On Finding a Writers’ Group

If you are interested in joining a writers’ group, you shouldn’t have too much difficulty finding one. For instance, the Saskatchewan Writers Guild has a database of most of the writing groups in the province. (You can get in touch with the SWG by accessing their website.) Most provinces and states should have an organization comparable to the SWG.

The SWG also offers a number of workshops and retreats. This is a great way to connect with the writing community at large.
One of my readers suggested visiting a library, which is another great place to start, since many writing groups meet there.

The internet also makes it much easier to find a peer group. You may even attach yourself to a group specifically aimed at YOUR area of interest — for example, mysteries or romance or children’s literature. It is very easy to exchange (through email) pieces for critiques and constructive criticism.

It’s amazing to me just how many people are interested in writing. It leads me to speculate that ALL of us are writers and storytellers in our own way.

For instance, my mother-in-law Marlene told me about a writing group made up of seniors. “They select a topic to write about each week and then share their writing,” she said. “Everyone comes up with a totally different idea, but all the ideas are terrific. I really admire them for what they do.” When I encouraged her to join the group, she thought about it for a moment and then agreed that she just might do that. Marlene has so many interesting stories to tell. And, in this day and age, it’s  important for ALL of us to write down our stories. Video and digital photography can’t do it all!

Besides joining a writers’ group, read good literature. You might want to join a book club. Writers learn as much from reading as they do from writing. The more you write, the more conscious you will become of how other authors write. You will find yourself wondering about WHY they write that way.

I have belonged to a book club for about four years. I never really thought about it until now, but I joined a book club AND a writers’ group around the same time. Both of these clubs have helped shape me as a person and a writer.

Which reminds me — I am expecting Power Plays back any day now from my editor. He has painstakingly walked me through the first set of revisions, so I am hopeful I won’t have to make too many changes on the second go-around. I actually find the revising and editing process quite addicting. Once I get started making changes, I just can’t seem to stop! Ah well, I’ll let you know how it goes!

This entry was posted on April 3, 2007 at 1:09 am and is filed under On Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.