David Rettig moderates the Broad Ripple Morning Writers Group that commences each Wednesday at 7 a.m. at the Cornerstone Café, located at 651 East 54th Street. He recently discussed his interest in writing and how the group formed.

"Initially, it was started by James Fowles in early 2015, but he changed jobs and his new job wouldn't allow him to continue meeting in the morning. I had attended for a few months, and he asked me to take over. I've been running the group for four months now. I've been focusing on trying to get more authors involved and get some additional people here," Rettig explained.

"I've always been writing business leadership articles, some of which are on the internet for people to read and really feel like understanding leadership helps me understand fiction and horror, which is what I'm writing now. I was born in Fort Lauderdale, but moved to Ohio, where I grew up and later moved to Indianapolis for a job. I have an undergraduate degree in Information Technology and an MBA from Franklin University in Columbus. I recently completed a second master's degree in leadership," he said.

"The creative process (of writing) is interesting. It helps me expand how I think about communicating by going through the daily process in helping me tweak what I do in my day job in IT leadership. I lead a team of five people at a nonprofit affiliated with a local university," Rettig added.

A recent gathering revealed a diverse cadre of aspiring writers with varied experiences.

Joel Klee said, "I heard about the group through a friend at a Toastmasters meeting. My interests are in writing memoirs and fiction. I also have an IT background. My undergraduate degree is in Earth and Planetary Science from Johns Hopkins University. I have a master's degree in Geodetic Science and Surveying from Ohio State University. I'm from Columbus, Ohio, but have lived in Indianapolis for 23 years. What is interesting to me about the writing process is that it hones your observational skills. To write is to observe."

"It tweaks the ear or sense of what is going on. It is through the taking of an idea and translating it into text. In writing code or prose, they are similar. Sometimes, code can be overwritten and hard to read. There are parallels between IT and the literature world. Nobody is our group has a master's in fine arts, but anybody can write a story. It's just sitting there and putting pen to paper and turning it into something worth reading," he added.

Rettig's daughter, Rebecca mentioned, "I'm currently writing a fantasy story and ended up attending this group to get support for my writing."

Jason Eder explained, "I started writing when I was in college when I took some classes, then got out of it. In the past couple of years, I started again. I was a liberal arts major at IUPUI (history and sociology) and currently work in purchasing for a laboratory."

Christine Orlowski said, "I have two projects I'm working on right now. One is a spiritual/religious memoir, and one is a collection of short reflections or essays on daily life. I'll periodically select from those and post them on my blog (www.mostofmyfriendsarebooks.wordpress.com)."

I heard about the group through the website, www.meetup.com. I'm originally from Denver and currently finishing a degree in mental health counseling from Christian Theological Seminary.

J.C. Fralick mentioned, "I have a background in insurance underwriting, but currently co-own a tea blending business (www.facebook.com/ADHTeas). Some of our teas are from China, Sri Lanka and South Africa that are locally available. I have an English degree with a concentration in film from IUPUI and am originally from northwestern Arkansas. Now I'm writing short stories and currently working on a horror novel."

"One of the things about writing is that review each other's pieces. We bring different perspectives to the group. We've able to feed into each other's stories and become better writers. It's hard to get that kind of honest feedback. Anyone writing who is not attending a group is missing out. We're not working on a project together since our writing styles are so different. We are here more to polish each other's individual voice and hone that," Rettig emphasized. His novel, "Project Dandelion" will be out this spring. He also has an apocalyptic book on the website, www.channillo.com, called "Dark Places" (http://channillo.com/series/dark-places/).

You can meet the Broad Ripple Morning Writers Group on Wednesdays at 7 a.m. at the Cornerstone Café for the next chapter of your literary endeavors.