Your writing group is a place to learn from each other to teach one another and to give and receive loving feedback.
Writing Better:
At this blogsite you can find some of my recent thoughts on our good writing and also on the use of a group to that same goal.
Many write for themselves and do not think much about readers. Many want readers and write for readers. So, the way one writes matters. If your writing feel good to you and for you, that is good. All writing benefits from that. Your view and feelings matter. You might not get much feedback from your readers, so you have to depend upon yourself. However, you can benefit greatly from your reading of published authors. You may learn best from the authors you appreciate the most.
Most writers seem to learn most about writing is by reading. Reading the best authors you most appreciate may be your best source of learning. If you really want to learn from them you might want to pay more conscious attention to the way they Write. You may want to analyze their writing. Your most solid way of learning to write is by writing. Later, it is helpful to look at your own writing and the writing of others to better see how it was done. Writers keep writing. Every developing writers seem to do most of the acts some of the time. Everyone does this with their own variations.
Many think about feedback. They would like some positive and specific feedback by people who have abundant experience with reading and writing. Criticism can be very positive and helpful and some experienced writers like it and appreciate, and find it useful. I still do not look for negative criticism. We like to hear people say "I really enjoyed reading that piece of yours." But, it is more useful to hear about the details. We feel the lack of details about how the reader felt as they read a specific page, paragraph, or sentence of ours.
Many writing teachers, even when they are helped by assistants and other students, haven't the time and energy to provide you with in depth feedback for much of the work you turn in.
Enter the Writing Group!
For you and me as serious writers, a writing group can be better than a good teacher. We can learn much from a good teacher, but we seldom get all the good feedback we want and need.
One of the best characteristics of a writing group is the quality of the feedback you can get. Along with that quality you can get from your group, there you may also get more feedback from a variety of interest writers over a longer period of time. From your writing group you have a variety of knowledgeable, and interested individuals tell you how the felt upon reading a specific piece of your work. Often one can have this done more than once a month,
You may attract more than one teacher to be a member of your group. They may need to be reminded that they are not there to teach. They, and each member of your group must focus on telling you about their experience while the read the writing you summited. These readers can tell you of the mood that comes through to them, the characters who come through, and which voices come through most tellingly. They can even tell you that they couldn't pay good attention because they were ill and had not slept well!
On this writing site you can benefit by reading several of the many little essays here and and be nicely surprised by the posting of a new essay. Simply scrolling down you can find other essays. To find many others you can be alert to a place were it says ''older posts" and clicking on that phrase and so encounter other useful essays. This is a site in progress, so new essays are on the way. Not all are about groups, but all are about writing.
Beneficial Actions You Can Take Now:
~ Start writing and keep writing.~
~ Search for an active writing group close enough for your use.
~ Try to sit in on a writing group meeting.
~ Check writing posts here and on other websites.
~ Consider forming a group of your own.
~ Keep writing.
Consider your options. You do not have to have a group to become a good writer. Some great works have been written with pen and paper and a pencil can do well.
When you are beginning a group you may consider asking potential members to consider the following points.
Consideration of the following points can benefit a group and potential members:
~ Find a time to meet and try to stick to it. It's fair to start a second group if there are several who can't attend at the selected time.
~ Help each other to become better better listeners and readers.
~ Consider how works will be presented. For example: Do you want to hand out individual copies to be read later? or Do you want a work to be read aloud couple during a meeting?
~ When you read a short piece for consideration during a class, try reading it twice. You may find a second reading importantly useful.
~ Show up at your meeting.
~ Continue to write.
More to come.
Thank you for reading.
rcs