Here is what I have learned from my involvement with various writing groups:

Technical

1. Short stories work best.  Novels are difficult to attack as a group.
2. Poetry is just plain tough.
3. It is more important for a group to have members who are at the same stage in their writing journey, than to write in the same genre.
4. Not everyone can devote as much time as they need or want to writing, so a group can sometimes be dominated by a “prolific” member.  This is not always a bad thing, since it sometimes inspires the others to write more to balance out the efforts of all.

Non-technical

1. Writers have large egos that are easily bruised; even the quiet ones.
2. No matter how fair a group is run, someone is going to perceive it as being run in a partial manner.
3. No matter how many times you say: “critique the writing, not the writer”, it will be a constant battle, and even when most of the comments ARE about the writing, someone is going to take every comment as a personal attack.
4. Many are the reasons why people write, but if the reason is to hear the praise of others, those writers should not be part of your group.

Copyright Liars, Ink (1999-2010) All rights reserved.  Still, I’m pretty open to sharing, so ask, OK?  Site last updated on or around April 7, 2010.  Click here for my privacy policy.