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Forming a Writers' Group By Victoria Purdie
It can be lonely business stuck in your writing spot, typing away at your latest piece of work, with nobody nearby who really understands you. Those of us with e-mail may find writers on the other side of the world to share our successes and failures with, but there's still something enjoyable about meeting face to face with other writers in a group setting. Nobody quite understands the need to write like another writer does.
If there are no other groups already running that you could join, and you would like to begin your own group, you'll first need to think about where you might hold your meetings. I was lucky enough to be offered free of charge a building with tables, chairs, and comfy sofas so we could slouch if we wanted to. You may find a room available in your community center, a church, or a private home, either free or for a small charge.
The next step is advertising your first meeting to establish people's interest. Put your contact name and phone number in the advertisement so people can phone you for more information. Allow a few weeks for the word to spread. You can place eye-catching ads on a notice board at your library, community center, gym, sports clubs, and churches, in supermarkets, and sometimes in a local newspaper for free under the "community notices" section.
Talk to friends and colleagues, and those who you know have expressed some interest in writing at some stage. Coming to your group may be the kick-start they need to get into writing or back into something they may have put on the backburner years ago. You may find older retired people now have the time to write and may be interested in joining your group. Newsletters and magazines that go out to the writing community, either online or in paper form, can be searched on the Internet and sometimes ads can be placed in them for free.
Once a group of writers has turned up with their pens and papers eager to write, what do you do then? Start by introducing yourself and mention what you do for a day job, what publishing successes if any you have enjoyed, and what writing project you are working on at present. Encourage people in the group to introduce themselves in the same way.
This gives you can idea of whether people are still at the "wannabe" dreaming stage or are actively writing and trying to get published.
I like to spend the first part of our writing meetings getting to know each person in the group, especially the newcomers, and find out what area of writing interests them, so I can hopefully cater for everybody's needs in the group at some stage.
Before your first meeting and in between meetings, collect information on writing competitions, calls for anthology submissions, companies seeking scripts, poetry, travel articles, etc., and other related news that the writers may find helpful. This information mostly comes via the Internet in writing newsletters that you can subscribe to.
I also like to come across quotes to do with writing, or short articles that talk about the highs and lows of being a writer, sourced from writers' newsletters, magazines or the Internet. They are generally uplifting and leave a writer feeling encouraged to keep writing. Sometimes I might write something of my own to read aloud.
After the general introductions, and housekeeping (reading out the competition news, etc.), you might like to lay down some ground rules at each meeting. Our group has rules along the following lines:
1. We respect each other and the type of writing we do 2. We don't criticize each other destructively 3. We try not to interrupt each other when speaking in a group setting 4. We try to be positive and encouraging at all times 5. Do your best to make the group a safe environment to learn the craft of writing
These rules are especially important when reading a piece of writing aloud in a group setting. We don't want writers to be crushed and lay down their pens forever by another writer attacking them. You can offer to read and critique a writer's work privately where you can be a little more constructively critical if required.
As a leader, you must be firm with whatever ground rules your group establishes. It helps to write down your rules and relay them regularly, especially for the new writers that will come and go.
Talk about your rules together and discuss any issues that arise. You will probably find you have a big turnaround of people in the beginning weeks and months, which will settle down to a core group eventually.
Some people just don't have the drive to keep coming weekly, fortnightly or monthly depending on when you meet, and others will decide that they aren't really interested in writing after all. Some may decide its just too much effort, and then there are always those that get too busy. If it's something they really want to do, the same writers will return regularly.
Collect phone numbers and e-mail addresses to remind people about your next meeting if necessary, but respect the fact that the person may not want to come anymore. If this is the case, try not to take it personally. Our group had one very rude and arrogant writer turn up for about four meetings, and attack everybody, including myself. When he stopped coming, the group proceeded to grow and bond much better without this destructive influence. At times like this, strong leadership is important and it's helpful to have a trusted person to act as your backup, someone you can talk matters over with and know that he is there to support you.
As well as sharing news and information, studying a particular part of writing like copyright laws and marketing advice, and reading out pieces of writing, it's great to be able to do writing exercises together in the group. Have spare pens and paper handy. You'll need to plan this in advance, so think up some writing exercises to do. It may be continuing on from a sentence starter that you dictate or analyzing a song, or writing a poem on a particular subject. Often an inspiring picture can be shown to stimulate an exercise. Try to make each exercise creatively exciting. It helps if you have a list of possible exercises done before you start the group, so you're never caught short of time. You can get input from your writers and even assign them to come up with a group exercise. I find these exercises very valuable and even if it's just a paragraph that appears to be random, it could be written up later as the beginning of a short story, novel or even a play.
If a writer isn't comfortable doing the exercise or reading it out, don't force her. She may come around in time, as she gets more confident and gets to know the people in the group better.
Homework in between meetings is another important part of the writers' group. Sometimes this is what keeps people writing. If they have nothing to do, or nothing to strive for by a deadline, i.e., your next meeting date, they may just give up writing all together. Homework is usually another type of writing exercise that may be humorous, dramatic, romantic, fiction or nonfiction. Sometimes I might ask the group to write something especially for a particular type of magazine or newspaper. Later we review them and see if they are suitable for being published. If so, I encourage the writer to submit his work. If he gets published, this increases his confidence ten-fold and you as the leader and writing mentor, also feel proud that you have inspired another person. Chances are if that writer goes on to become well known, he won't forget you or the writing group that got him started.
Copyright 2005
Victoria Purdie is married with three children and lives in Australia. She's been freelance writing for 12 years and is also a photographer and editor. See her website at: www.freewebs.com/victoriapurdie.
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