Start a Writing Group

A writing group is exactly what the members want it to be. It can be a place to gripe, a place to drink too much red wine while sitting in a kiddy pool, it can be a place to share your work. You make up the rules.

Creating the Group

Most writers (if not ALL writers) have to do something else to pay the bills, so you've got to account for the people in your group being busy. But hopefully they aren't to busy to come to a group once in awhile.

Many Writing Groups:

• have somewhere between 3-10 members;
• have members with at least one thing in common, besides the desire to put pen to paper;
• meet somewhere convenient, but fun;
• bring something else to the meetings other than their work and themselves--booze, bread, muffins, children, pets, what have you;
• spend a good amount of time talking about stuff other than the writing they brought with them.

• Figure out who you'd actually like to spend time talking with, and then figure out if they would actually want to spend time talking to you.
• Advertise the group in a way that suits the people you want to join--if you want professionals, figure out what organizations they belong to and advertise there; if you want a writing group for schmucks, go where the shmucks go; etc, etc.
• If you want to have people who are at the same level as you, and you're not a beginner, then you may want to screen the people coming in, i.e. ask for samples and such. But be warned, this may come back to bite you later--people who fill out an application expect something in return and if you don't deliver that, they're gonna leave or sit around in the corner and say really nasty things about you to the person they're sitting next to.

The First Meeting

• Read your Emily Post, or that book by Amy Sedaris. You gotta make it fun, or its just really gonna suck and everyone is going to drop out.
• Make sure you all figure out the basics:
  
• When, where, and how long will we meet?
• How will we communicate about meeting times?
• Who will facilitate group meetings?
• What will we do during the meetings?
• What kinds of writing will be submitted for review?
• What length are the writing pieces?
• When are the writing pieces submitted for review?
• How will we respond to each other's work (orally, written, etc.)?
• What happens if someone does not have a writing piece to submit?
• Develop rules for providing feedback. Throwing tomatoes and hurling insults is always one way to go, but you might want to see about providing positive and constructive feedback. Be realistic with each other--everyone is not going to make a career at this, but it's still worth doing, make sure you encourage everyone, even if you think you're better than them.
• "Establish a procedure for removing members who are detrimental to the group's sustainability." In other words, sometimes some jerk tries to take over the group--this happens in A LOT of writing groups. Be warned. Make sure you have a secret meeting place already lined up so that you can ditch the person when necessary.

Keeping it Going

• Make deadlines--you're only going to finish it if you have to.
• Keep it fun--see note above.
• Don't let members just stop by when their stuff is being read--those people are jerks and think too much of themselves to deserve your time.
• Encourage each other.
• Find a place to put your stuff in print--even if you have to make it yourself (the web is always a good place to start), because it gives everyone a feeling of accomplishment, and that's important.
• Don't meet too often. People are too busy and they will bail on you if you ask too much of them.