Yesterday, I attended my first local writing group meeting. Outside of school, I’ve never been in an in-person writing group. I was in an online writing group for a bit, and it worked pretty well, but it didn’t last long before activity waned. I had been trying to get some feedback on Facebook writing groups, but they’ve been hit or miss and often very slow. So, after looking for local groups, I found one about 20 minutes away at a library.
It sounds like I joined at an awkward time when the previous group lead left and the new lead (who is temporary) hasn’t had the role long and is still getting settled in. On the upside, I wasn’t the only new person. Unexpectedly, I was the only guy. I had already seen that women were outnumbering men in a lot of writing spaces, including new authors (as well as my previous writing group), but it was a surprise to be the only dude in the group.
But there was a good mix of age ranges. Some older writers, a couple of younger ones, and some of us in the middle. A few were working on memoirs, others just getting into writing, and a few of us were fantasy writers. And I happened to sit next to a historical fiction writer. At the moment, I might be the only horror/sci-fi writer in the group.
It’s hard to tell what the group was like before, our meeting was a bit improvised. We ended up doing a couple of short writing sessions. The first used a set of prompt dice with things like location, narration POV, and the protagonist and their traits. The second session was a series of short prompts, of which we were free to choose one. We wrote for 15 minutes each time and then shared our stories (though anyone was free to pass, and a few did). It seemed that everyone struggled a bit with the first prompt, it had a lot of specifics that were hard to juggle in 15 minutes. The second round was a lot better. Maybe we were just more warmed up, but also, getting to pick our prompt meant you could pick one that immediately gave you an idea.
While I was hoping we might exchange something we’d previously written and get feedback on, the writing sessions were still fun. And maybe next time we might do something a bit different. If anyone wants to read the two (unedited) pieces I wrote during the meeting, you’ll find them below. The first story is only 120 words, and the second is 182 words.
Thomas P. King, author and game designer 