How to Find Your Ideal Writing Group

It was not so long ago that I sang the praises here of the writing group that helped me to complete a five-year project.

Sadly, that group has since dissolved due to life changes, health issues, relocation, and just the general growth and development of its members. Essentially, we all flew the nest.

I find myself now searching for a new writing group where I can continue to grow and learn from others while offering my experiences with success and failure as examples for them to do the same.

It's been so long since I've had to go through this process that I have had to give myself an extensive refresher course in how it's done and thought I'd share what I've (re)learned here with you guys.

1. Just like any relationship, you need to figure out what you want before you can find one that works.

You have to know what you want to get out of belonging to a group. Sure, it may sound selfish at first, but if you're giving all you can without getting what you want in return, you'll quickly burn out and turn bitter. You can also think of finding a good fit for yourself as not wasting the valuable time of everyone else in the group.

2. Decide which type of group structure best fits your goals.

• Online Discussion - Provides motivation, encouragement, peer review, and a bit of Q&A opportunity with the ease of never having to adjust your schedule.
• Critique - A cooperative in which writers read and critique the work of other writers, usually alternating the author of the work submitted for critique each week. Critique is more thorough and offers more constructive criticism than a typical peer review.
• Moderated Workshop - A class-type writing group in which one member (or guest instructor) leads the others through a structured curriculum. These workshops usually last for either a single session or a set number of weeks and then alternate instructors. Group size for moderated workshops can sometimes be quite large.
• Social - Purely a "get together and chat about writing" group, though many social groups grow to include publishing and media professionals to encourage networking. This type of group often meets at coffee houses, bars, or restaurants.
• Working - A group that meets for regular write-ins. 
• Support - Usually a small group that meets for motivation and reassurance. Meetings may include a topic for discussion or short readings of members' works for comments and criticism. 

3. Seek them out.

Now that you know what you want, check in your area for a group that fits. Bookstores, coffeehouses, and online community bulletin boards are ideal places to look. Enlist the help of your friends and colleagues by asking for suggestions or referrals.

4. Take a test drive before you commit.

Do the meetings suit your schedule? Are you excited to attend meetings or do you find yourself blowing them off at even the slightest distraction? How about the "feel" of the group? Every writing group will have its own personality that it derives from its members. Your personality will add to that mix, and the group may take on a very different dynamic because of it.

Attend a couple of meetings, participate, and then decide if you're comfortable and eager to continue. It's not out of place to ask the group as a whole how they feel about your becoming a regular fixture, just be prepared for whatever type of response they may give--even a negative one.

5. If it doesn't work the first time, return to step #1 and repeat.

No kidding. I was a member of three different writing groups before I found the one that worked for me.


Don't give up, not even if you've been through a dozen or more writing groups without finding a good fit! It's easier than ever these days to start your own group, especially with your "want" and ideal group structure clearly defined. You can even use those qualities in a mission statement of sorts to attract like-minded new members.

Do you have tips for finding an ideal writing group that should be added to this list? Please feel free to share in the comments!

Can You Build a Successful Writing Career By Mixing Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing?

Do you have a dream of a New York book deal, complete with a fat advance, a publicity department pushing your work out to readers and the media, and stacks of your soon-to-be bestseller near the register at your local bookstore?

If you do, I bet that you've heard the advice, "Don't quit your day job." But what if you changed jobs and made writing your day job? Could you feasibly support your dream of a career with a Big Five contract with other paid writing gigs?

The data says yes.

The 7k Report by Hugh Howey shows the true power of the self-published author in the digital marketplace. In a realm where genre fiction rules, many of these writers are making enough income to support themselves with only one or two books in their catalogs. The figures are sobering, and I hope that by now you've taken the time to read the report and that you're able to pick your jaw up off the floor and examine your plans and goals for your own career.

Let's say hypothetically that I'm planning to jump back into the non-fiction pool very soon. I've had experience with both traditional publishing and self-publishing in the past, and I learned from that experience that traditional publishing works best with my category of non-fiction. Because of that, I plan to take the "old fashioned" route of agent-editor-publisher with my forthcoming work.

In order to assure that I can devote more of my time and attention to research and writing, I've decided to take a gamble and self-publish two completed works of genre fiction (romance, if you're curious) that I've had stashed away for a while. If all goes well and sales are decent, I can reduce the hours spent at my day job and focus on the non-fiction project that I'm eager to complete.

Like I said, it's a gamble. 

I will have to publish these books under a pseudonym if I plan to keep the theme of my current publishing catalog separate from the genre fiction, which means I'm essentially starting my platform from scratch. I will need to market and promote these titles, which will take time away from my non-fiction project, but it's time that I can control. I will still need to connect with readers via social media and email to build my audience, but again, that's time I can control.

The biggest gamble of all? I may do all of this and not make a single dollar.

After reading The 7k Report, how would you handle the hypothetical scenario above? Would you write for money to better enable yourself to write for passion, or would you skip the risk and stick with the hours on the day job? How about the Secret Third Option: Would you give up the dream of the Big Five contract and pursue self-publishing exclusively like author Brenna Aubrey?

Changed, But For the Better

What kind of crazy author takes an indefinite hiatus from her largest audience (Facebook) only 24-hours before her latest book's scheduled release? Oh, yeah--that would be me. There's a very good reason for it. I promise.

Withdrawing from social media may not seem like the wisest thing to do in the midst of a publicity push, but it was something I had to do in order to get over the last few potholes on my journey back from Crazytown. I bet you didn't know that I'd been on a long and arduous trip these past two years, did you?

Believe me, it was no pleasure cruise.

I started my voyage at 10:14 PM on August 8, 2011. That's when I got the phone call that my mother was on the way to the hospital in the back of an ambulance and my brother was under arrest for her attempted murder.

Sparing you the disturbing details, let's just agree that the fallout was graphic. The stuff of horror movies or detective novels--more blood than you can imagine, more police inquiries than there are hours in the day, time spent in the ICU, multiple surgeries, and all of "normal" life put on hold until the pieces could be put back together again.

It took two years.

After The Incident (to which the whole situation is now referred) I felt completely disoriented. I withdrew from social activities, avoided going out of the house, and really just started driving myself crazy. This went on for about a year before I finally saw a therapist--a step that I made because my writing and visual creativity seemed to have dried up.

I was diagnosed with PTSD and subsequent depression. Cleaning up the gory crime scene myself probably wasn't such a good idea, I suppose...

My journey back to being a functioning member of society was difficult, but I did it without medication. I got a part-time job as a tour guide so I would have to get out of the house and talk to people, whether I felt like it or not. I started writing my Morning Pages again (thanks, Julia Cameron.) I set some new goals for myself to act as indicators that I could still create. Finishing Underground was at the top of that list.

Now that the book is officially DONE and has fledged the nest, I'm taking some time to sort my head and my home to celebrate. I've cleaned out cabinets and closets and all sorts of nooks and crannies as a symbolic gesture of purging the mental funk that has dominated my life since that August night two years ago. I've also been casting off lots of negative thoughts and feelings that came along with that funk--a process that would have been slowed or even halted if I'd been distracting myself with Facebook or other marketing and publicity outlets during this surreal time of celebration.

While I certainly feel that completing Underground is an accomplishment in itself, I feel that it's more a symbol of where my life is right now. It's a testament of my return from Crazytown. Do I think that I'm sabotaging my hard work on the book by neglecting this delicate publicity time immediately following its release?

Maybe, but it's totally worth it.

*Note: If you're reading this at Facebook right now, you can thank the magic of RSS feeds!

It's About Time

Five years. FIVE YEARS.

I know that there are plenty of writers out there who work their fingers to the bone for decades to produce a work that they are proud of, but it usually only takes me a year or so to get a book written that I'm happy with. Not this time.

No, my most loved and hated work to date, the book that I can feel in my bones is a "game changer" for my career, the project that nearly gave me an ulcer when I got stuck three quarters of the way through--this book took nearly five years.

Today marks the end of my final revisions. Content edit is done. Line edit is done. The story has been formatted for print and now I'm combing through and checking every little dot and line for mistakes that my nearly-dead brain may have missed earlier.

I thought I'd be relieved, but the feeling is strangely bittersweet. Adding to the surreal mix of emotions is the coincidence that I dreamed last night about hanging out with a famous writer who I look up to greatly, but who died many years ago. Is my subconscious trying to encourage me or scare me to death? I'm still not sure.

The only thing I know for sure right now is that I'm living through the end of a creative cycle and it hurts. When it's done, and in a few weeks I have a book in my hand, I hope that it will all be worth it.

Today, an old project ends. Tomorrow, a new project starts.

Note - How to Stop Talking and Start Doing

I once organized a networking group for writers where folks could get together, learn from one another, and offer support to newcomers to the field. While there were a handful of published authors among the group, the majority of members were not. I found out rather quickly that most of them enjoyed having the dream of being a writer, but never got any closer to that dream.

Excuses were plenty, mind you, but that's all they were - excuses. "I just don't have enough time to write that novel right now" or "I had to work late, so I didn't get that story started this week" or "My kids were loud, so I figured I'd just start this weekend." The only thing these dreamers were doing was procrastinating! They were putting off their dreams for "someday" when there is absolutely no legitimate reason they could not be moving forward today.

Lots of these folks floundered for months, even years, before getting the first words written. You know what they had to say after that? "Why didn't I start last week/month/year/decade?" Because they were too comfortable procrastinating.

Does this sound familiar? If it does, it's time to break the procrastination habit and instead propel yourself toward your creative dream. Here are six simple things you can do now (not tomorrow!) to get you moving:

1. Work first thing in the morning. No matter what your medium, put in your creative effort first thing in the morning. This works because you're not likely to get bogged down with the mental clutter of daily life and burn down your fuse before you put in your YOU time.
2. Work for 10-15 minutes only. Another mental trick! There is far less to lose when you're only dedicating yourself to a small bite of time like this, and you're much more likely to commit if the work is quick and easy.
3. Break down large goals into smaller ones. Want to write a book? Make your goal today to write a paragraph. Yes, start that small and gradually work yourself up to loftier achievements like pages and chapters. You will build up a momentum of success that will make those larger goals easier to reach.
4. Reward yourself for meeting your goals. So you finished that paragraph? Have a chocolate. Finished that page? Go play at the playground. Humans thrive on praise, even when it only comes from yourself!
5. Make yourself accountable to someone else. You may not have a boss or an editor breathing down your neck for a finished product, but fear (or fear of embarrassment) can be a great motivator. It's also great to have a cheerleader on "the outside" to keep you going when you're on the upswing. Have a trusted friend agree to pester you about your progress. For an added bonus, have them hold a $20 bill hostage until you deliver the creative goods you promised.

I did every single one of these things with my "Make Something Everyday" project last year and can attest to their performance. I'm making them top priorities again with the Page a Day - 365 adventure, and I hope that you can put them to good use, too!