How to Start a Writing Club (!!!)

Writing clubs are an excellent way for a person to become a much more serious writer without being that serious. Starting one can be a lot of fun if you find the right people.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet Access
• Computer
• Public Meeting Place
• Signs
• Paper
• Pen

1. Young! Fun! and Oh-So-Hip! Establish what you want from your writing club:
   What kind of people do you hope to target with your writing? These are the kind of people that should be part of your club.
   What kind of writing do you want to do?
   Where could you meet?
   What would be a good time?
   How long do you want it to last?
   How many people do you want in your group?
2. Once you have that established, it is easy to form a writing group by way of Craig's List. Your writing club should be listed under Community/Groups.
3. What should your post include?
   
   Time, date and location of meetup
   How other members can identify the group (a sign helps)
   What sort of writing you want to do
   How many copies they should bring, whether they should prepare to read out loud
4. The day of the writing group, you should show up early. You should have a pen and paper available to collect contact information. You should have your writing ready and be prepared to read.
5. Follow up. Read up on articles that will help your group. Discuss. Email them the details of the next meeting, be enthused about it if you really did enjoy yourself!

Tips & Warnings

• People are shy and sharing writing is hard. Therefore, it is useful to have a well directed group. And, I mean "well directed" not controlling.
• People that like to write generally like to talk about it too. A good way to start groups is to just talk about why you are there in general.
• Groups are best at about 4-5 people. After this, the chemistry is compromised and the groups run a little long.