Writing groups

On Friday, a friend invited me to read my story to a group of writers that meet the last Friday of the month. (Don't know if the group has a name). Now I find reading my stories to a group of strangers incredibly nerve wracking. I gathered my courage, brought the story (Married Life, published in Canadian Voices) and read it. The fear was immense - would they like it? Would they find it funny? Could I read it without my voice quivering.

Now about this group, what a nice bunch of writers. We sat in a circle and everyone read something. Lots of poetry, some short stories and a novel excerpt. Some of the poetry was powerful, some of the stories funny, someone even brought her paintings and the poems she wrote to describe them. And most importantly, I got over myself and read my story. I successfully masked my quivering voice and projected my voice well. People laughed at the appropriate spots and the story was well received. Think I'll try and join them again next time.

Now last night my writing group met. Another great bunch of ladies. We're all very supportive of each other and encourage each other to send stuff out when it's ready. These meetings always leave me feeling good about my writing, and inspired to finish the damn stories and get them out there. Now I have no problem reading to the ladies. We've been meeting for a while and I'm quite comfortable reading stuff, no matter how bad, to them cause I know they'll find tactful ways of telling me the story sucked and how to make it better. Every writer should be as blessed to find critique group like mine. (We have a waiting list of people wanting to join).

So what's the point? The point is writing groups with the right people are great. We all want our stuff to be read or heard by someone other than family. So the first group I mentioned fills that niche. The second group help make those stories better and take them to the next level. I highly recommend them!