- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated September 27, 2013 at 9:32 pm by
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I feel the need to connect to local writers. Is a writing group passe? Is it too much drama, or bother? Will anyone at all show up? What’s your feelings on writing groups?
The ‘right’ writing group can be a god-send. The wrong one is hell. Like everything in writing, it depends. If there is a local group you’d like to try, I advise going slowly. Try just going to several meetings and observing. Don’t dive in volunteering (either to take positions in he group or with your work). See if this group is a good fit for you.
Then, if after a few sessions you feel like it might be right for you (and depending on the rules of the group) begin participating more. Don’t start off with the project that you are invested in to your heart, if you can avoid it though. Make your first group offering something you either are very confident in or something where you know there are flaws — see how they respond to the work.
And, if the response is not helpful feel no guilt in walking away. If the group as a whole doesn’t feel like a good fit, feel no guilt in walking away. They might be a great group for some other writer, but not for you.
–June
What June said.
I vastly prefer in-person groups. I feel a sense of obligation and purpose that is often missing for me in online groups.
Good in-person groups are rare.
Good online groups are only uncommon: they’ve got a larger pool to draw from. Finding one that meets your needs and that you can support is easier. Not trivial (if you have a group that works for you, stick with it!)
Great at theory, terrible at practice.
Michael E. Walston wrote:As long as they serve good snacks, I don’t see the harm.Huh. I guess I’m missing out.
None of the ones I’ve been through even served snacks. We just got together and read each other’s writing.
(I did try a group that met in a restaurant/bakery, by the way, and they even had guest speakers on occasion…but it was too far from me for regular attendance, and there wasn’t enough of the reading-each-other’s-writing stuff.)
Great at theory, terrible at practice.
I was just recently involved in creating a new local writers group (a spin off from our NaNo efforts). I’ve been a member of a number of in-person groups. There isn’t any one answer to my mind, and a good group can devolve because of different needs or just drama as well.
My suggestions would be this:
1) Be very clear in your head what you’re looking to get out of a group. Some people want prompts or shared working on specific techniques, others want open social connections, still others want enforced work spaces, and I’m sure there’s more.
2) Be very clear to the others you’re inviting what your goals are. That doesn’t mean that they’ll all agree with your vision, so be willing to be flexible, but it also sets expectations from the start. My local group just had a “reassessment” discussion where it looks to me like we’re starting to migrate into territory where the group won’t serve my needs. However, we’re testing a setup where we change from once a month to bi-monthly with each of the meetings having a different focus. So if the middle meeting turns too much into a “learn technique” setting, I just don’t have to show
. If, however, it stays focused on the “get work done” aspect, I’m all for it. Flexibility requires not caving, but at the same time not dismissing without trying things out.In person and not in person can serve the exact same goals. Sometimes it’s just nice to have an excuse to get out of the house and talk writing with people
.She remakes mechanical devices, and he dreams of becoming a steamship captain in The Steamship Chronicles. Book 1 is free in eBook.
https://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/the-steamship-chronicles/Beware of the ‘Queen Bee’ problem. One member might have publishing credits and because she (or he) has taken that step up, they feel obligated to tell everyone else exactly what they need to do. I’ve seen it happen with someone who took a writing class, too. This is really a personality problem and can reduce a group to nothing more than a lecture service by someone no one wants to annoy.
Also, if everyone else is writing romance and you are writing science fiction, it’s not going to be a good mix for anything more than very basic grammar and punctuation. If they don’t understand the basics of the genre, you aren’t going to get much help. (I had two such incidents in the past. One group’s reaction (almost to a person) was that if I was writing science fiction, I was writing for children. The second group (which was online) got into a discussion about how I should give up science fiction to write real novels — romance — because that was where the money was.)
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