Where and when
We are based in mid Devon and meet between 2pm and 5pm on the second Saturday of each month.
We appreciate it if members commit - as far as possible – to attending on a regular basis as a full quota contributes to the positive energy of the group.
Who we are
Membership is limited to ten writers. We consist of men and women with a wide range of interests - and abilities. Our interests include poetry, journalism, fiction, life writing, drama and creative non-fiction.
Although some of us are published authors, and some of us aspire to be (and some of us don’t!) we all are united by a passion for writing.
Aims
Our experience is that a writing group can help its members develop their writing practice. Group members should find themselves writing more frequently, creating more new works, and revising more substantially than they would on their own.
We encourage, support and promote sharing, because writing is a lonely occupation and because we believe that to do so will make us better writers.
Many of us find that thoughtful and sensitive feedback is one of the main benefits of being a member of a group; and of our Group in particular! We are blessed with good writers who really know how to listen; and who are not afraid to speak up.
We work hard in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and every one of us goes home feeling fired up and inspired to carry on!
The format
Homework Typically our meetings kick off when we share the results of our 50 words homework. Participation is not compulsory, by any means. However, we have found that working on the same theme has been helpful in unexpected ways, not least in practising the all important skill of editing. In the past we’ve written short-short stories and poetry. There are several examples of our 50 words exercises on the blog http://culmvalleywriters.blogspot.com/ We take it in turns to set this.
Hot off the press We then proceed to share what we have written since our last meeting, limited to 500 words. If your submission relates to a longer document, or is an extract from same, please submit the document (limited to 1500 words) to the group in good time.
In order to facilitate this we ask members to bring hard copies of what they are going to read. This enables us to criticise each others work, constructively.
If you haven’t written anything (it happens!) then please bring along an example of someone else’s work that you consider to be good – and be prepared to tell us why!
If numbers are low we may have time to do a writing exercise, together, or to listen to a recording, related to writing.
Feedback
The success of a writing group depends on members being active readers and listeners.
We like to think that the Group’s dynamics are such that you will feel comfortable with sharing your work and ideas. Whilst we are a working group - and not a social club (!) - we aim to be friendly and supportive in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
It is important to bear in mind that we will be working with diverse material and that we need to be open-minded and sensitive, putting our personal prejudices aside.
Thus we hope the content and style of feedback is objective and constructive. Please don’t hesitate to say if you feel it is overly critical, or even confusing.
Confidences
What we write about, and our discussion about writing itself, will necessarily be personal. As such, it is important that we do not share or discuss the content of our meetings with anyone outside the Group, please. This understanding and our agreement to it will also contribute to the building of trust between us such that we are working together in a ‘safe’ space.
However, it is important to bear in mind that whilst writing may be therapeutic we are not a therapy group (!)
Rather, our aim is to transform subjective material into writing that is objective, accessible and of the highest possible standard.
The blog
We consider this to be an important shop-window. And, potentially, the only space we have to see each other’s work once we go our separate ways. Please send Sophia anything you’d like to see published here, which can be your own work, links to a blog and/or website, an example of a fine piece of writing…
This is currently a public space, but consideration can be given to making this a ‘members-only’ space if the Group prefers. In any event, this is the space to check for diary dates, and the like.
Leadership
Whilst we consider that the Group is the property of its members we also recognise the need to manage our time together. To this end, Sophia and Valerie run the Group jointly. Neither of us are dictators (benevolent or otherwise!) so if there are issues you are concerned about please let us know and will do what we can to help.
Last, but not least
We take in turn to bring a packet of biscuits. Other refreshments are free, but the host gets to keep what you don’t eat!
Happy Scribbling!
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