Writing, promotion, tips, and opinion. Pour a cuppa your favorite poison and join in.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Beware Of


You want to join a writing group, but you're kind of hesitant. What if they are awful?

Yes, this is a possibility. When you get a group of people together, they can either uplift you or they can be toxic. (Well, there is a lot of in between, too.) Just keep in mind that you're not signing some sort of contract that obligates you to be there (and if they're requiring one of you--run far, far away). If you find they don't work for you, leave and don't go back.

You're going to want a group that is open to the kind of writing you do. If you write sci-fi/fantasy and everyone else writes mysteries, they might not be the group for you. But if everyone writes something a little different, that can work, too. (In my group, we have two writing contemporary fiction, one writing a mystery/thriller, two writing fantasies, and one writing a memoir. And for some reason we work together just fine.)

Someone who knows a whole lot more about writing groups than me wrote a long post about some things to look out for when looking into writing groups: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

What do you look for in a writing group? What are some things that make you leave a group and never return?

3 comments:

Chrys Fey said...

Leave and don't go back is good advice. I wouldn't stand for other writers knocking me or my writing down. Nor should anyone else.

Anonymous said...

I'll have to check out that other article. Any advice regarding writing groups is very welcomed, as I'm trying to find one!

Liz A. said...

Madilyn: The article had all sorts of information I hadn't considered. It's well worth checking out.