How to Find a Writing Group: Tips for New Authors
Are you eager to connect with like-minded authors and build meaningful writing friendships? Our post How to Find a Writing Group: Tips for New Authors is tailor-made for you. Writing does not have to be a solitary journey. It can be filled with friends who also aspire to take their writing to the next level. There are many groups that authors can join to help them with motivation, accountability, and guidance in their writing careers.
Join Different Writing Associations
If you have asked yourself the question How do I find people to write with? Or how do I join a writing group? One of the best ways to connect with other authors is by joining writing organizations. These writing associations offer many opportunities for writers to connect online and at in-person events. Writers can share a lot of information on what is happening in the writing and publishing industry. There are lots of local and national writing associations for writers to join and many of these organizations have subchapters that meet all around the United States and the world. When you join a writing association you can often connect with and find other members that are in your local area that you can meet with in addition to being a part of the large organization.
Just a few of these Writing Organizations are:
- The Authors Guild
- Romance Writers of America
- Mystery Writers Of America
- Women’s Fiction Writers Association
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- American Christian Fiction Writers
- Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
- Western Writers Of America
- Horror Writers Association
- International Women's Writing Guild
Attend Writing Conferences, Workshops, and Events
Signing up for writing conferences, workshops, and events is an amazing way for authors to connect with other writers. There are over 200 writing conferences every year all over the United States. Attending these writing conferences is a great way to meet other like-minded people who are motivated to go after their passion for writing. You can talk with and connect with people at these events and form your own small writing group. There are lots of local writing workshops, events and even writing retreats where writers can connect. These retreats can be local or located in beautiful exotic locations like Kaui, a castle in Ireland, in a villa in Bali, and all over the globe. Many different writing organizations have their own writing conferences or at least have lists of different upcoming writing conferences workshops and events for their members to attend.
Explore Online Writing Groups and Communities
If you are asking yourself How do I find writing groups online? NaNoWriMo is a great place to start. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and they have a website that makes it easy to find writing buddies on their website. They also have amazing forums where authors are all engaging with one another. To learn more about NaNoWriMo check out our post: NaNoWriMo: How to Write a 50k Word Novel in 30 Days. Another online writing community is Critique Circle which has an active community of writers forums and peer-to-peer critiques. Chronicles is an online writing forum geared towards the science fiction and fantasy genres. Writing.Com also has some active writing forums. There are lots of writing groups and communities online and sometimes just doing a quick Google search can help you get connected to other writers.
Find a Writing Group on Meetup.com
An amazing resource for meeting other people in person with similar interests is Meetup.com. This website connects people in local areas who share the same interests. Right from Meetup mobile app on your phone or on the computer you can quickly find other writing groups in your area.
Take Advantage Of Local Resources Such as Libraries, Bookstores, and Community Centers
Another way to find writing groups or other authors to write with is by checking with your local libraries, bookstores, and community centers for information on writing groups in your area. Many communities host writing workshops, book clubs, or author meetups, providing lots of opportunities for authors to connect with local writers. By attending these community events at libraries, bookstores, or community centers you can meet up and connect with other authors in your area. Bookstores often have authors come and do book signings or other author events where you can attend and meet and talk to other authors who are doing a book signing in your area. By buying the books of other authors and striking up a conversation about writing at an author book signing perhaps they can point you in the right direction of finding local writing groups in your area.
Get Connected To Other Writers On Social Media
In this day and age where everyone is connected via social media it only makes sense for authors to connect via social networks. There are many writing groups on Facebook, Goodreads, Linkedin, and Twitter.
Here Are A Few Facebook Groups For You to Check Out:
Ask Other Authors For Writing Group Recommendations
Do you know any other authors? Maybe if you see there is an author doing a book signing at a library or book store you can attend their author event and ask them for recommendations for a writing group. Or maybe if there is an author event with multiple authors setting up a table to sell their books, you can ask them to form a group, or if they have any recommendations on writing groups you could join.
Create Your Own Writing Group
Sometimes if you can't find the type of writing group that you want, the best thing is to rise up and create your own. The perk of creating your own writing group is that you get to customize it to be what you want. You can invite others to join, and you get to choose what day and time of the week you meet, and how often you meet. You can also set up the rules and guidelines of the group. You can choose to have a small group or network and grow it into a large one. You can decide whether to have motivational speakers, invite other authors to come to teach, or you can make it into a critique group. You can host this group at your own house or choose a different venue. You can specify your group to be just a particular genre. There are lots of benefits to starting up your own writing group.
We hope that this blog post helps point you in the right direction and that you find the perfect writing group to support your writing goals. If you have any questions or would like to leave a comment below, we would love to hear from you!
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Samantha Panzera is an adventurous travel blogger, graphic designer, and multi-media business entrepreneur who uses the experience she’s gained over the years to teach aspiring writers the skills they need to build an author platform and take their careers to the next level.