The Power of Writing in Groups
whether writing sessions, writing groups, or book clubs, groups are great!
The past week has reminded me why groups are such a powerful motivating force when it comes to writing. We had the first monthly meeting of our Write or Die book group, where we’re studying craft books to improve our writing (please join our Facebook group if you want deets for our next meeting), then we had one of writing sessions last Saturday where we spent two hours in a Zoom meeting just writing with other people. (The next one’s on November 18 if you want to join).
I belonged to a writing group back when I lived in NYC, which was such a strong motivator for getting work done and being accountable to others at a time when I was incredibly busy with a demanding job. That’s less pressing for me now that I’m writing full-time, but I highly recommend it especially for people who have a ton of external obligations and need to fit writing time into our schedule. In the year and a half that I belonged to that group, five of us ended up with book deals, and that really speaks to the power of being in a group that motivates and inspires each other. It’s harder to get together right now because of the pandemic, but I’ll definitely be looking to find other writers to meet with in person once I’m able.
Funny enough, the power of groups is also part of why I love teaching and lecturing. How else could I have motivated myself to geekily write out some of my favorite quotes for some of my favorite writers, such as this one from Alex Chee that I’m talking about in my writing workshop tonight:
Teaching allows me to coalesce for myself knowledge that I’ve only acquired intuitively, and gives me an opportunity to bounce ideas off a group. So I’m happy to do it for free because it helps me as much as it helps other people, though it’s really nice when I get paid too!
Hope to see you tonight!
Meredith