My husband is no poet, so when I offer my carefully pruned poetry for him to review, I get the usual and unsatisfying reply: "That' nice sweetie." Furthermore, he could care less about whom the Poet Laureate is and why I love his smoke pit conversation type poems. I could look elsewhere in my house for literary discourse, but I'd be met by conversations that might go a little like this, "'A' is for apple. Say 'aaaaaah'"
Upon realizing that I couldn't be truly literarily satisfied by the people in my house, I decided to hunt for a literary group. I did find a small reading group that met weekly, but consequently, there was a 3-5 year old age restriction. Shortly after being disappointed in my hunt for like minded folks, I decided to pick up my writing magazines and float away into my own little daydreams of literary exchange. Then, I found an article in Writer Magazine that gave tips and hints for people who conducted writing groups. It sounded like a great deal of fun to be doing exercises, critiquing projects and reading and discussing literature with a group of other literary enthusiasts. I really wished that there was something like that in my local area, so I started one.
If you are interested in starting a writer's group, here are a few ways you can get the word out about your new venture.
1. Ask local book stores, coffee shops, and libraries if you can post flyers detailing the nature, meeting times, and contact information for your new writing group.
2. Don't neglect the colleges in your local area. See if you can post flyers on their boards.
3. Large Supermarkets usually have bulletin boards near the entry way. They usually get read quite often, so post away.
4. Place classified ads in your local circulation. You might even try sending out a press release for your new group, whether or not you are a published writer.
5. If your local area has a roller channel, pay the fee to post your slide.
6. Get the smaller local businesses in on the action. They might be willing to keep flyers or cards on hand that advertise your writing group, especially since there is a chance that it will bring them more business.
Though you might be excited to launch your new advertising campaign for your new group, keep a few things in mind.
-Make sure you have a good location secured for the eventual meetings.
-Plan ahead for large groups as well as small groups. If more people come to the group, you will have a chance to have similar style writers work together. Small groups, however; offer the possibility of in depth critique and serious discussion. It is easier to keep the focus when there are only three to five members.
How to Conduct Your Writing Group
This is entirely up to you and the members. You will find that there will be novelists, fiction writers, horror writers, non-fiction writers, journalists, business writers, poets...Etc. You can tailor your writing group to the diversity of your group, or, if your group consists of a predominate genre; you can tailor the group to exercises that pertain to that genre.
Some writing groups meet monthly, while others will meet as often as every week. Depending on the lifestyles of the members, and the type of writing involved, you can tailor the meeting times to each of the members. You don't have to plan out the entire year before starting your group. In fact, you can write "Our first meeting will be on [date]. Meeting dates TBD. If you cannot make the first meeting, contact {info} for more information." That way, you can work out the details with the members rather then planning something that will only work for a small percentage of the people who are interested.
Some Writing Group Ideas
1. During the first meeting, you can ask each of the members to write a short blurb about their writing goals and what they would like to get out of the writing group. Ask them what their preferred genres are and what they would like to improve.
2. Always talk about the preferred criticism style before unraveling another writer's work line by line. Some people are looking for serious in depth critique, while others are looking simply to discuss the content of their work.
3. Share published literature. Collectively read a novel or several short stories and discuss what works in those stories. Good writers tend to be good readers.
4. You can start each session with a free writing exercise to get the writing molecules in motion.
5. You can give take home assignments. These can be vague writing prompts that will work with any type of genre. Writer's Digest usually has quite a few good writing prompts that can be used for fiction writers as well as poets.
6. Introduce guest speakers. If you have a favorite writing instructor from college, don't be too shy to ask him or her to give your writing group a little visit.
7. Discuss publication venues. It always helps to discuss some of the literary journals that accept submissions.
8. Start a small literary journal! You can do this by collecting and working on the pieces that you and your members do in the writing group. These little journals don't have to be fancy, nor do they have to be widely distributed. Distributing a few journals to the library and to other non-profit organizations can be a good way to help your group gain some experience in the writing industry.
Overall, a writing group has a plethora of possibilities. A great attribute of a well tuned writing group is the fact that you might life long mentors, prot?g?s, and friends.
Devrie Paradowski is an aviation weather forecaster and freelance writer who has written several weather related articles for her local circulation, "The White Falcon." She has also written dozens of content articles for the web. Her creative pieces have been featured by Adagio Verse Quarterly, Poetry Renewal Magazine, Meeting of the Minds Journal, and SkyLine magazine. She is the author of a chapbook of poetry called, "Something In the Dirt," which can be found at http://www.lulu.com/devrie. She is also the founder of the Fire and Ice Writer's Group.
Alto Pass chicago limos ..Creative Writing Tips ?We all tackle plotting differently. How you... Read More
Paulo Coelho was born on August 24th 1947 in Rio... Read More
You can learn a lot about what it takes to... Read More
When you read a letter from someone, we are immediately... Read More
The purpose of this article is to consider Print-On-Demand publishing... Read More
Every writer knows that the urge to write is not... Read More
Short Story Writing Tips:Your title is your selling tool. It's... Read More
Simply put, it is the art of writing scripts for... Read More
Have you ever started a creative writing project with great... Read More
The dash--that curious mark of punctuation people use in their... Read More
Anyone who has read any of my articles on the... Read More
Kallu was a tenant of Santosh Kumar Nayak. Santosh Kumar... Read More
A few days ago, I critiqued a chapter for a... Read More
Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon... Read More
You may not remember this, but in the early days... Read More
In the current job market, many editorial workers have turned... Read More
How many of you take the time to really write... Read More
In my ten years as an advertiser, I've encountered plenty... Read More
With the advent of email communications in the workplace, it's... Read More
It occurred to me one day that I needed something... Read More
Often, time is an enemy of writers. Sales seem slow... Read More
Compiling a list of the history's ten best writers is... Read More
Sometimes there is confusion about the exact meaning of the... Read More
If you want to be a writer, you must write... Read More
No matter what you are writing, the first priority is... Read More
Alto Pass cool limo ..Everone knows that comedy is mostly about timing. If you... Read More
How to avoid mistakes that undermine your credibilityYou're probably already... Read More
~TYPES~You Want Us to Write What? Understanding the Task AssignedWhich... Read More
It's the funniest thing. When someone asks me what I... Read More
When a writer is working on their next literary masterpiece... Read More
Beginner's Blues: How to Collect Samples, Testimonials, and References as... Read More
Creative Writing Tips ?Your theme has to be something you... Read More
It is certainly true that we don't get a second... Read More
Your struggling to sell just a few copies of your... Read More
As a previous article ("Making Better Word Choices ? 4... Read More
I am sure that at in some era, at some... Read More
If your articles aren't getting published very often, or you... Read More
Prolific authors write; they don't just dream about it. A... Read More
Good writing is like sex. Two people are involved ?... Read More
The Internet has truly revolutionized the careers of writers worldwide.... Read More
On my first newspaper assignment as a critic, I was... Read More
I have added a new word to my vocabulary. Logorrhea.... Read More
(Skip directly to ten for the fastest shortcut!)Like any field,... Read More
Most of us hate housework.Nevertheless, even the most hopeless slobs... Read More
Many of us have always wanted to write. We have... Read More
If you are a serious writer who wants to publish... Read More
"The Magic of Layout..."???Okay... "magic" might seem a bit over... Read More
(excerpted from the "How to Use a Journal" audio series... Read More
About two weeks ago I received an article submissionthat immediately... Read More
Every hero has a seminal insight - the apotheosis. Once... Read More
Writing |