This is part 3 of a 3 part series on creating and running a writers’ group. You can see the other parts here:
How To Keep Your Writers’ Group Fresh And Fun
Writers’ groups are a fantastic way to meet other writers, gain inspiration and get support as you work towards your writing goals. However, it’s only natural for your group to ebb and flow, both in terms of member numbers and the ‘feel’ of the group.
If you are concerned that your group has lost its buzz – or its members – fantastic! You’ve successfully identified that something is amiss and now you can do something about it!
Falling member numbers
It is completely normal for people to drift into and out of groups, but if you feel that your membership is flagging, there is plenty you can do about it.
You could ask your members what they’d like to get from the group and whether there are any changes they would like to see – it could be as simple as changing the format slightly, or maybe moving the meeting time and date.
If you only meet once a month, there is plenty of time for members to go off the boil, so stay in touch by email. Even a very quick email circulating some interesting writing tips that you’ve come across or encouraging members to write something for next month’s topic could be enough to keep the group at the forefront of their minds.
Don’t forget to advertise – all groups need a constant trickle of new members. The first post in this series suggested some ways to advertise your group. Ask new members where they heard about the group so that you can find out which advertising measures are the most successful.
Too many members
A ‘nice’ problem to have as it shows your group is popular, but it’s still a problem as larger numbers may mean that it’s hard to give everyone’s work the attention it deserves. There are several ways to address this – if you want to stay as one big group, people could take it in turns to submit work, with half the group submitting each month and the other half critiquing, swapping roles the following month. Or you could split the group by specialism, for example novelists/short story writers or poets/prose writers or those who are working towards publication/those who just write for fun and don’t want to take it too seriously.
It’s important to address the issue as it will be frustrating for your writers if they feel that they are not making progress or do not feel supported by the group.
Lack of buzz
If the meetings are exactly the same month after month, then with the best will in the world they might start to get stale. The previous post suggested some things that you could try to mix things up a bit – the group could collectively enter a competition, hold a competition with another group, have a write-in, meet up at a new venue. The activity itself isn’t important – the thing to focus on is to orchestrate a break from the routine.
It might help to build in time at the beginning of one meeting and ask members to bring their suggestions regarding the group – activities they would like or ideas for changes. This could be just the catalyst the group needs to become inspiring again!
Resolving conflict
Every writers’ group is made up of people, and wherever there are people, there is the potential for conflict. A tense atmosphere will help no-one – the timid people may become reluctant to speak or to share their work, and the bolder people may lock horns.
The easiest way to manage conflict is to set some ground rules to try to avoid it happening in the first place. These don’t have to be exhaustive – simple guidelines can outline the behaviour that is expected from members. You could have a rule that for every negative comment, there has to be a positive comment. No-one’s work is perfect and well balanced criticism is a great way to improve, but if it’s all negative, the writer is likely to feel defensive and become disheartened rather than learning from it. The rules could incorporate a reminder that the point of the group is for everyone to have fun and improve, and that comments must all be constructive.
Wrap Up
If you feel that the atmosphere in the group has deteriorated, all that you might need to do is to circulate the rules by email between meetings, drawing attention to any areas that you feel have been particularly problematic. Then at the start of the next meeting, remind everyone of the behaviours that you want to see or don’t want to see, and you’re good to go. You might need to step in once or twice, for example to remind members to make positive, constructive comments, but the more you reinforce the desired behaviour, the easier it will become to keep the group on the right tracks.
Tracey Dawson is a long-term writers’ group member and chair, and also a committed compliance professional. She has combined her two passions in her fifth novel, which follows the offworld adventures of Greville the compliance auditor, which is available on Amazon here.