We were all Suzanne at some point…
Suzanne attended one of my writing classes more than 15 years ago. But her words are those of so many first-time writing group attendees.
She queued up after my talk to introduce herself to me. She looked a bit shy.
“I’m writing a book,” she began. Her eyes did not meet mine. I think she looked at the floor.
“Oh! Great!” I responded. “What is it about?”
Of course that’s what I asked. Telling me about their writing project is usually the number one reason why people stand in line to talk to me. I’m used it. I’m also genuinely interested.
Suzanne looked towards the door. “I’m not telling anyone about it,” she said. “I’m keeping it all secret. I’ve not even told my husband.”
“Oh no. I couldn’t do that. I’d be too embarrassed.”
Suzanne attended one of my writing group classes more than 15 years ago. But what she said that day has stayed with me ever since.
She queued up after my talk to introduce herself to me. She looked a bit shy.
“I’m writing a book,” she began. Her eyes did not meet mine. I think she looked at the floor.
“Oh! Great!” I responded. “What is it about?”
Of course that’s what I asked. Telling me about their writing project is usually the number one reason why people stand in line to talk to me. I’m used it. I’m also genuinely interested.
Suzanne looked towards the door. “I’m not telling anyone about it,” she said. “I’m keeping it all secret. I’ve not even told my husband.”
I could not keep the shock from my face. I’m like that, I’m afraid, my body language always gives me away. “Oh, but you must!” I launched into my response a little too quickly, I admit. Probably scared her even more.
Suzanne caught my eyes at last. Maybe she did want to hear what I had to say after all.
July 2021 Jul 29 29 July 2021 Give Your Book the Best Chance of Success – In Conversation Masterclass Zoom,Sue Richardson has been helping entrepreneurial experts to publish and sell books for many years. Her author-focused brand The Right Book Company provides professional design and editorial services to create […]
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“How will you know if what you are writing is any good if you don’t share it with someone to get some feedback?”
“Oh no. I couldn’t do that. I’d be too embarrassed.”
“B… but wouldn’t you like to find out which bits you do really well so that it motivates you to keep going?”
Now Suzanne was the one to get tough. “No, Jo. I don’t. I am not going to tell anyone about it until I have finished. I don’t want to be influenced by anyone’s opinions. This is my book. My project. It’s private.” She paused. “I just wanted to say hello and to thank you for your talk. It was very interesting.”
“Maybe you would like to sign up to my newsletter, get some free writing tips and maybe attend one of my writing groups sometime?” I continued. I know. I’m a dog with a bone.
A flicker of interest made her purse her lips with interest. “I might.” She nodded.
Suzanne subscribed to my newsletter for the next 10 years. She attended a few workshops but refused to read her work aloud. I had no idea whether she was just a genius. I heard from her a few years ago. Her book is still unfinished. It remains a secret and this breaks my heart.
And then there was Jing…
Jing does not have English as a first language, doubts her writing ability but has a fabulous story to share. She also lives thousands of miles away from me.
I suggested she dip her toe in the writing group water by attending my first ever online Writers’ Circle. I’d been running writing groups for three decades, always from my own home, but Lockdown meant I had to get on with Zoom or remove something from my life that gave me as much pleasure as it gave the attendees. So, I planned my first class as an experiment and I invited Jing.
Zoom is a bit of a goldfish bowl. No one spends two hours in a ‘real’ classroom staring straight ahead and at the faces of the others who in attendance. We look out the window. We examine the back of people’s heads and glance down at their footwear. We look at our notebooks, surreptitiously pluck our phones out of our bags to check messages.
Online, we stare each other full in the face. It can be confronting and tiring. The funny thing is – it works.
Over time, Jing and the others created a safe space in the writing group to explore their creativity and expand their knowledge, while also sharing more of their own lives, truths, fears and dreams. The eight students actually lived in five different countries and yet, once a week we spent time in each other’s living rooms or kitchens and bonded as we grew in confidence. Me as an online teacher; they as improving writers.
Jing kept her cards close to her chest at first. She did not dare share too much of her private life.
“Online, we stare each other full in the face… the funny thing is – it works.
“My English is so bad compared to yours!” she’d say, hiding her mouth behind her flattened palm. “I’m just so bad!”
“No! No! That’s not true. Your description of how dried octopus looks, tastes and smells was amazing. I could never have done that!” one of her fellow students responded.
“Really?” Jing’s eyes opened wide in amazement. “Really?”
“Yes!” chorused the others, as much as Zoom allows anyone to chorus. They clapped their hands and aimed high fives at the screen.
“Yes, really!” I said, well aware of the fact that had Jing had the praise from me alone had we been working one-to-one she might have taken my encouragement with a pinch of salt. But when you get great feedback from one of your peers too you start, little by little, to believe it.
I began to see so many advantages of teaching a multinational writing group of all ages that a year on my Events Calendar has expanded to teach several Writers’ Circles as well as several other programs. From the prospect of zero teaching thanks to Covid-19 I now teach more than 20 hours a month.
So let’s take a look at what’s new, what’s free and what might help you too to grow as a writer in a group online.
Prompt – Write – Share
All my Writers’ Circles begin with a limbering up exercise that I like to call speedwriting.
Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones, calls it this too. Julia Cameron of The Artist’s Way recommends her Morning Pages. Others call it stream of consciousness or free writing. Simply, you get a prompt and then have ten minutes to write whatever comes into your head longhand. And then we share. Okay, maybe Suzanne would refuse to share, but almost everyone else does despite how random or jumbled or off topic they may think they have been.
Here’s ten reasons to share your writing with a group:
- When you read your work aloud it sounds different, you notice your mistakes and can feel the rhythm you created.
- When you have an audience your awareness of your own writing is heightened. You become a better writer.
- When your writing inspires others, makes them think and your work turns into an animated discussion you start to believe you have something of value to say, to write about.
- The more you dare to share the braver you get in your writing too. I mean, if no one logs off Zoom there and then in disgust you know you’re words are worth listening to.
- You get feedback on what you do really well, which helps you grow in confidence and find your voice.
- The more you do this and the more you start to get feedback from people you trust the more you can relax into your voice and start to enjoy it.
- The others present give you ideas for how your random writing might become a book, an essay, a poem, an article, a blog.
- You make friends with strangers at a deeper level.
- 9. You learn from each other’s great writing and their mistakes.
- You know you can do this. You can write at will. Writer’s block becomes a thing of the past.
So, if you fancy joining us, Speedwrite Live takes place on the Third Thursday of the month at 2pm UK time and is free of charge. All my Writers’ Circles begin, as I said, with a bit of Speedwriting too and take place on the First Thursday of the month at 10am UK time and cost £25 a session.
Sep 02 10:00 am – 12:00 pmThe Open Writers’ CircleFind out more » Sep 09 4:00 pm – 5:00 pmSpeedwrite LiveFind out more »Learn – Write – Share – Feedback
Write Life Stories with SPICE
I grew to love the possibilities of Zoom so much that a few months into Lockdown I took my eight-session Write Life Stories with SPICE course online too. In these two-hour classes I teach you how to write compelling stories that leap off the page and come alive in the mind’s eye of the reader.
I teach something. You write. You share and I give live feedback. Even better, if you do your set homework I assess and edit that work too before the next class.
Interested in the next course? Check out upcoming online writing courses in the list below.
Write Life Story Piece by Piece
Are you like Suzanne and want to learn, to receive writing prompts and motivate yourself to write down your family stories as legacy for your family, for yourself or even to turn into a book?
Then you might like my Write Life Story – Piece by Piece class. These one off classes will inspire and encourage you to write there and then in class and then, if you would like you are able to share your work in class for live feedback. It’s optional!
Check out upcoming online writing courses in the list below.
I have book writing courses too!
I tell you, I am on a roll. I’ve been teaching small writing groups of four how to write how-to books and memoir too.
Small groups are perfect for this. This demands a bit more effort and commitment. You see, not only do you learn from me, but you learn from each other. And, further we ALL read everybody’s work so the students not only have a teacher and mentor (that’s me!) but they also have ideal readers (that’s the other students).
Check out upcoming online writing courses in the list below.
Jul 22 10:00 am – 12:00 pmBook Writing Circle: How to Write a How-to Book (June-August)Find out more » Jul 27 10:00 am – 12:00 pmBook Writing Circle: How to Write a Memoir (May-August)Find out more » Aug 05 10:00 am – 12:00 pmBook Writing Circle: How to Write a How-to Book (June-August)Find out more »Convinced?
Want to see the benefits of writing in a group for yourself? Then why not start with baby steps and join the next Speedwrite Live? You’ve nothing to lose and remember, it’s absolutely free.
Don’t you deserve to give it a go? Check out my online Events Calendar for a full overview of what’s on in the world of online writing groups.
