{"id":3876,"date":"2012-02-28T09:39:47","date_gmt":"2012-02-28T15:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=3876"},"modified":"2012-02-29T20:40:18","modified_gmt":"2012-03-01T02:40:18","slug":"the-company-of-other-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2012\/02\/28\/the-company-of-other-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Company of Other Writers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Paul Lamb<\/a> recently chatted on his blog about craving fellowship with like-minded writers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For years, more every other Wednesdays than not, I met with two friends for a writing group.<\/p>\n

We kept it small by design, and while it lasted, it was a very good thing. Since the group has dissolved, I find satisfaction in chatting about writing with one of the members of the group I’m still in touch with, and with a friend I work with<\/a> who writes. A couple friends in other states round out the people I really enjoy talking with about writing.<\/p>\n

I also chat about writing plans with my wife on our walks. I “think out loud,” at times, by typing long emails to my mom in which I hope to clarify all that’s bouncing around in my head. I check out and reply to the blogs of other writers.<\/p>\n

But nothing’s really felt like the old twice-a-month writing group.<\/p>\n

Other Groups<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Some people have suggested I go to other writing groups…but a writing group isn’t necessarily what I’m seeking. Like Paul Lamble, I’m seeking fellowship with other writers — not a formal critique group.<\/p>\n

While the old writing get-togethers featured critiques, it was just as much a social thing. We’d arrive at a friend’s house, chit-chat, and then discuss writing. By keeping it small, we each had time to focus on each others’ writing and thoughts about writing. Then it would wrap up with more chit-chatting.<\/p>\n

A large writing group geared toward reading and critiquing stories isn’t what I crave. I work on novels more than anything these days, and I’ve never been one to have a novel-in-progress critiqued as it’s written. But the thought of getting together with a couple like-minded writers and chatting about writing now and then appeals to me.<\/p>\n

What about You?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What about you — do you like formal critique groups, the company of a couple other writers, or being left alone?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paul Lamb recently chatted on his blog about craving fellowship with like-minded writers. For years, more every other Wednesdays than not, I met with two friends for a writing group. We kept it small by design, and while it lasted, it was a very good thing. Since the group has dissolved, I find satisfaction in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3876"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}