The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, or How to Choose a Writers’ Group. I know I’m not in the majority when I recommend that you get involved with a writers’ group. Dean Koontz apparently loathes them, Harlan Ellison despises them, and I’ve read advice from dozens of other pros whose work I love and whose opinions I value who say writers’ groups will do everything from steal your soul to cause your writing to break out in pox. Nonetheless, I strongly recommend that you get involved with a good writers’ group when you’re getting started. I credit what I learned from my early groups (plus enormous amounts of hard work and persistence) with leading me to publication. The Unknown Writers’ Group and Schrodinger’s Petshop (Essentially Bizarre, But Cats Like Us) pushed me to succeed.
But I was lucky. I got in on the ground floor of each group, and each group was good. In this column I’ll assume that you have at least one writers’ group in your area with an opening. Rule #1 Does the group have a clearly defined goal, preferably in writing? Rule #1 Example Rule #2. 7 Agenda Items for Your Writing Group’s First Meeting. By Mark Nichol This is the third post on our series about writing groups. You can read the first one here and the second one here. Now, you’ve done it. You’ve launched a writing group, or you’re about to. What now? It’s time to organize. Here’s what to do at the first meeting: 1. Give each member a few minutes to introduce themselves, or try the team-building game Two Truths and a Lie: Have members come prepared to present, with a straight face, three interesting things about them; everyone else votes on which two items are true and which is false (though it can be a variation on the truth or an aspiration). 2.
How often will the group meet? 3. What do you and the other members want to get out of the group? 4. Briefly discuss meeting structure: Does everyone read every time, or do members alternate every two or three meetings? 5. Allow five or ten minutes halfway through the session for a snack and small talk, but don’t let it drag out. 6. 7. Coming up: How to run a writing group. How to Start a Writing Group. By Mark Nichol This is the second post on our series about writing groups.
The first one is 5 Reasons to Start a Writing Group. You’ve determined to seriously pursue a writing career, but you feel like you need support and feedback. Although you joined a couple of writing groups, you dropped out of each one because the fit just didn’t feel right. What do you do now? 1. How many members do you want? 2. Design a simple but informative flyer. 3. Briefly interview people who contact you. 4. When you have enough “yes” candidates, consider adding a couple of strong “maybe” prospects in case one or two people drop out; if you have more defections later, you can always recruit others or disband and start again. 5.
Choose a setting and stay with it. 6. Contact and confirm your finalists, and if anyone backs out, keep recruiting from the “maybe” list or from new candidates. 7. Next up: How to conduct writing groups. 5 Tips on How to Run a Writing Group. By Mark Nichol You’ve got your writing group up and running. All the hard work’s over, right? Wrong. Just like any smooth-running machine, a writing group requires maintenance. Here are some tips for tender, loving care: 1. Construct Criticism Model proactive and up-front critiquing etiquette. 2. Others can pass around copies of a cold read and read it aloud while others jot down notes, then go to discussion. Suggest a writing session every now and then: Everybody comes to the meeting, writes for an hour, then convenes to take turns reading part or all of their resulting selection for five minutes and getting one minute of feedback from each member. 3.
Focus, however, not on telling others what to do but on asking questions to help them decide what to do. Your homework also involves setting your ego aside and acting on others’ critiques. 4. 5. What’s the procedure when somebody’s not fitting in? 5 Reasons to Start a Writing Group. By Mark Nichol You know about writing groups — folks who meet at regular intervals to share excerpts from works in progress, exchange tips and information, and discuss conventions such as character, plot, narrative, and tone. But you’ve always shrugged the idea off — yet it keeps coming back. Maybe you should reconsider. Here’s why: 1. Starting a writing group helps you develop deadline discipline because you are accountable for being ready for the next meeting. 2. Meeting with kindred spirits helps motivate you to keep trying in the face of adversity, whether it’s in the form of a busy schedule or writer’s block. 3. You’ll benefit from the empathy of others who have also received rejection letters or, just like you, have felt that they didn’t have what it takes to succeed. 4.
You’ll learn from others — and feel a boost of confidence when others acknowledge the value of your advice and information. 5. Why Me? The Next Chapter. 5 Ways to Evaluate Your Writing Group. By Mark Nichol The writing group you started three or six months ago is still going, but there’s something not quite right about it. It’s time to step back and evaluate it: 1. Attendance Are the charter members all still attending? If one or more people is regularly tardy or absent, ask them why. 2. Are the skill levels of the members basically on par? You will likely feel uncomfortable about approaching either type of outlier, but the more skilled writer will probably take it as a compliment if you suggest that they seek a writing group with higher collective abilities and may be glad to have “permission” to do so. 3. Are group members keeping up with the workload? Alternatively, have members submit samples at every other meeting rather than each time, or skip critique meetings in place of tutorials (everybody presents a fifteen-minute lesson about character, plot, narrative structure, or some other element). 4.
Is criticism writer centered rather than writing centered? 5. Writing Group Starter Kit. You’ve decided to form a writing group. Congratulations! The Writing Center has established this kit to help writers like you get a group going and help it succeed, right from the start. Starting a writing group, especially your first one, can be a little overwhelming. To help your group get off on the right foot, we’ve put together this collection of handouts for your group members to fill out before the first meeting.
These will help you break the ice, learn about each other’s writing needs and group interactions, and start to plan a structure and schedule for your group that will work for everyone. Everyone should read the “Thirteen Ways” handout before the first meeting and bring a copy of each worksheet, filled out, as well as one copy of a short writing sample to give to each group member (an excerpt from a paper would be fine). It may be a good idea to close your first meeting by scheduling the next meeting and setting an agenda for it.