Usefulness of a Group

If you’re in a group and you’re at a standstill, step back and look at the big picture. Are you focusing too much on the so-called writing rules? Are you reading nearly exclusively in the same genre? Have you broadened your horizons and tried something new? Is the group as a whole pushing themselves to be better? Have you had that defining moment when you realized your group is holding you back?

Originally posted at Writeminded by Jan Kenny

Jan's post made me think. Is OAWC helping or hindering me? Are we on the same playing field? Do we have similar goals?

I have a few answers too.

Is OAWC helping or hindering me? Helping, definitely. I write more because I know that when I'm ready, I have people I can trust to share it with. I might not always agree with the answer I'm given. Either it doesn't fit with what I know is right for me, the piece or the genre. Just as often, I'm given an answer that blows me out of the water because it is so damn right.

Are we on the same playing field? Mostly. And where we aren't, we are good about explaining and helping. We celebrate successes, even the tiny ones, because everyone of us remembers what that tiny one feels like, the first time it is reached.

Do we have similar goals? Yes, and no. Most of us want to improve our writing (at the very least, we want to make sure it sounds okay to someone other than ourselves.) Publication is a goal for the majority, but publication means different things to each of us.

Our strength, I believe, lies in acknowledging of our differences, especially for that last point. Making my living by my writing is my ultimate goal. I'd love to leave my day job and be a mid-list author. The big dream is having the breakout novel that puts my name in everyone's mouth. But I respect those who want to leave their memories behind, whether they are prose or poetry. When I offer advice, I try to keep their goal in mind, not mine.

I admire the Writeminded group, who posed the original question. Five women decided that they wanted to take their writing to the next level. To earn contracts. To be published. The road has been bumpy, but they've stuck together.

Our group is always open. Not everyone stays. But the regulars, and those that will become regulars, are becoming the kind of group that Writeminded started as. It gives me great hope that we are headed in the right direction.

Race you there.