A Practical Guide to Starting a Group of Your Own

I RECENTLY joined a no-reading writers group. We meet once a month to talk writing, publishing, editing, teaching, and any other topics that arise, from Scotland to pet rats. The only thing we don’t do is share our work and discuss it. This no-reading approach was not my idea, but I did enthusiastically embrace it. (Actually, what I said was, “Not only do I have no new writing to share, but I categorically refuse to generate any.” I was having a bit of a dark afternoon of the soul, from which I’ve since recovered.) Anyway, the whole idea gets me thinking about just how malleable the goals of a writers group can, and should, be.

The first hurdle is finding your people. I tell my writing students that half the reason to take a class—be it a tight four-weeker on characterization, a free library seminar, or an accredited university workshop—is to (I’m still exchanging work with people from graduate school, and we graduated in 2002.) Nowadays an online meeting is as viable as an in-person one, maybe more so for reasons of ease and travel, which makes online classes a great option if you don’t live in a place with an abundance of literary events. You can look into forming or joining a group using a free tool like Poets & Writers Groups (), investigate your local library or bookstore for classes and reading groups, or find a good place to post a notice for your own group. If you