The “guildy” pleasures of writing groups

Oct 21, 2024 | Writing | 0 comments

One of my favorite advertising slogans is The Economist’s “Great minds like a think.” I like it not only because it’s clever wordplay, but also because the familiar phrase it plays with applies to a great bunch of likeminded writers.

We call ourselves the Writers Guild, a most suitable name given that a guild is an association of people who come together for mutual aid and/or the pursuit of a common goal. Our mutual aid involves helping each other develop our writing skills and our common goal is to publish a top quality collection of our own stories—one fine day, when we’re ready.

The Writers Guild is based in the peppy university town of Groningen in the far north of the Netherlands. We’re a cosmopolitan gang, with members hailing from: (l-r) Mexico (Cortes and Lira), Colombia (Alejandra), New Zealand (Yrs Trly), United States (Amelia), France (Stephanie) and Mexico again (Dulce). Our member from Germany (Alina) is missing from the picture. Happily we all speak and write good English, even if that is not our first language.

True confession time: I formed the origin of the Writers Guild years ago under the umbrella of the IWCN (International Welcome Center North), an organization run mainly by volunteers devoted to supporting international newcomers in their transition to settling, usually for work, in the northern Dutch provinces. At the time I was desperate to find other writers-in-English because I had a bad case of writers block and was stuck on the umpteenth draft of what I then called Janice in Action (inaction, more like it).

Thanks to the writers I found, especially my book doctor Corina Onderstijn, my second novel got kicked into life and Janice became a reality (Iguana Books, 2024). But I digress.

Initially, I called the group WordPlayers (guess why). Our sessions were open to any IWCN member who happened to be interested in words, not necessarily interested in writing. Lots of people came and went, which was fun but not really conducive to building our writing skills. Subsequently, a core group of likeminded writers set off to become the Guilders and the rest, as they say en Français is “quelle histoire.”

Mind you, joining a seriously supportive writers group might not be for you—check out the cons of joining in Learn more below—but for us, the prose (ha-ha) greatly outweigh the cons. Yet don’t take my word for it! Let’s turn the Absolutely Fabulous talking stick over to some of the other writers in the Guild.

The “prose” of joining a writing group

Amelia, for instance, joined because she wanted to find other aspiring writers who had a mission to write and share their progress. “I like the diversity of the group,” she says. “Our different backgrounds, interests, styles of writing and personal characteristics.”

 

 

When Stephanie joined, she was arriving in a new city, in a new country, and was hoping to meet people who shared a similar interest in writing and, “presumably a certain state of mind.”

 

 


Alina especially likes the openness and friendliness of the group. As a kid she used to write lots of stories but, she says, “During my time at university I lost track of this passion, and I joined to rediscover it. My first meeting already felt like spending an evening with friends.”

 

 

Cortes also joined to enjoy the company of fellow word lovers. “What I like best is that we respect each other’s writing and give each other honest, helpful feedback.”

 

 

Lira wanted to find a community of writers “to encourage myself to improve my writing and be consistent with writing. The feedback is very in depth and encouraging, plus I love reading the other members’ writing.”

 

 


Dulce came because she’d heard that WordPlayers was friendly and fun. Now she finds the Guild really supportive for her writing. “I’ve learned a lot from the very useful feedback I’ve received. I feel inspired and encouraged by the other’s stories and because of that I’m writing more myself.”

 


For Alejandra, joining helped her reconnect with her writer self. “While I haven’t been able to write a lot lately, it’s lovely to know that these people will be there to welcome me back when I do. In the meantime, I enjoy listening to their stories, while munching on snacks and drinking wine.”

 


Indeed, the social aspect plays a huge role in making Writers Guild meetings so gezellig (cozy). Once a month we gather in a member’s home and we all bring along snacks or something to drink to share the burden of hosting. We usually begin with some catch-up chat, then spend a couple of hours discussing and giving feedback on our work-in-progress. Afterwards, I tend to leave early (I do have an impatient inhouse editor—aka The Shreditor aka Cappuccino the pup—waiting for me at home) while the others linger on to enjoy some more chat.

But yes, there is a downside…

As for the downside of our Writers Guild (you get it, there’s always a con to any pro) (um, should I rephrase that?), so far there seems to be only one significant  limitation to the way we work on improving our writing, and even that is understandable.

Lira: “I only wish we all had the time to meet more regularly, so that we have time to go deep into our writing projects, but also have time to enjoy the writing games we used to do in WordPlayers.”

Alejandra: “It’d be lovely if we could meet more often, but boring adulthood gets in the way.”

On the upside again, Lira adds: “Still, I feel this group has helped my writing ambitions feel achievable.”

Amelia: “That’s the effect of the group. Our meet ups make me feel accountable to deadlines and work on developing my writing. The group inspires, encourages and surprises me on a regular basis.”

Alina: “It’s made me very excited about writing stories again, and the whole process connected to it—obsessing about an idea, puzzling around with the plot, and bringing characters to life.”

Stephanie: “There is a blend of kindness and wit that turns every meeting into a source of inspiration and camaraderie. It’s propelled me to transform fleeting ideas into short, complete works with a clear beginning, development, and conclusion.”

Talking of which (conclusions, that is) let’s end this paeon—this song of praise to our “guildy” pleasures—by harking back to our common goal. The bottom line goes to Cortes: “I’m very excited about the eventual publication of our collected stories.”
And so say all of us!▼

Learn more

The expression Great minds think alike first appeared at the beginning of the 17th century. It is thought to date back to 1618 where it started as “good wits doe jumpe” with “jumpe” meaning ‘agree with’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Fussy Librarian on Should you join a writing group? Understanding the pros and cons
Daniel Parsons on The Pros and Cons of Writers’ Groups
AutoCrit on The Pros and Cons of Joining a Writing Group

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