Good Morning,
I hope everyone is keeping safe and indoors with this virus crisis. I want to start making connections with other writers and forming more friendships if I can.
Last week I sat down and realised that I don't have very many, if any, writer friends and I would like to change this. As writing can be a solitary activity it's great to check in with other writers who are going through the same thing and just have a chat about life even!
I'm not too sure where to start with this however. I was thinking about forming a WhatsApp group or maybe even a writers circle when this lock down eventually ends. I live in Cardiff and haven't come across many writing groups so would be interested in starting one, but with the current global situation I think it would be best to form a WhatsApp group first and take it from there.
Anyone interested in connecting and potentially making more writerly friends?
Kind Regards,
David
Hi Roslyn,
Thank you for your comment, you've given me some valuable advice here so big big thank you on that one. I will take a look at some writing forums and see what comes about. Thanks again :)
"Writers forums" are a good way to find other writer friends. Being an organiser, I have set up and run many such over the years. I always set them up around democratic lines. 1.) the author who has asked for criticism is the one who should define what criticism they want and at what level. E.G. Does this piece of writing get over the point I'm trying to make?
2.) the critic must answer, not from what they would do with the topic, but from the point of view of what the author wants.
this has many advantages apart from the exercises in clarifying your point, and in criticism, the main one being that it curbs problem egos in the group, allowing the nervous the chance to voice their ideas and gain support, and calming down and focussing the overbearing who can have good ideas hidden in all that bluster. It also promotes a friendly atmosphere, and since you want to find friends, this is a good way. Whatever, think through some ground rules, of what you can handle, or you may get some very hard to handle surprises! Me? I always laid down that the topics could explore anything, so long as it wasn't promoting harm to others, and no personal attacks on a group member's person or work. It was another version of "no knives, tanks or nuclear weapons in this cafe". I suggest you stick to a small number though, in order to allow folk to really get into the works in hand. I found no more than 10, which means in practice, you'll usually get about 6 or 7. Why not try forming an online group now? Messaging does seem a little lonely to be honest. Agree to meet on Zoom or Skype, say once a fortnight, then you can raise a glass to your circle, making it feel a whole lot more intimate. I will add that some of these friends are likely to become lifelong. Whatever, enjoy, but be careful, running these things is an art in itself, and it can take over.