There are three kinds of writing groups: content-based, process-based, and combination.
Content-based groups meet to give members feedback on work in progress. Process-based groups meet to provide support and accountability to members. Combination groups do both.
How a combination group works
In every place I’ve lived and worked for the past 25 years, I’ve formed writing groups, and most have been some form of combination group. My current group meets every four to six week for about 90 minutes (and often a bit longer — I always budget two hours). We have four members, which I find to be the ideal number. You want your group to be small enough to require real commitment from each person involved. You also don’t want to have to coordinate too many people’s schedules — the bigger the group, the more difficult it is to agree times to meet! Even with only four members, we’ve had to instigate a rule that three is a quorum, for those times when it proves just too tricky to find a day and time all four of us are available.
We like to meet at a local pub over lunch. It’s nice to meet in a third space — not home, not work — and to do it over a meal. During our time together, we do three things.
First, we just catch up. This is great for building relationships, and also it’s fun! I know some advice says don’t do any socialising in your group, just get down to business, but these days I’m all for anything that builds connection and solidarity, and I don’t recommend skipping it.
Next, each of us talks about how our writing’s going. We share successes, challenges, feelings, concerns, plans, deadlines. Sometimes each of us will have more to say, sometimes less. There’s no time-keeping for this bit; we just do it organically, and we’re allowed to respond to each other.
Finally, the person whose work we’re talking about that month hands out copies of what they’ve brought. We use a system I learned from a fellow historian, combined with an approach I learned from creative writers. I love this approach because there is nothing to read ahead of time — everyone can just show up. When a writing group carries a heavy reading burden, people often stop coming because they don’t have time to prepare. Or, a person might come and then, once they’ve made everyone read 30 pages and received their feedback, never show up again, which really isn’t very nice.
Here’s how it works. Let’s say it’s my turn. Before the meeting, I will have chosen two pages from my work in progress and printed out copies for everyone (including me). When it’s time, I’ll hand round the copies of my two pages and then say — and this part is really important! — what kind of feedback I’m looking for. Usually this takes the form of a few questions. For example, is the argument clear? Do I do enough to allow you to picture what I’m talking about? Is the style consistent? I may also say what kind of feedback I’m NOT looking for, also very important. For example, don’t bother giving me any feedback about punctuation or grammar; this is a very rough draft.
Then I read my work aloud while the others follow along. Once I’m done, the other three start a conversation while I stay quiet and listen. The conversation addresses the questions I posed at the start as well as anything else the listeners have noticed they think might be relevant. This format means the three listeners talk about me as if I’m not there, rather than addressing their comments to me. This can be a little awkward at first, but, after a few reminders, everyone gets used to it.
Once the others feel they’ve finished addressing the questions I posed and have nothing else to say, I get to join the conversation. The purpose of my joining the conversation is NOT to respond, explain, justify etc. The purpose is for me to pose any follow-up questions for the others and, usually, to thank them. It consistently amazes me how helpful this process is, and how much a response to just two pages of a larger work can impact and improve that larger work.
In my current group, we just have one person share their work per meeting. I’ve been in groups where more than one shares, but those meetings often go on for hours. By keeping it to just one per meeting, we allow time for the process-based part of things, where we each get to talk about how things are going for us, which can be just as helpful as getting feedback on work in progress! We have a loose rotation, so each of us usually shares every fourth meeting. This means each person gets feedback every four months or so. It also means that each person has to have something new to share every four months or so, which is great motivation for moving a project along!
Other ways to run writing groups
An entirely process-based group would not give any feedback on work. The time would be spent checking in on how writing is going and sharing goals, so that members can offer support and hold each other accountable. Joli Jensen has some excellent guidelines for running a process-based writing group in Chapter 27 of her book Write No Matter What. Some groups also integrate writing time into their meetings, so that members check in, then write together, then check out and set goals for next time.
An entirely content-based group would ONLY give feedback on work. In general, the dynamics of these can be trickier to manage. It can be hard to receive feedback from people one doesn’t have a strong relationship with, and there can also be uncomfortable hierarchies at play. It is also extremely important that the group be made up of people who share the right expertise or approach, so that the kind of feedback on offer is the kind each person needs. In groups like these, the step of sharing the kind of feedback you’re looking for (and not looking for!) is essential.
A note on facilitation
With people who don’t know each other well, or who haven’t been meeting together very long, it can be useful to designate a facilitator for each meeting. This might be the same person each time, or it might rotate. If you are the one starting the group, you will probably end up facilitating the first several meetings, until things develop a rhythm of their own. In an entirely content-based group, however, you will probably want a designated facilitator at every meeting, regardless of how long the group has been running.
How to choose members
I think the most important thing is for members of a writing group to like each other as people and to respect each other as thinkers and writers. To begin with, they might be friends, colleagues, acquaintances, or just people who don’t know each other well but do recognise they share, for lack of better way to put it, a vibe. You can use your gut when you’re inviting people to join a group you’re starting, and you should definitely listen to it! These are people you want to look forward to spending time with, and who you feel comfortable enough with to let down your guard. All writers feel vulnerable; you are looking for people you don’t have to keep up an act with.
Good luck, and please reach out if I can offer support.