7 Reasons to Join a Writers Group

In our last writing chat session, Jon Stars and I discussed writers groups and critiques. Tune in Mondays at 7:00 to see the next live session. If you'd like to be a part of the next discussion, tune in or drop a comment! 

Should I join a writers group?
  
 If you’re a shy writer like me, you’ve asked yourself this question before. Is it worth it to put myself out there? Can it really make me a better writer?

In short, yes!

Last Monday on our Facebook live chat, fellow Lansing author Jon Stars and I discussed writer’s groups. As long-standing residents of local Lansing writers groups ourselves, we’ve both learned the value that these micro-communities of authors can offer. We’ve also learned some of the best techniques and practices from other authors. If you’re considering it, here are 7 reasons to join a writers group. I’ve also included some helpful links and resources to find writers groups in Greater Lansing to help you get started.  

 

7 Reasons to Join a Writers Group

 

1. Learn Other Styles

Just like we all have a certain way of talking or walking, we also have a certain style of writing. Your style may be detailed, descriptive and poetic. Or it may be sharp, sudden, and striking. Or witty, casual and familiar. It’s difficult to actively change your writing style. That’s a bit like trying to change your handwriting; you can do it if you focus on it, but it’s hard and it won’t last.

(28:27) “You’re not stealing their style, you’re borrowing the things that they do really well.”

You can get a taste of another writer’s style by actively and attentively reading a book, but it’s difficult to enjoy the story and give it in-depth analysis at the same time. At some point, you’ll probably get lost in the story and forget what you’re looking for. In a writers group, you get to ask the author about their style face-to-face and take a moment to analyze, sentence by sentence, what they do and why it works. Since you read a series of small sections from different authors one after the next, you also get to compare several different styles. The similarities and contrasts between them can help you see more clearly which elements are particularly striking, and which you might like to borrow from. This will help you to evolve your own style as well.

 

2. Build Your Confidence

(25:00) “It was hard to heard. But when I thought about it, I realized they were right.”

My first day at writers group was, I’ll admit, pretty jarring. But, I also have social anxiety and I’d never shared my work, in person, with strangers before attending writers group. Though it’s true that that sort of isolation will protect you from anything critical, it also prevents you from gaining any confidence. If you’re afraid that you’ll hear bad things about your work, you’ll never heard praise either.

Regularly going to writers group, reading my work, hearing critiques and approval, giving critiques and being listened to has all helped me to believe in my work, stand behind it, and feel good about sharing it. Part of what makes this possible is listening to critical comments as well as positive ones. With a balanced view, you know your fellow writers are being honest, so you can really feel good when you get the coveted “I really liked this.”

The other important part of this is giving critiques and being listened to. When other writers respect your point of view and trust your knowledge, you can trust yourself.

 

3. Improve Your Writing

The most obvious and common reason to go to a writers group is to improve your writing. Even the most famous, prolific and successful writers in the industry don’t know everything there is to know about writing. Besides that, best practices and trends are constantly changing. A writers group gives you the chance to combine the knowledge of every member—every book they’ve read, talk or conference they’ve attended, every book they’ve written and critique they’ve heard. Whether you’re debating about the Oxford comma, whether to use “said” or “exclaimed,” or wondering whether your entire plot works or not, your writers group can help you.

 

4. Get Encouragement and Solidarity

(26:20) There are many different kinds of writers groups, and each dynamic is a bit different. Some prefer fewer critiques and more enthusiasm, with a focus on what the writer does well instead of what they can improve. Others focus on the opposite, pointing out mechanical errors, improving or removing descriptions, adding action or smoothing the pacing, and so on. There are benefits to either one. The first will keep you going, and is great for finding encouragement when you just feel like burying your notebooks forever. The second will actively improve your writing and help you work on errors. The ideal combination might be a bit of both.

Writing, like anything you’re passionate about, has some frustrations. Either writers group, whether focused on enthusiasm or improvement, will provide solidarity. If you’re frustrated about getting readers, appealing to publishers, finding time to write, balancing your job and your creative energy, and a dozen other obstacles, your writers group will sympathize in a way that no one else can.

 

5. Personal and Professional Growth

(16:00) Learning to take and apply a critique is a universal skill everyone should have, however many do not. Though my day job also involves writing, being able to listen to and learn from others is a skill that is imperative in any profession (and a valuable personal skill too). This is a valuable listening skill, but it’s also an exercise in patience and personal confidence. To effectively apply a critique, you have to set aside your own pride and what you think you know in order to listen to others. You also have to have the confidence and patience to understand that your critic is trying to help, not trying to personally insult you. Learning not to take critiques personally and using them instead to improve will help you learn and enjoy any pursuit.

6. Learning How to Disagree (Silently)

Most writers groups have a rule: You have to be silent while the group offers critiques. This means you don’t get to voice your defense or explain whatever you were doing or trying to do. Since you wouldn’t be able to sit in a room with a reader and explain yourself, this makes sense. .

(9:45) Going to a writers group means listening to others, knowing you’re not the smartest person in the room, and shutting up about it. However, it’s also important to know when to stick to your own style, message, and even your own quirks. Finding this balance is perhaps one of the best reasons to join a writers group, because it will help you better understand your own style, the reason you write, and what you want to say.

“If everybody liked the same books we wouldn’t have any variety of books.”

Remember that everyone has different tastes, and some writers in your group may not enjoy your message, style, topic or characters. That’s okay. But this means you have to decide when to ignore a critique, and stick to what feels right for you. Generally, technical issues like grammar should always be fixed. If your fellow writers tell you something doesn’t make sense, or isn’t clear, that should also probably be fixed. It’s helpful here to look for consensus. If more than two people point out the same problem, especially if they have different tastes and styles, it probably isn’t a matter of opinion.

No matter what you chose, making this decision internally, silently, is a good skill to learn.

 

7. The Crap Sandwich

Giving critiques is an exercise in tact. Tact is another learned skill, and not everyone has it. The Crap Sandwich technique, in my opinion, is a quick shortcut to effective tact. Exercising this technique is also a great reason to join a writers group.

(6:00) “Say a nice thing to start, put in the crap—the harsh thing you have—then put in another nice thing. It’s the perfect package for a writing critique. And anywhere in life, really.”

The Crap Sandwich is a simple, but elegant construction. Before saying something critical, point out something the author did well. This softens the blow of something hard to hear, especially if it’s a major point, like a character that isn’t three-dimensional or a scene that turned out boring. Then, add another point of approval. This leaves the author with a good feeling, so they don’t dwell on an issue.

 

Where to Find Writers Groups in Greater Lansing

There are a variety of writers groups all around Greater Lansing. The first place to look is your local library. Ask a librarian if they know of groups that meet regularly. Most, including the Delta Library, East Lansing Library, and MSU Creative Writing Center. Many other libraries also host groups, though they may not be posted online. You might also ask your local bookstore, or even many cafes. If you’re not sure, these groups can also help you get connected to others. If you are a part of a Greater Lansing writer’s group that isn’t listed, leave a comment and I’ll add it!

 

Greater Lansing Writers Groups

• Delta Library
• East Lansing Library
• MSU Creative Writing Center
• REO Town Reading Series at Blue Owl Coffee
• https://lansingcitypulse.com/article-16934-Today-in-Lansing-REO-Town-Reading-Series-at-Blue-Owl-Coffee.html
• Lansing Writers and Readers Guild on Meetup
• https://www.meetup.com/Lansing-Writers-Readers-Guild/
• Williamston Library Scribblers Club (ages 11 – 14 only)
• https://hulafrog.com/greater-lansing-mi/scribblers-writers-group-ages-11-14-williamston-library-williamston
• Skaaldic Society, LCC TLC Building Room 127
• https://skaalds.wordpress.com/
• Rally of Writers Event April 6^th
• https://www.arallyofwriters.com/
• Capital City Writers on Facebook
• https://www.facebook.com/pg/CapitalCityWriters/about/?ref=page_internal

Writing Through Violence: Catharsis

Why do people write? 

A question that surely has multiple answers, even if you ask the same person. To explore fantastic places, to create exotic things. To press the limits of imagination. To entertain, to frighten, the enthrall. For me, it has always been to settle myself; to organize my thoughts, to face my fears, to face my anger and my sadness. 

For me, writing gives me catharsis, relief from feelings I might not be able to face any other way.

Each one of my books is actually a thought which became an emotional wall. And, in a time that now seems more violent that ever before, in the wake a tragically violent event, I draw on my writing. 

My latest series is about violence.

My generation grew up steeped in violence. Global violence came through a speeding plane shattering a national icon when I was ten years old. It came through two young men on security cameras gunning down their peers when I was eight. It came through the next two decades of battles and shootings and gunmen and planes and memorials and bombs and sobbing witnesses and broken families and grieving nations. Looking at the world today, it's sometimes hard not to see the viciousness of war, a plague of hate, and, lately, a darkness that compels people to do terrible things to each other. 

I see these things and I think, “People are terrible creatures.” 

I see these things and I think, “The world is senseless madness.” 

And I wonder, what's the point of preserving a world like that?

Like everyone else, I look for a reason for it all. But there isn't one. And there never will be.

Catharsis is learning to accept that. And accept that it's okay to be angry. It's okay to be sad. 

 And that terrible things don't mean the world is shit and people are shit and everything's pointless. 

Writing takes us out of that negative spiral, puts visceral feelings into words, lets us feel these emotions through the shield of our characters, and allows us to create people that are stronger than ourselves.

 One of the first scenes I wrote was Aborgine, an abandoned ruin of a city stained in soot and blood, and the military experiments that an evil empire burned alive. And the three young scouts that stumble into a pit of human ash. The young woman and two young men don't cry or shiver—they bear their haunting thoughts with stern faces and continue to fight against tyranny.

The next scene became the first scene in the series; a decorated officer, a powerful warrior, loses his friends and bannermen in an assault on an enemy capital. Trudging through mud and bodies and rubble, he kills every man he sees and butchers the city leaders in a vengeful frenzy. He endures punishment for his savagery, carries his guilt wordlessly, and slowly realizes he can become a better man.

Writing can press the limits of imagination. It can take us somewhere else.  It can take our hate and our fear and our hopelessness and give us strength. 

Writing can take us to a war-torn plane cracked by hate and tyranny—and then rebuild it.

I Have Such Doubt!

So, I suffer from doubt. 

Doubt is an insidious thing, sort of like a cold that turns into pneumonia. Like a virus that infects your body, doubt will infect every part of your life if you let it.

Unlike an illness, doubt can disguise itself as comfort. It grows slowly over time, often without notice. Bringing out the worst in every situation, doubt convinces you to stay where it's safe, until your comfort zone becomes a comfort cage. You don't realize that the cold has become pneumonia; doubt has become fear. Afraid to make new friends, afraid to go new places, afraid to try new things, afraid to try for the things you really want.

Most of all, doubt was keeping me from doing what I loved; writing books. I would get halfway through a promising story and a great idea, then get uncertain about the ending. I didn't think anyone would like it as much as I did. When I did finish a story, I was unsure about every edit. If I did finish something, the real doubt sunk in. I was terrified of telling other people about it, much less trying to actively market or advertise the book.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was approaching everything with doubt, always wondering what could go wrong and all the reasons not to do something, instead of reasons to do it. However, there is a cure for doubt. Or, at least a treatment. I just try to take it one step at a time. 

1. Approach with confidence. Before writing out that difficult conflict, getting into the editing zone or going to a book event, remind yourself of the things you're good at to set a positive stage. Think about something you wrote that you're proud of, think of the effort you've put into learning editing and tell people about what you loved when you were writing the book. It's not enough to just think about it; you have to believe it.

2. Remember why you do what you do. Do you do it for fun? Do you want to express yourself? Do you have characters that are clawing their way out of your head (or is that just me?)? Focus on your purpose and not the goal to relieve the pressure.

3. What are you getting out of it? If doubt is all the reasons not to do something, optimism is every reason to do it; meet new people, challenge yourself, show the world what you've made—there's usually a lot of good reasons you wanted to do it in the first place.

4. Get some support. Bring friends along for moral and emotional support. Positive energy flows between positive people. 

5. Continuous effort. Don't let doubt win! Put a cap on that evil genii before he gets out of the bottle. Remember, there is no magic cure. It requires continuous effort, like everything that's truly important.  

Most importantly, mindset is key. No one can instill doubt in you, you have to let it in--and you can keep it out.

Writing Crap Boyfriends Into Sinister Villains

I’ve wasted so much time.

No, I’m not talking about writing books or even blogging. I’m talking about my pathetic, alcoholic ex-boyfriend, of course, who screwed with my mind like it was his new addiction. Another in a long line of the pathetic parasites that infest my dating life, really. However, though an irritating waste of my time that delayed the release of my next book, I realized as I was recovering from my angry warpath that this was a teachable moment. Shitheads help writers write villains. 

And the best villains are the people we love--that become the people we hate. 

Luckily, our artistic minds transform the petty screw-up boyfriends (or girlfriends. "She" works just as well with all of these) we hate into sinister, wretched villains everyone can hate.  Like…

  

The Seducer Vampire

He loves taking you out for dinner

The Seducer specializes in finding what his victim needs so he can take it away. Maybe sex, maybe security, money, maybe a shared interest or understanding. Masquerading as kindness, his victim is utterly taken with him. Until he uses her needs as a means of manipulation, ultimately taking it away so he can watch her suffer. The Seducer is a vampire posing as a magical lover, hypnotizing victims into his dungeon and slowly drinking them dead. He’s Dracula, Lestat, Kurt Barlow. 

The User Court Stooge

Swipe left on this one, ladies.

Ah, my favorite, evidently. The User is consumed by his own needs and feelings, which can never be met. An alcoholic or a drug addict or just a sloppy puppy that can barely feed itself without constant reassurances, the User gets what he wants by playing on his host’s guilt, pity or need to care for something weaker. His life is constantly in shambles and it’s always because of his “bad luck” or “ill fate.” In fiction, the User is the royal court’s manipulative cunt who kills princes with poison while bowing and scraping to the other royals he’ll never be. He’s Little Finger, Lord Belasco, Scar.

 The Abuser Evil Emperor

Likes: Torture, destruction, death.

Emotional, sexual or physical, the Abuser gets pleasure out of degrading and destroying the things he thinks he loves. He either can’t stand what a pathetic shit-sucker he is, or he thinks he’s the master of everything and should be treated as such (or sometimes both, oddly). The most stereotypical shitty partner is also the most stereotypical villain; the warlord sorcerer, the cyborg tyrant, the megalomaniac ninja pirate that wants world domination so can put his giant boot in the ashes. If he can’t own it, he’ll burn it to the ground trying. He’s Sauron, Voldemort, Emperor Palpatine. 

The Liar Sarlacc

Forget the Force, use protection, Luke!

The Liar is a Sarlacc pitfall trap covering his empty hole of a personality with pieces of whatever-you-want-to-hear. He will say, do, be and believe whatever you want (and go to great lengths to figure out what that is) to make you like him. Once you do, the trap falls in and he revels in either eating his victims alive or just watching them slowly die of deprivation. The Liar is less of a character and more of an unfortunate environmental side-effect or beast, though no less dangerous or poisonous. He’s Sarlacc, a Graboid, whatever you want to call the ass-infesting aliens from Dreamcatcher.

The Complete Bag of Shit Monster

Not sure what he's made of, but I know it's shitty.

There’s just no poetic title for this one. A little bit of everything, he’s an oily goo of a terrible person. He’s pathetic and manipulative, full of wrath and lies, a sociopath who knows how to use every one of his victim’s personality traits to his advantage. Most of the time, he doesn’t even know what he is and he wakes up with a new awful personality every morning, like a Wonderball of horror. He’s also a protagonist’s worst nightmare. He’s the shape-shifting shadow monster, the smokey embodiment of evil, the atrocious slime that gets into everything an no one knows how to kill. He’s the Babadook, Hexxus, the Blob, the Nightmare King.

Now that I’ve identified yet another crap-worthless boyfriend, I can get back to what I really love, writing. Book 3: Battle at Bridgetown is finished and will be on Amazon this weekend! Very excited.

Have I missed a shitty partner archetype? Let me know. I’d be happy to include one you may be overly familiar with.

My Best Bad Review

When you put your book into the world, there's always going to be some fear of a bad review. 

This is your baby! You've worked for at least months, probably years, to put this project into the world. If you're a responsible author, you do fastidious edits and revisions before presenting your work to the public, which adds even more time. Then you spend time with your cover, formatting, advertising... you get it. It's a lot of work!

So when someone writes a critical review or, God forbid, a negative review, we feel attacked. All the work that we put in feels not only unappreciated, but utterly pointless. In my opinion, this is the reason that, regardless of how we authors steel our wool or emotionally detach ourselves from out book, critical reviews still hurt. So when I saw this...

“Serializing a work of fiction can be executed effectively, but, in this instance, it was not. … The journey could have relieved my feeling of plot-drought, but it did not come off as onerous in a physical sense or in regard to the relationships between the characters. Worst of all, Stemler builds suspense throughout the novel for the Soldier Son fight, but it doesn't pay off.”

 

OYE!

My heart!

My soul!

My lungs!

My liver!

No, not really. Though that was probably my initial reaction. Maybe that initial gut-wrenching feeling never goes away. But then I took a breath, shrugged, realized that everyone has books they like and don't like, and my book isn't perfect. (I've been at this for 5 years now. I know the drill)

Critical reviews are not our enemies as authors. Critical reviews are not enemies to anyone, actually. The reviews that really annoy me (and many like me, from my conversations with other authors) are the ones that say “I didn't like it” and then don't say why. Those I call “bad” reviews, for more reasons than one. Critical reviews give us something valuable; an opportunity to improve. Critical reviews are not easy to hear—it's not easy to hear what you're not good at—but they are one of the ways we get better, and no one ever said getting better was supposed to be easy. On that note, no one ever said your work would be appreciated, either, or should be. Once I thought about it, I realized that asking someone to appreciate my work would be like asking someone to appreciate me living. No one can appreciate your life but you!

This particular review got more more interesting. I got an email message from the reviewer over twitter asking about the book. Fascinating! He had a lot of great questions about the Soldier Sons, about Zensor, about the book's conflict. I was so glad to see he was interested. However, I did think it was a little strange he knew so much about the book and was interested enough to track me down, yet didn't like it. 

Zensor is displeased by all this fuckery.

 In any case, it was the best bad review I ever had. I love answering questions about my works. In fact, it gave me an idea for a mock interview (which I hope to have more space for next time). After I answered his questions, I noticed he did change his review from one star to three stars, which made me very happy. Three stars is also what I also give books that, though they didn't have any major flaws, weren't my cup of tea.

Long story short, critical reviews aren't necessarily bad reviews and good listening is always a good policy. 

The Drop and the Gray Character

I love Tom Hardy. And not just because he’s Bane. Though that does play a factor.

Come again?

 I was recently talking to my friend about The Drop (Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini). I love bouncing opinions and ideas off of this friend of mind, because she has this uncanny ability to pick out impressive points an sum them up in a way so sharp it sometimes makes me dizzy. I told her about my favorite part of the movie (which I may have mostly memorized) at the end (Spoilers! Ye be warned);

"It’s like the Devil’s just waiting for your body to quit, because he knows he already owns your soul.

Then I think maybe there is no devil. You die and God says ‘No, no you can’t come in. You have to leave now. You have to leave and go away and you have to be alone forever.’"

I told my friend that the striking ending of the The Drop is actually made more impressive by the fact that the events leading up to the climax are somewhat mundane. Tom Hardy plays an adorable, mumbling Bostonian barkeep caring for an abused puppy, with a quiet nature that appears generally good, though with something strangely unsettling in his demeanor. And then . . .

“I shot him in the face, twice. Then I wrapped his head in a towel, and I stabbed him in the chest, in his heart, so he would bleed out, and I put him in my bathtub and watched him drain. Then I put him in an oil tank with laundry detergent and lye, and I sealed it back up.”

Yes, I killed him. Absolutely. He was gonna hurt our dog.

            Then quiet, unsuspecting Tom Hardy shoots a guy in the face. Whoa.

I told my friend about all this. 

                “I get why you like that movie,” she said, nodding. “He’s like Zensor. He’s the guy that does bad things that you want to believe is good.”

                Whoa. And all this time I thought she didn’t really read my books.

                She was 100% right. I’ve always been strangely draw to that character archetype; the “gray” character, the hero who does bad things and the villain who tries to do good things. Zensor is a bit of both, just like Tom Hardy. 

Soldier Sons the movie: starring Tom Hardy as Zensor

Why are the gray men so appealing? They’re people we can relate to. They’re gentle, they’re protective, they’re loving and loyal. They’re violent, they’re mean, they’re capricious and cruel. They’re guilty, they’re remorseful, they’re bad and they wish they weren’t.

               Aren't we all?

              "Nothing is easier than denouncing an evil-doer. 

               And nothing more difficult than understanding him."

              --Dostoevsky