Living the Fictional Dream

When you can get a really good writing group together, the result is kind of like magic, and it’s something you don’t want to lose if you can help it.

It’s hard, because people are people. Sometimes, they don’t gel and there are bad feelings. That hurts the group, because a good writing group has to trust each other to share their very personal creative visions. A flame war is the quickest way to lose your group.

Other times, it’s hard to find the right mix of committed people. A lot of times people will get excited about the idea of a group, but once they actually join, then they disappear and you never see them again. I never know why that happens. Maybe the reality of actually having to crit other people’s stories to get their own stories critiqued was too difficult for them? Maybe they are intimidated by a group that already knows each other? Maybe, while they want to write, they just ultimately don’t have the discipline to sit down and do it (which, by extension, means they don’t have the discipline to make the time for group activities, as well)?

There could be a million reasons. But, personally, I think that having a lot of members in your group who never show up and never contribute weakens the group as a whole. It makes it harder to build trust between the members because people don’t want to share their stories with people they never see or talk to, or people who never share their own work in return. 

Disappearing members also makes it really hard to plan group events and activities. If you can’t count on people to show up at least some of the time or for certain events, how can you get a good group rhythm going?

And it can be really frustrating if the people who disapppear stick around just long enough to vote on issues that affect the group as a whole, but then vanish, leaving the group as a whole to deal with the affects of that vote. Of course, that probably happens in any group that is made up of people, whether it’s a writing group, a sewing group, or something entirely different.

And then there is the whole time issue in general, which is always a challenge. These days, everyone has a busy life. It can be a conundrum in and of itself to find a time that everyone can get together to devote an hour or so to writing and critiquing. Things come up — Bible studies, night school, family issues — and suddenly core members can’t meet on the same old night.

But, if you can find that perfect mix of people and time and get a writing group off the ground, the effort is worth it.

My writing group, Writer’s Ink, has been going for several years now. It has its ups and downs, but in the past couple of years we’ve finally developed a strong core group of members who don’t disappear on us and who are dedicated both to our own writing and to helping each other improve our writing.

It’s been fascinating to watch all of the core group develop as writers. Most of us didn’t have any publications at all when we started — or maybe just one or two. But in the past couple of years, suddenly stories from our group are showing up all over the place. Check out the publication lists on my blog, Alex’s, Stephanie’s, and Jens’s — you’ll see. All of a sudden, a group member gets that first publication, and before you know it, they’re going gang-busters.

The things I’ve learned from these guys would take me forever to list. Just to hit a few highlights, Jens has taught me to be a total nazi in my elimination of complex verb constructions and how that leads to a much more polished whole with a much better flow. Reading Stephanie’s work has given me so much inspiration for word choice — she always uses words in her stories that are completely unexpected, and yet make perfect sense in the unique way she used them. And when she critiques my stuff, not only do I benefit from her super copy editing skills, but she has this way of asking quesitons that makes me re-think certain choices in ways that improve the whole. Alex opened my eyes to the superhero fiction genre, a new favorite of mine, and he has this great understanding of all types of genre fiction as a whole that he brings to our crit sessions. I can always count on him to keep me from straying too far into cliched territory. Virginia, my fearless co-leader, is the most encouraging critter I’ve ever had, and yet she also isn’t afraid to be critical when it will improve the story. Some things I’ve learned from her are the evils of using the words “almost” or “just” and how to avoid clunky word repetition and annoying be verbs. And there’s my darling sister, Jamie, too — she’s been critting my stories since we were kids, and she is the person who keeps me honest. When I’m being too nice to my characters (a big weakness of mine), she kicks me in the butt and sets me straight again. Good stories require drama and plot, and good drama and plot require unhappy characters!

But the other cool thing about a writing group that really gels is when the creative energy starts flowing. Sometimes you don’t even need a crit. We get together at least once a month for write-ins. We started having them regularly after learning about them during National Novel Writing Month one year. There is something about a group of people sitting together and writing that really makes the creative energy flow. Suddenly, I have a huge chunk of story that I didn’t have before.

Sure, if I sat down at home and wrote, the same thing could happen. But at home there are so many distractions to pull my attention away. When I’m at a write-in, I’m there to write. And so are the others, and when we’re serious like that, the writing just comes.

Also, it’s great to be at a write-in when you get stuck on something. Everyone is always willing to take a five-minute break to help you pick the perfect character name or help you get past the plot point that’s got you stuck.

Our group challenges each other, too, which helps with that whole aspect of making yourself sit down and write. If I want to win the group’s monthly prompts contest, I have to write. If I want to compete in the group’s anually Story Every Day contest, I have to write. If I want to contribute a story to our annual themed collection… you guessed it, I have to write. Sometimes, those stories you force yourself to write don’t work, but I’ve gotten so many stories from activities like that published over the past couple of years, that I know it’s worth it.

I know that one day things will change and I won’t have the Writer’s Ink that I know and love any more. People will move away, change jobs, run out of time to devote to the group and/or their writing. Hopefully, even if we aren’t a formal group any more, at least some of us will still be crit partners. Who knows what the future holds? This year alone promises many changes. I just hope that such a time is a long time in coming, because I love this group. And, no matter what happens, I’ll always be glad that I had them for however long, because they have totally helped to shape me into the writer I am today!