Thinking about a not-writing group
The Not-Writing Group

So I’m thinking about starting another writing group, however, this one will be a not-writing group. An idea which isn’t entirely original to me as a couple of friends started up their own not-writing group and then moved to a writing-group once they were writing. The not-writing group was left behind, and I want to resurrect it!

What is a not-writing group?

First let’s establish what a writing group is: people turn up with writing and everyone else offers their ears and critique. This is perfect for writers. An audience of ears! Hooray.

But…

If you’re not writing, and you keep going to a writing group (without taking writing), you may just wane, loose interest, or worse: feel guilty for not-writing. This is bad for writing groups because writers wander off, and the group risks becoming stale. It’s not these prolific writers, these typing ‘machines’ which I care about though. I care about people like me, who are writers, but aren’t quite writing just yet.

What am I doing then?

I’m thinking, planning, trying things, scrapping things and starting again. I’m just not writing something consistently which requires feedback (eg: a first draft).

This is where a not-writing group could be a good idea.

On this blog I have categorised posts into three groups: before, during, and, after (writing). Writing groups fully cater for the ‘during’ area.

My not-writing group needs to focus on everything other than the writing.

So, here are my topic ideas for my first not-writing group:

  • Planning
  • Reading
  • Inspiration
  • Ideas
  • Craft
  • Editing
  • Distribution
  • Branding
  • Promotion
  • Technology
  • Software

I’m sure there will be more–as these are the things which peak my interest–but until there is, this will be a good start. Hopefully, this will mean that even if someone isn’t writing but considers themselves a writer, they can still meet up and contribute in a valuable, beneficial way.

So my next plan is to run this past the existing group and see what they think about it.

Mark

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