Obstacles to Joining a Writing Group

Over the years, I’ve written a few posts about writing groups. In the first one, I interviewed my writing group and asked them about the benefits of a writing group.

I didn’t have to struggle to find a writing group, as I’ve watched others do. I found the best possible group before I even understood the value of a good group (or learned there were bad groups). Now, I understand the importance of a writing group, and how I wouldn’t have accomplished half of what I have without them. As a result, I’ve had the desire to connect other writers with groups ever since, to enrich their lives as much as my group has enriched mine.

Over the years, in observing other writers, I’ve noticed two things: 1) a lot of writers are looking to join a writing group, 2) despite all these writers looking for groups, many still aren’t a part of one.

My goal with this post is to discuss obstacles of joining a group and highlight a few things writers need to be in a writing group.

• Fear: This is the biggest obstacle a writer faces in many aspects of their writing life. It can cause writer’s block, prevent a writer from submitting their work, and it’s even the root of some writers not joining a writing group.
  Some writers are terrified to show their work to anyone. I’ve encountered writers who have written a whole novel and won’t even let their friends or family read it. It’s hard to put your heart into something and think that other people might not like it. But think of it this way, a writing group’s job is to help you get down on paper the best version of the story you have in your head. A writing group’s critiques don’t mean your story isn’t great, they merely mean you haven’t yet conveyed the best version of your story. Think of your story as a rock and a writing group as a rock tumbler. They’ll help you smooth and polish your story.
  My greatest caution to writers about not sharing their work before they submit to a publisher, agent, or literary magazine, is that you don’t want the first indication that there’s a problem with your story to come from a stranger. You might not get any feedback, or it may be very harsh or blunt. It’s nicer to hear about these problems from someone who knows you and wants you to succeed first.
  Also, while friends and family can give excellent feedback, a writing group usually has more experience with the writing process and have studied the writing craft, which is invaluable in molding your piece. We all have blind spots when it comes to our writing. Rules we know and intend to follow, and yet somehow unintentionally get broken and overlooked when we write and edit our own piece.
• Commitment: I remember when my writing group began, we were at a writing workshop, and we were allowed to split off into two groups. One side of the room was for people who weren’t interested in a writing group (either they already had one, or they weren’t prepared to join one), and the other side was for those who wanted to join a group. There were at least 25 people who wanted to join a writing group, so we broke off into genres to help create smaller groups. I ended up in a group of mystery writers because I was the only horror/psychological thriller writer in the room. But there were several mystery writers. I gathered the email addresses from everyone in the smaller group we’d formed (I think there were about seven of us). I then emailed everyone to work out a time we’d meet. I only received a response from two people. Four other people were excited and ready to join a writing group at the workshop, but when it came to committing their time, they were ghosts.
  The same thing happened at a writing conference I attended this summer with another member of my writing group, Margaret. Margaret visited with another woman at the conference who happened to live in our hometown and was looking for a writing group. It sounded like she’d be joining our group at our next meeting. I even gave her my business card so she could contact me. That was about two months ago, and we haven’t heard from her since.
  My point is, you can want to be a part of a writing group, but you have to commit and take the leap to be part of one. If you receive an invitation to a group, jump at the chance to go. Maybe it won’t be the right group for you, but you won’t know until you try it. It’s like receiving a job offer. If you say yes to the job and then never show up. Well, how bad did you want that job? And writing is a job that writers don’t always treat as such. Even if you’re only doing it part-time, it requires a commitment to make progress.
  Another tip, if you’re part of a group, commit to going every time, even if you don’t have any work to share (although we all sometimes need a break or have other commitments but in general commit to going to every meeting). This serves two purposes: 1) a writing group is there to help you, and they need your help too even if you don’t have work to share for that meeting, and 2) connecting with your group at your meetings helps keep writing on your mind and keeps you inspired.
• Locating a Group: I add this to the list because it’s hard to know where to look for a writing group if you’ve never been a part of one. I wrote a post on this a few months ago called How to Find a Writing Group, I’ll direct you there, but this is an obstacle for some writers.
  I’ve become a bit of an advocate for creating your own opportunities, even though it’s in the post I just linked, I’ll add a reminder here. One way to start a group is to post a free ad in the newspaper under community events or put up a flyer at the library or at coffee shops with a place and time. Commit to being there every week. Use that time to write until other writers find you and you can start forming a group.
  Coming from the perspective where I thought I was one of the only writers in my community to the point where I now realize there are lots of writers out there looking for writing events, groups, and writing opportunities, but sometimes the groups or events don’t exist yet (or anymore).
• Be Open to Criticism: When you join other writers, they are on a mission to find errors in your manuscript. Honestly, they’re not doing it to be mean or spiteful. They feel like they’re not helping you if they don’t find errors. Even I feel relief when I find some area in another writer’s manuscript that can use a little tweak. It makes me feel like I’ve honored the faith they put in me when they asked me to read their manuscript. If I were just to say, “Oh yeah, it looks great,” I’d feel like I did them a disservice. On the other hand, receiving criticism doesn’t always feel so great. So there’s a balance in offering critiques, which includes pointing out areas that work well. But some people enter a group, and they don’t want to hear what doesn’t quite work or what areas could be improved. If you’re not open to feedback, improving your manuscript, and improving your overall craft, then you won’t be able to receive the full benefit of being in a group.

When I found my writing group, it was only something I vaguely knew I needed as a writer. To be honest, I never knew how important they were until I was in one. Ever since I had that realization, I’ve been trying to encourage other writers to join groups of their own.

Hopefully, some of these points will help writers breakthrough these obstacles holding them back. I think sometimes we sabotage opportunities without even realizing we’re doing it. One of the greatest things we can ever learn as writers is to get out of our own way.