—and also a challenge, but in a way that feels supportive and surprising rather than like a burden.
The group’s first prompt, offered back in January, contained a little guidance for our own life journeys as well as for our writing: “Imagine the person who wronged you as the villain in a story. What is their origin tale from their perspective, not as an excuse, but as an exploration? What life events, beliefs, or insecurities might have shaped their actions toward you? How did their choices affect the ‘hero’ (you) of the piece?” I sensed the influence of the movie Joker on this prompt; both encouraged me to sympathize with the character who would grow to become the villain. Harmonizing with the prompt, this first meetup happened at Origin Coffee.
Week Nine’s prompt brought everything full circle by re-imagining the very space we were in: “Write a scene where two old friends meet at a café. What has changed between them? What remains unspoken? Use second-person narrative to pull the reader into the tension, nostalgia, or tenderness of the moment.” Other prompts, all linked to the work of specific writers, have invited us to experiment with haiku, personification, second-person narrative, and even detailed imagery like “baking” or “searching for light.”
What you do with the prompt is up to you; freedom and flexibility are key to the whole approach. “Saturday Scribe is just encouraging people to create through the form of writing,” Burns said. “Novel, poetry, short story, screenplay, whatever your medium.”
First-time attendee Shayna Brewer told me she found that aspect of one recent Saturday Scribe session “a joy.” “Having a structured way of brainstorming, discussing the brainstorming, and then writing based off that was totally new for me,” she said. “Usually, [when I’m] writing, I do it by myself. So this was such a fun experience, and it was so wonderful just to hear everybody’s different writing styles and just how wonderful the human brain is, because we all came up with such different concepts and ideas and stories.”
The group’s leadership model shares that sense of flow. Even though Burns is one of the founders, she emphasizes that she is not the leader because there are no leaders; here, anyone can facilitate, with support from a facilitator guide on the Saturday Scribe Instagram page. One Saturday, a writer named Sage started their facilitation by grounding the group with an excerpt from a poetry book. Now, week after week, everyone looks forward to hearing a page from Sage’s book. Asked what makes them comfortable sharing their work at Saturday Scribe, Sage said: “I would say the fact that we all [share it], whether we do it every single week or not. It’s such a welcoming vibe without the pressure to be great [or] to have a completely finished piece.”
The other key? Consistency—not just in the regularity of the meeting day but in the format of each session. The first 15-20 minutes are for mingling. People trickle in and grab their desired drink or pastry and settle in. The next 15 minutes are for introductions and welcoming newcomers, followed by 15 minutes for explaining the week's prompt and brainstorming, then 15 minutes for everyone to share ideas and talk about the direction of their writing.
The real meat and potatoes are the 30-40 minutes of dedicated writing time. It’s just you and the page: no phone, no ChatGPT. Although it’s not a hard and fast rule, pen and paper are preferred to ground us in the analog form of writing (or as Kendrick Lamar would say, “Turn the TV off!”). The most important thing to bring is imagination. The week’s writing prompt may help spark that, but it’s only there to guide participants, and people are welcome to free-write or work on other pieces instead of the prompt.
A Saturday Scribe session ends by opening the floor up for anyone who wants to share what they’ve written. This is one of the best parts: instant validation, where you pour out your heart and everyone just gets it. No critiquing. No red pen marks. Just encouragement and support, all celebrating the practice of writing. This part is only supposed to last 15 minutes, but it can easily spill over into an extra hour of conversation and affirmations, often filled with kind-hearted laughter. “The affirmations I get, it definitely inspires me to keep writing, to keep sharing, and to keep it groovin,” Sage told me. “Because you know how the saying goes: 'I’m an artist, I’m sensitive about my shit!'”
For Eddie Washington, Saturday Scribe is “a space to be human.” After graduating with an OU journalism degree during the recession, at a time when budgets were tight and job opportunities were rare, he found it hard to find work as a writer. Coming back to Tulsa, his hometown, sparked his love for writing again; since returning, he’s written self-published articles as well as pieces for The Tulsa Voice and The Black Wall Street Times. Saturday Scribe has become a space for him to practice his craft more consistently.
“You should come out because it gives you an opportunity to get away for a little bit,” Washington says. “It’s a lot going on in the world. So if it’s your first time coming out, just pull up without any expectations, just know that you’ll be embraced. Just be open-minded. There is no pressure for you to write at a certain level, or read at a certain level, or express yourself at a certain level. It’s all embraced.”
For me, this group has become the lifeline and discipline I was looking for. Taking the most private, personal thing—my own writing—to a public setting to be shared with other people has changed my writing practice for the better. Whether or not I write a single word during the week, I know that on Saturday, I’m going to write. Saturday Scribe helped me get back into brainstorming and invited me to put into practice literary devices and terms that I haven’t used or at least fully appreciated until these meetups. My eighth-grade English teacher would definitely feel smug about seeing me use similes and personification again.
Saturday Scribe is exposing me to parts of the city that I’ve never visited, even as a native Tulsan. Looking out the windows of these different coffee shops, I’ve seen my own novel’s characters come to life. Some have families, some are waiting to meet a first date, some looking to get away from the pressures of reality. The world I’m seeing through these windows blends into the one I’m creating.
In an art form that breeds isolation, Saturday Scribe has created community. (There’s even a retreat in the works.) It’s a welcoming environment where writers can be vulnerable and where newcomers are embraced, where you can follow the week’s writing prompt or finish your book. It’s showing me that I’m not the only person who gets nervous sharing my writing with the world. I’m not the only person who procrastinates. I’m not the only person who nerds out over something perfectly written. Most importantly, I’m not the only writer who needs and appreciates support.
