Last week, on January 8th, I led my first Online Writing Group session.
The group format is inspired by accountability groups I participated in while in graduate school. Students met regularly, shared their goals, and committed to a set amount of time to write without interruption or distraction. At the end of the writing session, we debriefed, sharing how we did, briefly discussing problems that came up during the session, and then setting goals for the weeks until our next session.
The format helped me and some of my peers push through our study for comprehensive exams, writing qualifying papers, and completing dissertations. I thought the format might also help independent writers, and decided to add something extra to it through offering a mini-lesson on writing and having a Q&A period at the end.
For the first session, I had three participants, all signed up for the month, each with different goals for the time we spent together. We discussed different approaches to writing, and some methods for goal setting, and then for two solid hours, we wrote. I stayed logged into zoom so people could ask questions if they wanted to, and settled in to do some reading.
I’m still working on my memoir, and have felt a bit stalled with it. I started a book called Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative by Jane Alison, and just a few pages in, I felt so inspired that I was just itching to write, and for 90 minutes, after reading the introduction to Alison’s book, that’s what I did. The words just flowed from my fingers to the keys and suddenly I finished two sections of my memoir that I’d been feeling stuck with. The words were flowing quickly, and it felt as if I wasn’t conscious of what was about to come next. I hadn’t been in that flow state for a while, and I exited the session feeling energized, wired, inspired, and high.
The other participants shared about their productivity, and getting into a creative flow, too. We joked a little, shared our progress, and set goals for the next session.
If you’re curious what it’s all about, reach out to me for more info, or sign up here.
The next session is on January 22nd.
Ink and Vein 