Hi all, is there anyone out there who is a member of a local writing group? If so, do you feel it is worthwhile?

I enjoy my local writers group for the social aspect and I enjoy hearing from speakers but, because there is such a variety in the writing aspirations and the group encompasses all writers (newsletter correspondents, etc), it doesn't meet my needs in terms of writing development.

For this a critique group of like-minded individuals may be better.

Good luck.

Sharley's right - they vary so much in what their purpose and focus is, and you need one which suits you, in both how they meet and what they work on and what the atmosphere is. What's more, what suits you changes, as your situation and ambitions change.

But I also know people who've been in groups for years, and even if some, for example, have got published and others haven't (which is one of the things which can really destabilise a group), or some have switched to writing some other form, or whatever, they all still value each other's support and company.

I think the only thing one can do is try more than one for a session or two, and not be afraid to realise it's not for you. The NAWG is a good place to look for what's going on locally.

It's one reason, of course, that online works so well for writers: you've got the whole world to look in.

Nothing particularly controversial to add. Mine was an established group with some serious writers - two with (since I joined) multi-book deals with biggish publishers.

I found the comments useful, but on a very different level to online critique. The in-depth stuff only really happens when people read the words themselves, I think. When you read it aloud to the group, you find out a lot of things (especially about the bits that are boring or flat) but it is very high level - "this chapter has no emotion" rather than "this sentence tripped me up... this sentence is confusing... this sentence worked, but contradicted the preceding... overall impression was this chapter has no emotion".

I got frustrated with it a bit at the start as I was looking for more fodder to grow with, but then started to appreciate the nuances.


G

Thanks everyone - I think it will be worth a try but I won't be too concerned if I don't think it is right for me!

The in-depth stuff only really happens when people read the words themselves, I think.

Some local groups circulate stuff beforehand, which helps - you can do your homework first. Although I always find that I think of more things to say about someone's piece when the discussion starts up.

I used to be, and it was brilliant for a while. But gradually people dropped out until there were only three of us left. It was still really good as a time set aside purely for writing, but gradually there got to be more chatting (not about writing) and not much writin. When I read them a short story and their response was, 'Well, I wouldn't throw it out completely,but...' and it went on to be published, I realised that the critique thing wasn't happening effectively.

Which is when I searched online and stumbled across WW!!