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History of writing groups

The exact origin of writing groups is not known. One of the earliest writing groups on records in the Americas was called The Spy Club, it was organized at Harvard in 1719¹. The internet has allowed authors to increase the depth and breadth of writing groups available to them by eliminating geographical boundaries that traditionally made it difficult to form niche writing groups. See the discussion tab above for a list of online writing groups, direction for finding traditional local writing groups is below.

What is a writing group

Writing groups are normally composed of three to forty authors who share similar writing styles and genres, although a small percentage of writing groups do focus on helping authors adopt and adapt to new styles and genres². These groups are formed to help writers overcome the daily obstacles authors face such as removing the solitary nature of writing, thwarting writers block, giving honest critiques of the authors work and helping define and structure the members works³.

How to find and join a writing group

1. Select a genre. The majority of writing groups focus specifically on one genre, if you wish to work in multiple genre’s you should join multiple writing groups. Common genres include fiction, nonfiction, scriptwriting, playwriting, poetry and romance⁴.
2. Find several writing groups to evaluate. In person writing groups can be found on Craig's List under “writing” in the “gigs” section and “writers” in the “discussion forums” section. Online writing groups can be found by search for “Writing Group” with most search engines.
3. Select the group the matches closely with your areas of interest.
4. Carefully read the rules of the group to ensure you can meet the demands the writing group will impose.
5. Prepare your best work for the first meeting to make a good impression.
6. Learn from the group and offer guidance. Writing groups are about learning and teaching. The more you put into a writing group the more you will get out.

As a university instruction method

Several notable universities including Harvard, University of Arkansas, Brigham Young University, Stanford and Yale use writing groups as the primary instruction method for advanced writing courses. These writing groups differ from traditional writing groups because of the professor student relationship that exists in universities. Professors do not participate in the writing group by submitting their work, they instead offer guidance and structure as the class critiques each students work.

Popular online writing groups

• Review Fuse
• Writing.com
• Writers Cafe
• 6' Ferret

References

1. ^ Gere, Anne Ruggles (1987). Writing groups : history, theory, and implications. Southern Illinois University Press
2. ^ Gere, Anne Ruggles (1987). Writing groups : history, theory, and implications. Southern Illinois University Press
3. ^ Reeves , Judy (2002). Writing Alone, Writing Together: A Guide for Writers and Writing Groups. New World Library.
4. ^ Moss , Beverly J. (2003). Writing Groups Inside and Outside the Classroom. Lawrence Erlbaum.

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 6 November 2008, at 16:08.

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