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When I was pregnant with my third child, I read that each time a new child enters a family, a number of new relationships are formed, that number being relative to the number of people already in the family. In other words, in our family of 4, when we added 1, we would then have 4 new relationships. That’s a whole lot of dynamics going on!!

When you add a new member to a writers group, the same thing happens. Suddenly there are a number of new relationship. Group process theory suggests that when a new member is added, the group has to re-form and norm all over again. My writers group had first hand experience with this phenomena last spring when we invited some new members.

New folks came to several different meetings. Not all of the original members were present at each of these meetings, and we had differing ideas about how to handle our visitors participation the first time they came. Some of the newcomers said they would be back and then didn’t come nor did they let us know when or if they would be coming.

Suffice it to say that the experience was very disruptive to our process. So this summer we dedicated a portion of one meeting to discussing how we wanted to manage new members. We decided to have open enrollment once a year, and we drafted the following guidelines to help the process:

• Because group dynamics change each time someone joins, we will only add new members once a year in September. The size of the group will determine if we have room for new members. Our group size will not exceed 8 members.
• We will not extend an invitation to a prospective member without running the person’s name by the entire group.
• When inviting a new member, we explain our practice of only bringing new people in once a year in September.
• Prospective new members will be invited to the first meeting in September. We will send them this protocol ahead of time. They will observe rather than participate in the meeting.
• We will set aside time at the end of the meeting for prospective members to describe the focus of their work and ask questions.
• If after visiting the group, a prospective member is interested in joining, she should send an email to the entire group declaring her commitment to participate. The email initiates her enrollment, and we will expect her to begin regular attendance beginning the second meeting in September. If we are working with a schedule for submissions, we will notify her regarding her place in the schedule.
• We assume that we will have already given thought to those invited to join and that we will not be refusing admission. However, if after a person joins, we discover an unsuspected incompatibility, we will find a means to tactfully and kindly dismiss the person. We recognize the awkwardness and discomfort of such a decision and will therefore be thoughtful about invitations to participate and decisions to dismiss

What do you think of these guidelines? Do you think it’s overkill to be so specific? Do you have a group in which writers come and go and everything works fine. Let me know how you handle membership in your writers group.

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Last time, I wrote about the challenges of maintaining a committed writers group.  I promised that in the next post I would list the guidelines that have proven effective in my writers groups. Here they are:

1. We agree to get our pieces to one another at least two days in advance of meetings.

2. Our protocol for responding to pieces is as follows:

1. Readers come to group having read each piece in advance and prepared written commentary to offer the writer to supplement verbal critique.
2. Readers discuss each piece for a predetermined amount of time while the writer listens and takes notes after which the writer is invited to participate.
3. Readers discuss the piece saying the writer or the narrator or the writer’s name, but not using the pronoun you.
4. Responses begin with what is working in the piece, specific places where language is exciting or full of energy, images that are sparkling, writing that is fluid, etc. Sufficient time should be given to discussing the merits of the piece before turning to critique.
5. When pointing to places that don’t work well in a reader’s opinion, the reader is as specific as possible. We offer suggestions with the clear understanding that the writer ultimately decides what will work in her piece.
6. Writers listen carefully to the opinion of others, recognizing that this is simply one opinion in many and that others, including the writer, may view the work differently. Writers take what is useful and leave the rest.
7. Writers needn’t defend content, style, or word choice. Critique is simply meant to give one reader’s response. The impulse to defend comes from protectiveness around our work but can also be a signal that something deeper needs to be communicated on the page.

3. We put writing first. We are not an emotional support group. Our discussions come from a writerly perspective. We agree that if a conflict among members arises it will be managed with honest self-examination and one-to-one communication as the first option and a separate full group business meeting as a last resort.

4. A full group business meeting will be called separate from our regularly scheduled meetings to make major changes in our guidelines. Temporary or minor changes can be discussed at the close of each regular meeting.

5. We agree to keep our criticism fresh, focused, honest, and generous. We all wish to grow as writers.

6. We will have quarterly retreats that will particularly focus on exploring craft and technique as well as developing the level and perceptiveness of our critique.

Please let me know what you think of these guidelines or if you have additions, questions, or other considerations when it comes to developing a protocol for a writers group.

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I can’t say enough good things about my writers group. They are kind but astute critics. They are dependable both in putting writing first in their lives and in making our group meetings a priority. We celebrate one another’s successes, be it publication, finding just the right title for a piece, or winning a contest. We are generous with one another too, concerned about each other’s comfort at meetings or challenges related to getting to group. Like I said, “I love my writer’s group.”

Finding a committed group of writers was not an easy thing. During my first creative writing workshop in 1990,  I discovered the value of getting feedback and encouragment from fellow writers. For this reason, several of my class members decided to continue meeting after the class ended. However, that group lasted for only six months. That was the start of my experience with short-lived groups.

For the next five years, I worked doggedly to convene groups of writers–anywhere from 4-6. Each group would started out enthusiastically and gradually diminish until I was the only one left. The longest any of these groups met was 6 months. I was frustrated because I’d read about successful groups and wanted to be part of one. But I was getting gun-shy, thinking that either I didn’t know any writers with same the level of commitment to a group as I and/or that I was doing something wrong in the way I organized such groups.

After my fifth group faded into oblivion, I suspended the urge to start again and simply went solo for over a year. One day, I was talking with a friend about my wish for a group, and she mentioned another friend who was writing who might be interested. I thought about it for a week before finally calling this woman. She was game, and we decided to meet for coffee and talk about what we were looking for in a group. That coffee date was the start of our “group of 2.”  For 4 years, we met twice a month for an hour and half at 7am in that same coffee shop.

Then we decided to expand our edges, and we each invited one writer friend. Both accepted and that group meet for 2 years. We were a dynamic foursome, and it was during that time that I completed my first book as did 2 of the other members. Then sadly my original partner decided to move out of the area and another member had health issues, so we were down to 2.

Since it had worked before, the 2 remaining members each invited one writer to join us. That group never jelled as nicely as the first group and seemed to limp along for a year until 2 of the writers dropped out including the one from the great foursome. Summer was coming and the remaining writer and I decided to organize a summer group of mostly teacher- writers who liked to use summer to pursue their writing vocations. Big egos in that group caused the most contentious group I’ve ever been a part of and by the end of summer I was deeply disheartened.

It took some fast talking from the women who had helped organize that group to convince me to try again. But I’m glad I did. This time we started with a large group of 8 writers in September and by the following summer we were down to four. By fall, 1 of those had dropped out but 2 more joined. The five have worked together for a solid year, though at the beginning of this summer we lost a member to a cross country move.

I’m glad that I’ve consistently made the effort to keep a writers group going.  Having the support of other writers means a lot to me. Next post, I’ll offer our group guidelines for your consideration.  In the meantime, let me know what your experience has been with writers groups.

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Yesterday, I put together a registration form for the 2009 Medocino Coast Writers Conference. This morning I read an article in Poets & Writers (May/June 2009) entitled “Conferences, Festivals Taking a Hit.” The juxtaposition helped me answer a question I’d been asking myself: Why do I need to go to yet another writers conference?

Conferences tend to be an expensive venture, what with registration fees, travel and accommodation costs. Why put out all the money, especially when finances are tight, so tight that many conference organizers are canceling this year because they can’t pull together sufficient funding to offer a quality conference?

Wouldn’t my time be better spent staying at home and WRITING? Shouldn’t I simply focus on practicing my art, cultivating the craft? What more can I learn from mentors and teacher? Shouldn’t I “put writing first?”

These are the questions that come up every time I think about going to a conference. However, the thought that the economic situation might curtail the option to go to conferences put these questions in perspective.

Going to a conference puts me in touch with other writers, a connection that fertilizes my motivation to write and offers essential nutrients for growth. I’ve gone to conferences alone. I gone with a writer friend and once my entire writing group attended a conference together. I’ve been to conferences that were one day, three days, or a full week! I’ve signed up for festivals where I have worked with a single teacher in a workshop context and others where there were a variety of presentations to choose from. Sometimes presenters were big names like Natalie Goldberg or Dorothy Allison, but more often they were lesser known writers who had published one or two genre books or had been successful getting published in literary magazines. I’ve even taken my turn as a workshop presenter. Conferences usually have a bookstore venue and and most important, there are social gatherings, like a dinner, a tour, or a wine tasting.

I come home from such engagements energized and motivated. The subsequent spurt of the productivity and growth is exciting. I have made new friends, and the expansion of my writers network has more than once offered unforeseen assistance in later endeavors. My notebook is filled with new ideas, techniques, and books to read.

My registration for the Mendocino Conference is in the mail.  Yes, I’m ready for time among writers. In fact, I think the time is overdue.

Tags: Community, Going Public, Teachers, Writing First by ph
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