Writing Groups… with editor Bethany Wright

Ever wondered who all those people in the acknowledgements at the backs of books are? Aside from the author’s agent, editor, publicity team and family, many of them are fellow writers. I love trawling through these – finding that Maggie O’Farrell thanks Barbara Trapido, for example, and Anne Enright gives a shout-out to Colm Tóibín. But what these namedrops show is that writers – even the most successful, most talented writers – rely on other writers for feedback and support. They send each other draft manuscripts, read each other’s work and encourage each other to keep going. One of the ways they do this is through writers’ groups. 

I’ve been part of many writers’ groups and workshops over the years, first as a student and then as a teacher. They can be a fantastic place to get an outside perspective on your work and a supportive environment when you’re struggling with a tricky chapter or outline. But how do you find one and what do you do once you’re there?

How do you find a writers’ group?

Set one up yourself: I started my first writers’ group by accident, when I happened to mention to a friend at work that I was trying to write a book – a shameful confession when you work in publishing, only to be whispered in the ladies’ loo. She blushed and said she was writing one too. A few weeks later, I had coffee with a university friend who had an idea for a children’s book, then got chatting to a friend from church who was trying her hand at middle-grade fiction. I asked them all if they wanted to meet up, and the Writers’ Club was formed. We took turns to share our work, give each other feedback and complain about how hard writing is over a glass of wine and some beige snacks. Seven years and three publishing deals later, we still regularly send each other chapters, outlines and stories, as well as encouraging messages when our manuscripts are out on submission. 

Take a course: When I arrived in Norwich to study for my masters in Creative Writing, the thing I was most dreading was the workshops. Sitting in a room with eight other writers who were all far more talented than me, who’d read my work in forensic detail and could point out all its shortcomings? No, thank you! But it turned out to be the best part of the course. I quickly learned who among my fellow students could see what I was trying to achieve and offer thoughtful feedback to guide me in the right direction. As the course came to an end, I bit the bullet and asked a couple of them if they’d like to carry on reading each other’s work, and they agreed. You don’t have to commit to a year-long masters course to meet like-minded writers, though. There are plenty of week-long retreats and online courses, including Cornerstones’ Edit Your Novel course, where you can find fellow writers who are on your wavelength. 

So, you’ve found your fellow writers. Now, how do you run a writers’ group?

There are no hard and fast rules, but here are a few principles I’ve found useful when running workshops:

Share work before the session: When you read a piece of writing for the first time, it’s hard to go beyond initial impressions. If you want more specific feedback than “I liked it”, you need to give people time to read through more than once, mark up specific passages that are especially impactful and areas that could be improved, and write a short summary of their comments at the end. Set a word limit (this can vary depending on how many people’s work you’re discussing and how much time participants have, but I’d recommend a maximum of 5,000 words) and send your writing round a week or two ahead of time. 

Ask someone to read out loud: When I’m teaching workshops, I usually begin by asking someone to read out the first page of the piece being discussed. This eases everyone into the discussion, but it’s also helpful for the writer to hear someone else reading their work, as the tone and emphasis can give them a new perspective on what they’ve written. I then usually ask another student to summarise the piece. Writers are often surprised by what their fellow students think are the most important plot points or themes, so getting this outside perspective can help them to focus on the heart of their story. 

Then it’s time for feedback. So, how do you get the most out of this?

Don’t try to make everyone write like you: If you’re a fantasy writer but your friend is writing romance, there’s no point commenting, “Great, but where are the dragons?” Different genres have different aims, so think about what the writer is trying to achieve and judge the piece by those standards, rather than your own personal tastes. 

Be specific: If a scene isn’t working for you, why not? Is there a lack of tension? Do you not understand the characters’ motivations? Or is the dialogue flat? Try to find a technical reason rather than just saying you don’t like it. 

Be positive: Don’t focus solely on the parts that aren’t working. It’s just as useful for writers to know which parts of a piece captured your imagination, where they’ve described something vividly and where you laughed or cried. Positive feedback also makes people more receptive to the constructive comments, as they can see that you respect their work and are genuine in trying to make it better. 

Don’t switch off when someone else’s work is being discussed: This is partly good manners – if you expect other people to help you improve your writing, you should be prepared to do the same for them. But it’s also for your own benefit. You can learn just as much from analysing what is working well – and what is falling short – in someone else’s writing as you can from getting feedback on your own. So much of being a good writer is being a good reader. By reading someone else’s work thoughtfully, you can draw out lessons to apply to your own. 

Finally, when it’s your turn to have your work critiqued, listen: In the immortal words of Gwen Stefani, “Don’t speak.” It’s natural to feel defensive and it’s so tempting to butt in and explain why you made a particular choice, but once your book is published, you can’t hover over the reader’s shoulder pointing out the vital clue they’ve missed. Your writing has to stand on its own. Also, if you’re thinking about how to counter a criticism, you’re not stopping to consider whether it’s valid or what you can learn from it. Bite your tongue, scribble some notes and read through them the next day to see if there are any common themes emerging from the discussion that you could work on. 

Writers’ groups are valuable in so many ways: they give you deadlines to finish a piece and help you identify the strengths and weaknesses in your writing. But most of all, they give you a supportive community of writers who are all facing the same challenges and working towards the same goals. Plus, when your fellow writers’ books are published, it’s always nice to flick to the end and find your name. 

Bethany is an editor with seven years’ experience in the publishing industry. She worked in-house at Routledge, Thames & Hudson and Penguin Random House, where she was involved in their WriteNow mentoring initiative, and as a freelance editor she has mentored award-winning writers as part of the Arts Council Ireland bursary scheme. Bethany has worked on non-fiction by authors such as David Attenborough, Stacey Dooley and Ray Mears, and novels by Jenny Colgan, Rachaele Hambleton and Adam Hills. She has an MA in Creative Writing (Prose Fiction) from the University of East Anglia. Bethany is a Cornerstones market editor, and is available now for mentoring and reports – do get in touch with the Cornerstones office for more info!