How to Form Your Own Writers Group
Whenever you’re looking to start a new group, it’s always best to start by recruiting people you know. If you can “rope your friends in” to doing something, it’s more likely that they will follow through. In fact, it is a common tactic among nonprofits to use or create personal connections with the people they are serving or use as a volunteer force to get them to come to events or service activities. So, why can’t you use the same tactics?
If you don’t know anyone in your area or you have already started with recruiting your friends for a writers group, the next place I recommend searching is Facebook. Facebook is chock full of writers and writing opportunities. I am not quite sure why this is, but the Facebook groups feature is a big part of making it possible.
If you are a femme (woman or non-binary person), you should check out some of the “Binders full of __” groups. These were started out of Mitt Romney’s “I have binders full of women” comment during his 2012 run for president (where he tried and failed to explain his answer to a question on pay equity). Femmes took this phrase and co-opted it for professional workspaces and groups, but the only remnants of these that exist have strong connections to the writing community nationwide. Find out if there are any writers in those groups who are in your area and would want to be a part of a writing group.
No luck? My next secret weapon is “Writerinos,” a Facebook group that started as a branch off of a group for fans of the podcast My Favorite Murder — for people who enjoyed both the podcast and writing. Nowadays the group has almost nothing to do with the podcast it originated from. The members are generally very friendly, kind, and always interested in making new cool writer friends.
My secret secret about “Writerinos” is that it actually helped me join a writers group in the Cleveland area when I first moved here. I had posted about wanting some friends in the area and a writer reached out to me about us having a mutual writer friend and she invited me to join her in-person writing group.
Check out your local library. Most of us know that libraries are treasure troves waiting to be utilized, but that’s not just for the books. Oftentimes libraries will have events for local authors and some will even have weekly or monthly writers groups!
If your library is a bust, try some local bookstores. Book people tend to attract other book people. Maybe your bookstore’s cashier is a secret writer on the side! You never know unless you ask.
These are all good places to start. Not only have they helped me find and form writers groups, but they have worked for tons of other writers I know. Find yourself some good writing buddies to help keep yourself accountable to your goals, look over your writing, and share ideas with. You might be surprised by how much it changes your writing productivity!
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Jessi Quinn Alperin
Jessi Quinn Alperin (they/them) is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. While there, they served as an editor for Forbes & Fifth for two years. Their poetry has been published by 70 Faces and Haunted Zine and they have also had a personal essay published in Twentyhood Magazine and two articles published for Environmental Health News. Jessi previously self-published a collection of poetry they had written between 2013-2017. They are currently a Social Justice Springboard Fellow for Oberlin College’s Hillel.