You need to distinguish between a writing course, where you have lessons on writing from a tutor with the aim of improving your work and a writers' group. Usually courses are run by adult education colleges, universities, WEA or similar, you pay to attend and they are time-limited. Some are useful, some aren't.
Then there are writers' groups - sometimes called writers's circles where a group of like-minded writers get together to discuss their work and comment on each other's efforts. I ran one of these for a time at our local arts centre. Mainly friendly and supportive criticism and no charge. We met in a public place where we didn't have to pay room hire. It doesn't seem a good ideas to meet in someone's house - as Adrian's example shows.
I can't imagine Deborah not wanting to have an audience for her writing. Surely every writer wants to be read - whether aloud to a group or just on paper or nowadays on screen.
Hearing your work read aloud I find brings out aspects you may have missed just seeing it the page.This is particularly important if, as I do, you write plays . They don't really come alive until there are several different voices reading the different characters.
I'd say both writing classes and writers' groups are well worth trying - see if you can find one to suit your particular needs.
I am reminded of an amusing story where members of the writing group took it in turns to use their own homes to hold their meetings. Members, compared the décor of the homes they visited, and the hospitality they received. I cannot remember the exact words but it went something like. . . 'Mrs Jones house is so much nicer and cleaner than Mr Smiths. - At Mrs Bakers house we got chocolate cake and ground coffee. - But the tea was weak, and we weren't even offered a biscuit at Mr Scrooges.'
I would be interested to know about writing groups and what was on the agenda for each meeting.
I attended lifelong learning courses at the Uni of Cardiff and would recommend them to anyone. They are 10 week courses with a very strong structure, full of useful information about writing in the real world, particularly from the tutor who has an agent and publisher and is often to be found in the bestseller list. The other tutor is really good at pulling you out of your comfort zone and making you write in a completely different style, just to stretch you. I found both courses completely invaluable.
And I would agree with Andrew that forcing yourself to read your work is a very good idea. I was told week after week to slow down. I'm not keen on reading aloud so I was always trying to hurry but by week ten I was definitely getting better and if you want to be able to speak publicly about your work and do readings, that's important.
The writing groups I've joined have been less of a success. Having a tutor with a plan just works better, I think.
You need to distinguish between a writing course, where you have lessons on writing from a tutor with the aim of improving your work and a writers' group. Usually courses are run by adult education colleges, universities, WEA or similar, you pay to attend and they are time-limited. Some are useful, some aren't.
Then there are writers' groups - sometimes called writers's circles where a group of like-minded writers get together to discuss their work and comment on each other's efforts. I ran one of these for a time at our local arts centre. Mainly friendly and supportive criticism and no charge. We met in a public place where we didn't have to pay room hire. It doesn't seem a good ideas to meet in someone's house - as Adrian's example shows.
I can't imagine Deborah not wanting to have an audience for her writing. Surely every writer wants to be read - whether aloud to a group or just on paper or nowadays on screen.
Hearing your work read aloud I find brings out aspects you may have missed just seeing it the page.This is particularly important if, as I do, you write plays . They don't really come alive until there are several different voices reading the different characters.
I'd say both writing classes and writers' groups are well worth trying - see if you can find one to suit your particular needs.
I am reminded of an amusing story where members of the writing group took it in turns to use their own homes to hold their meetings. Members, compared the décor of the homes they visited, and the hospitality they received. I cannot remember the exact words but it went something like. . . 'Mrs Jones house is so much nicer and cleaner than Mr Smiths. - At Mrs Bakers house we got chocolate cake and ground coffee. - But the tea was weak, and we weren't even offered a biscuit at Mr Scrooges.'
I would be interested to know about writing groups and what was on the agenda for each meeting.
I attended lifelong learning courses at the Uni of Cardiff and would recommend them to anyone. They are 10 week courses with a very strong structure, full of useful information about writing in the real world, particularly from the tutor who has an agent and publisher and is often to be found in the bestseller list. The other tutor is really good at pulling you out of your comfort zone and making you write in a completely different style, just to stretch you. I found both courses completely invaluable.
And I would agree with Andrew that forcing yourself to read your work is a very good idea. I was told week after week to slow down. I'm not keen on reading aloud so I was always trying to hurry but by week ten I was definitely getting better and if you want to be able to speak publicly about your work and do readings, that's important.
The writing groups I've joined have been less of a success. Having a tutor with a plan just works better, I think.