Express Yourself

Forget the Idea That Writers Must Write Alone

How to launch a writing group that inspires and motivates you (and your friends)

Welcome to The Draft, an advice column about writing and life from Eileen Pollack, former director of the University of Michigan MFA Program. We’re here to answer your questions about storycraft, writing, and telling the truth in words.

Have a question? Share it with us.

Dear Draft,

Should I join a writing group, or maybe start one?

Signed,
Misery Loves Company

Dear Miz,

Writing groups can go sour in so many ways, you wonder why anyone would join one. If your groupmates start as your BFFs, they might go too easy on your manuscripts. But an overly harsh critique could end a friendship. Then again, how can you submit an essay about your struggle with bulimia or your uncle’s history as a pedophilic priest to a bunch of strangers? What if someone makes overly aggressive comments, repeatedly shows up without having read their groupmates’ work, or attends only when their story is being discussed?

Sadly, the risks of not being in a writers’ group are even more daunting than the dangers of being in one. Without a…