Joining a Writing Group

By Maria Smith | @MariaASmith

Joining a writing group can be a rewarding and challenging experience. At Phoenix Writers we critique each others work. This is done in a supportive way, allowing us to reflect on the feedback and move forward with our writing.

We take it in terms to chair the meeting and start with a writing task of 150 words, set by the chair for that week. Very often these tasks morph into a short story or even the start of a novel.

Pros of being part of a writing group

• A sense of community – writing can be a lonely experience!
• It gives an incentive to keep writing – provides you with motivation and fresh ideas to stimulate your work
• Hearing other voices can have an impact on your own work and help you to identify what you do/don’t do in your own writing
• Sharing knowledge and experience
• You’ll get to hear about opportunities, competitions and workshops you might not have heard about
• Builds up confidence
• Chance to try out new techniques and genres in a safe environment
• Reading your work out helps you to discover strengths and weaknesses in your own writing as you hear it out loud

It is important to remember that in any writing group that you only get out of it what you put in, and that in a critique group, it is the writing that is being critiqued not the writer.

Being part of Phoenix Writers: a personal response

Joining Phoenix Writers has enabled me to grow in confidence as a writer. In a safe and supportive atmosphere I have benefited from the advice and suggestions made by my fellow writers. As a result of this, when I am writing I am aware of what I am good at and what I need to work on. Listening to the other writers reading out their work has also helped me recognise my strengths and weaknesses.
We are a mixed group, covering a range of genres and experience. Being in the group I have realised that to make the time worthwhile we should give as much as we take. So, as well as having feedback we should also offer it.

It can be a daunting experience reading out loud to other people. However, the rewards far outweigh this. We are all striving to not only improve on our own writing but also help others to improve theirs and to recognise the worth of their words.