Longtime professional writer Martin Zabell regularly writes columns about the craft of writing and the writing industry. This column is about the pros and cons of joining a writers' group to improve your skill and enhance your chances of having your work published.
Are You The Next Tom Clancy?
Can you improve the book you’re writing?
Is the book you’ve written good enough to be published?
These questions don't have a definitive answer, but joining a writers’ groups could help make your dream of writing a published book a reality. Joining a writers’ group could also be counterproductive, particularly if the writers aren’t very good at, well, writing.
Since I’ve been a professional writer and editor for 30 years and I directed a writers’ group for a few years, I have decided to list the pros and cons of joining a writers’ group and my tips on how to benefit the most from one.
The pros include:
1. CAMARADERIE: You could meet people like yourself, people who are writing or have written a book. The path toward writing a published book is easier when you’re taking it with like-minded people.
2. AMATEUR HELP: Some members of writers’ groups are astute about what constitutes a good book. Members, for example, could convince you that your fiction book has too many characters or subplots or your nonfiction book should focus more on your wartime experiences and less on your day-to-day life.
3. PROFESSIONAL HELP: I helped edit a book written by a writers’ group member. His baseball instructional book was published, and the Chicago White Sox paid him to use the book in its instructional camps.
4. A ROADMAP: Even if the writers’ group members can’t help you directly, they might be able to point you to writers, editors, publishers, and agents who can.
5. FRIENDSHIP: After leaving the group I directed, I maintained rewarding friendships with 10 to 12 group members for 15 years and counting.
6. IMPROVING SKILLS: The writing projects that members work on in “class” can improve your writing. So can reading members' books, listening to members read their books, and heeding their advice.
The cons include:
1. LACK OF CAMARADERIE: Temperamental writers can make your experience miserable.
2. AMATEUR HELP: Amateur writers can offer advice as if they were professionals. Their advice could make your book worse.
3. A ROADBLOCK: Listening to people who have written books for years and failed to get a book published can make your planned roadmap to success seem more intimidating.
4. A MISMATCH: Members could have interests and skill levels that won't help you. You might write science fiction, but no member understands science fiction. A prominent journalist who wrote an unpublished book joined my group, but she left after two weeks because the members lacked the skill to help her.
5. TIME: You could spend more than 90 percent of your time listening to members debate THEIR ideas. Discussing your book one on one with a writer whose advice you respect could be a better option.
6. CRITICISM: Some prospective writers can’t handle criticism. If that’s you, writers’ groups might be too discouraging.
My tips include:
1. SEARCH FOR GROUPS: Find a group that's focused on your interest. A search for writers’ groups associated with MeetUp.com within 25 miles of where I live produced a list of nearly 150 writers’ groups. Many of the groups were associated with the cities where they meet and demographic groups, but there were also dozens of groups that focused on specific genres, including autobiographies, children’s books, fantasies, historical fiction, horror, romance, and science fiction.
2. LEAVE BOOK AT HOME: If you bring your book to your first meeting, some members might want to analyze it before you ascertain whether they're knowledgeable and skilled enough for you to trust.
3. LISTEN: Don't discuss your book in depth during your first meeting. Listening will help you ascertain whether members are offering good advice to other prospective authors and whether their camaraderie will be a plus or a minus.
4. ASK QUESTIONS: Ask specific questions during subsequent meetings. For example, you might want to know whether your book has too many or not enough characters or subplots, or whether your writing style is inducing members to read more of your book.
5. DON’T READ EVERYTHING: The writers’ group I directed had a tradition of members reading their books word for word (over time). Maintaining that tradition was a mistake. If you read, read parts of the book where feedback is more crucial.
6. DON’T LINGER: Look for another group if the group isn't helping you.
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