Let me tell you a story … the first writing group experience I have was at least ten years ago, maybe more. There was a Saturday morning group that met at the TAFE college in town (TAFE, for non-Aussies, is Technical And Further Education, and it’s a place where you can learn anything from how to cut hair or speak Spanish through to, apparently, creative writing).

The story: This writing group didn’t work out well

I’ll say right from the start that this first writing group experience was not exactly positive. I remember how nervous I was the first Saturday morning as I waited outside the room. And waited, and waited. When nobody had showed up fifteen minutes after the start time, I went to the administration floor and checked I was in the right place. I was, but the teacher had cancelled the class that week because she was sick. Apparently I was the only new student being added to the writing group that term, so nobody had contacted me.

So, take two. I arrived just as nervous the second time round, and I never got to the point of feeling very positive about the group. The format involved the teacher giving us a writing prompt and then some time to write. After that, we could read – either what we’d just written, or something we’d prepared earlier, as they say on all the great cooking shows.

I remember a young girl – just a teenager I think – who introduced herself by saying she was addicted to this writing group. I soon found out why – it was surely the only outlet she had for her truly terrible writing, which she read aloud for what felt like hours, with no interruption. Others read various bits from ongoing projects, a few read what they’d just written, and there wasn’t too much time for discussion in between. I didn’t read anything of mine until the third or fourth week, didn’t get any particularly useful feedback, and I soon dropped out.

Apart from the format and the other people who just didn’t appeal to me, I’m just bad at listening. I need to see the written word in front of me, or I just zone out. This experience turned me off face-to-face writing groups, perhaps for good – but never say never.

Are online writing groups any better?

Online writing groups obviously have one huge advantage for me – they always involve reading on the page (or screen) rather than trying to listen to what someone’s written. Perhaps eight or nine years ago I was involved with a small group of Australian writers online, where we passed around stories and got some reasonably useful critiques.

Recently I’ve been thinking that I need to get my fiction writing in front of more actual writers. I’m so shy about showing my fiction, which is dumb when my non-fiction gets plastered on high-traffic websites for thousands of people to see every day. But obviously if I’m ever going to get published I have to get more feedback. (And obviously too, if I ever do get published, then lots more people will read what I’ve written. OMG!).

Anyway, as so often happens when you’re in need of something, Amy aka Quiet Rebel Writer came up with the idea of forming her own QRW writing group. I’ve joined up, introduced myself, and already feel quite intimidated by the other members. Of course, some of them sound like they feel the same as me. I think it’s a common fiction writer’s fear to think that they’re just not good enough. Anyhow, I’m looking forward to seeing what develops there and if you’re interested too, pop over to to Amy’s great site and read more.

And while we’re on the topic, have any of you had experience with writing groups, online or off? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.