Another question that came up at the writers’ group meeting I attended Sunday was, “How do I find a writers group?”
Members of the panel I was on explained to writers how important it is to belong to a writers’ critique group so you can get feedback for your project as you’re working on it. This is not right for all writers, but I often suggest this to beginning writers who are desperately in need of guidance and those who are struggling a little (or a lot) with their story or nonfiction book. Some writers need to do a lot of work before they hire an editor. It is this writer who could benefit from a critique group who can help him or her learn some of the basics.
Writers’ groups can also be valuable to those who are interested in publishing for the first time. It’s a good environment in which to learn about publishing, agents, publishers and the like. Not only are some of the members knowledgeable, but many writers’ groups invite experienced authors, publishers, agents, publicists, etc. to speak on occasion.
So how do you find a writers’ group? Here are my suggestions:
• Attend a lecture, writers’ conference or book fair in your area and ask questions. Surely, if there is a writers’ group in the region, someone there will know about it.
• Ask at your local librarian. Often, writers’ groups meet at libraries or their leaders will post notices on the library bulletin board.
• Ask at your local bookstores. Here’s another place where writers’ groups might meet and where their flyers might be distributed.
• Check with your local arts counsel.
• Study the calendar section of your local newspaper.
• Visit senior centers. Sometimes they have small writers’ groups.
• Locate local writers’ groups by doing an Internet search.
• Locate local authors through an Internet search and ask them about a writers’ group.
You could start a writers’ group.
• Call the writers that you know and schedule a meeting date.
• Post notices at bookstores, libraries, colleges and in the calendar section of your local newspaper.
• Once you have your core group, decide if you want this to be a reading and critique group or if you want to invite speakers to the main meetings and establish critique offshoot groups for fiction, nonfiction, memoir, etc.
I’ve belonged to several different groups over the years. I formed one or two of them. And I’ve visited numerous writing group meetings throughout the U.S. Each of them is as individual as the people who belong. But they all seem to have a welcoming warmth that I always appreciate when I visit. Some groups meet in private homes. I remember once having to deal with five needy, barking dogs during a reading. Others are fortunate enough to have use of wonderful facilities for free or a small fee. We once met in one of the Karpeles Manuscript Libraries in Santa Barbara, CA. Some groups meet in crowded quarters in small bookstores or next to the coffee bar at Borders which can get rather noisy when they’re making one of those fancy coffee drinks. We used to meet at a community center adjacent to a gym. It was quite distracting when they had a basketball game going on during our meetings. I remember one chilly evening when we set the alarm off at the bookstore where we were meeting and had to wait in the night air for the police to arrive.
I’d like to hear about your writers’ group and the results of your search for another writers’ group. I know people who belong to more than one group for different purposes and in order to network with different types and levels of writers. What are your writers’ group experiences?
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