Getting Your Writer’s Group Off the Ground

WEEK 2 – GETTING YOUR WRITER’S GROUP OFF THE GROUND

1. Ask friends who like writing if they’d like to be in a writer’s group. If none of your friends want to be involved, ask your teacher/librarian if they know of anyone your age who is trustworthy and who’d like to be in a writer’s group.
2. Find a platform that you can all use to share information with and about the group. It could be email or by text or some other way that you all agree on.
3. Agree on where to meet and when. My writer’s group that meets in person, takes it in turns to meet at each other’s houses. My online group meets on the first Monday of the month. We’re all in different states so we had to take time differences into account. We meet on Messenger. You might have a space at your school or local library where you can meet. Most libraries love having a writer’s group use their space.
4. Only have people you know and trust in your writer’s group. If you have concerns about anything or anyone in the group, talk it over with your parent/guardian, librarian or teacher.
5. At your first meeting agree on the rules of the group.

THESE ARE THE RULES FOR OUR WRITER’S GROUP

1. Always be respectful when giving feedback.
2. Be kind and encouraging.
3. If you have a suggestion about how someone’s story could be developed, give two pieces of positive feedback before you make a suggestion. For example, “I really liked your characters and cared about what happened to them, but when they spoke, I thought they were a lot older than what they were. It would help to using simpler language when they speak.
4. Never copy or share anyone else’s work without their permission.
5. Accept feedback gratefully, even if you don’t agree with it.
6. Don’t send out more than 5,000 words for feedback. (You can choose your own word limit. You might want to limit it to 500 words if you’re very busy with school or other work.)

Next week’s post will share tips on how to give feedback/workshop each other’s work.