4 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Writers' Group Zadie Smith, an award-winning British novelist, has a list of 10 rules for writers. She’s got some pretty great stuff on there, such as waiting a significant amount of time between writing and editing something or disconnecting your computer from the internet while composing your novel. (I could have written 10 novels by now if I could only exercise self-control around social media!) But I have to say that I take exception to one of the rules, which is the following: “Avoid cliques, gangs, and groups. The presence of a crowd won’t make your writing any better than it is.” Of course, cliques and gangs sound pretty terrible, but a writers’ group just doesn’t belong in the same category. These groups are, in my opinion, indispensable. Smith has published five novels and as of yet, I have published none, so you can take this with a grain of salt, but in the year I’ve been in a writers’ group, my writing has improved tremendously, and I’ve even published a couple of short stories. Here are the reasons why I believe authors should attend a writing group: 1.) Honest, Constructive Feedback: This one’s the most important, so I’ll put it first. I wrote for a number of years before ever setting foot in a writers’ group. When I wrote in a vacuum, generally one of two things happened: A) I convinced myself that I was the absolute worst writer on the planet and was always on the brink of giving up or B) I thought my writing was flawless because everything made perfect sense in my head even if it didn’t translate well on paper. Both of those scenarios were not conducive to improvement. When you attend a writers’ group, you’ll hear things like, “Where’s the dialogue?” or “This part confused me” or “You use that word A LOT.” But you’ll also hear things like, “That was heartbreaking/beautiful/hilarious” or “I really relate to your character” or “Your description made me feel like I was there.” You’ll be able to understand how other people who are not inside your head see your story, and it’s an eye-opening experience. Sometimes it’s hard to even catch your typos after you’ve read your own work over and over, so you can make tons of improvements with the help of a dozen or so pairs of extra eyes. 2.) Support System: Writing can be fairly isolating. We have this romanticized notion that tortured, lonely authors are the best ones. This is probably because there were a number of tortured, lonely authors who produced high caliber work—Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, J.D. Salinger, etc. But really, there’s no reason why you can’t be a fantastic author and also have healthy levels of social interaction. It’s nice to know that you aren’t the only one trying to bang out a novel idea that has been haunting you for years. In short, you make friends, and really, who couldn’t use more friends? 3.) Networking A writers’ group puts you in contact with a lot of talented people. Not only can they help you hone your writing skills, they can give you the heads up about submission calls, help organize public readings, or share contacts in the publishing industry. Your writing should be stellar, of course, but having connections just helps you get your work where someone will actually see it. Any profession requires you to network, and writing is no exception. 4.) Accountability
Seven years ago, I interviewed Kirk Farber, author of Postcards from a Dead Girl. Farber has been very vocal about the fact that he owes a lot of his success to his former writing group in Wisconsin. When I asked him about how they contributed to his accomplishments, he said, “Being able to show up every two weeks knowing I’d get honest feedback really kept me on task.” Writers’ groups keep you accountable, and I can tell you from experience that when you show up at your meetings, you know you’ll be expected to read something or your group members will hassle you (in the friendliest way). This conversation with Kirk Farber has stuck with me all these years, so when I finally started to get serious about writing, I sought out my own writers' group. I have no regrets, and I can honestly say that “the presence of a crowd” has made my writing better. * Contributing Blogger: Miranda González got her writing start in corporate blogging but soon realized her true passion was writing weird short stories. She left her job as social media manager and content writer to teach college English online and focus her creative energy on writing fiction. A year later, two of her short stories were published in the Winter 2017 Issue of the GNU Journal. She continues to churn out short fiction while her husband and three kids are asleep, with only the nocturnal Texas geckos catching bugs on her window to keep her company. You can find her on Twitter here: @miranda_write.
1 Comment
Iuliana Foos
2/16/2017 08:28:24 am
Every word in there it is so true. A writer's group is a tremendous help, and every single time I am learning something new.
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The San Antonio Tobin Library Writers' Group is open to writers of all genres, any age, and all levels of experience. ArchivesCategories |