Make the most of your writing: join a local writers group

I recently took the plunge and joined a local writers group called San Diego Writers, Ink. They offer writing workshops and meet-up groups for writers, as well as regular “Room to Write” drop-in sessions that work great for keeping a regular writing date with yourself. I figured I needed the boot to the bum, as I’ve been neglecting my writing time recently, even though I know that I’ve got a bunch of projects I want to get finished.

As an added bonus, my husband is also happy about this development because now he gets to have Friday mornings to himself for composing music in his studio – without having to use headphones to keep it quiet.

In addition to SDWI’s other programming, this weekend they’re holding their annual “Fall for Writing” conference. At just $120 for members ($140 for non-members) to take up to 10 sessions, it’s a steal of a deal. I’m tempted to drop in for a few of the classes, like “Low Cost Ways to Promote Creative Projects” with Janene Roberts (no relation) or “Flash Fiction and Short Stories” with Lisa Kessler to help improve my short game and start winning more Iron Writer challenges.

If you’re interested in a free online class that’ll help you learn to write flash fiction that doesn’t suck, I would also recommend Holly Lisle’s aptly named “How to Write Flash Fiction That Doesn’t Suck” class. I just started on the week one exercises, and it’s been super helpful so far.

I’ve also been accepted into MJ Kelley’s virtual writer workshop, starting this October, so it looks like I’m joining writers groups left and right! This should be just the motivation I need to keep putting my writing higher up on my daily To Do list, even when it’s not paid work. Plus it’ll be awesome to read work from my fellow critique partners and get a chance to see what other people are working on.

So now I’m curious: do you belong to any writers groups – local or virtual – and if so, what attracted you to the group?