Why I Love My Writing Group

Where I Am: family room

What I'm Listening To: nothing right now, which is rather peaceful


I will, no doubt, mention my writing group more than once over the course of time. Why? Because I really do love them. Wonderful people, talented writers, and definitely good friends. I'm very grateful.


For the past several years, in fact, since the beginning of my efforts to fashion myself into a writer, I've had the good fortune to be involved with a group of people who were walking the same path as I. Our numbers have fluctuated slightly over time due to demands of the real world, but on the whole, we've steadily met once a week to discuss our projects and help each other along. Let me give you an example of one of our meetings.

To begin with, we are scattered, literally, over the globe, so we make use of a free online instant messaging program. This sounds impersonal, but it isn't really. We have played with webcams and mics at various times. They're amusing but the truth is, the text chats are more practical. We keep hard copies of our chats so our notes are always available to us as we write. By the way, I don't suppose I need to mention the challenges of having members in three or four different time zones on both sides of the International Dateline, do I?

Before we actually meet online, we have looked over the text to be discussed at our meeting. We take turns each week. If it is my turn, I send whatever I've been working on to the other members a couple of days before we meet. Thank goodness for email! We all have time to review the work, make some notes, and be ready to discuss it in detail. Once we're together in an online chat, we go over our notes. This usually spurs additional discussion about where the story is going, what the characters are like, what the author in question might do differently, what has been done well, and so forth. The number one rule is respect for each other's work. I know, I know. DUH. But it still needs to be said. It's important. Our writing is an extension of the workings of our minds and it's personal, you know?

The next important thing to remember is that the author is never obliged to take all the advice of the group. In the end, my story is my story and while I might consider a change suggested by my group, if it just doesn't fit with my vision, I don't need to use it. Still, if the group sees an issue, I'd be mightily dim to ignore their advice completely. So, suggestions are given due consideration.

This is great, don't you think? It's an open exchange of ideas and we've had lots of really creative things come out of our discussion. Knots in plot threads have been untangled, road blocks have been blasted away. Good stuff. This is so wonderful for a writer, I think.

Writing is a solitary pursuit, really. No matter how often we may log on to a writing forum (I suggest the Absolute Write Water Cooler, by the way. Find the link on the margin of this page.) or how often we meet with a writing group, our work is our own. In the end, our stories fly or flop by our own efforts. So, when we do find a group of people with whom we can exchange ideas and are willing to hear us whine, that's worth a lot.

I've been fortunate enough to find such a group and that, my friends, is why I really love my writing group.