Benefits of Writers Groups
Just as it takes a village to raise a child, a community of writers helps us nurture our manuscript babies and send our stories into the world of readers.
If you’re hesitant to take part in a writers group, consider some of these benefits:
Encouragement
This includes sincere equivalents of:
- “You can do it!” when we’re hesitant to share our work.
- “Hang in there!” when we’re exhausted during the last push to “The End.”
- A wordless hug or “I believe in you” when we receive a rejection letter from a publisher.
- “Yeah!” or applause when we share a small or large win.
Empathy
Others “get” what you’re doing because they also have experienced the difficulties of capturing visions and ideas and putting them on paper with the goal of communicating with others.
Understanding
We’ll have a better understanding of the craft of writing. For instance, we learn to appreciate that conflict is a good thing—but different from what we thought about it when we were novice writers. Groups of writers have helped me learn more about topics such as structure, story hooks, and tying up the ending with a bow to give the reader a surprise or a satisfying ending.
Perspective
Often feedback from another viewpoint shows us what we thought we’d communicated—but didn’t. Or where our writing is confusing, repetitive, or dull. We also learn where our weaknesses are slowing us down or holding us back, and therefore, where to focus on learning more to become a stronger writer.
Goodwill
In what other endeavors do you find potential competitors actively helping each other do their best?
Community
Not everyone feels the magic of employing the right word—or feel discontent when we don’t use the write word. But a writers group is a safe community for word nerds to gather. We all need someone to come alongside us during some stages of our writing process. In writers groups, we often develop fellowship with other members because we share common struggles and goals.
Friendship
Some of my best friends are writers. I’ve gotten to know them well from the time we’ve spent together. The pages of stories we’ve shared have given us insights into our own and each other’s hopes, dreams, struggles, and celebrations.
Knowledge
I’ve learned how to be a better listener, a better communicator, a more efficient researcher, and a better writer. The first time I submitted anything to a group, my writing was so bad one woman didn’t know what to do with it. She wasn’t being mean about it. Rather, she was unclear about what I was trying to convey. From that unpromising beginning, I’ve learned about the importance of transitions, focus and a structure, providing takeaways, respecting my reader, grammar, formatting a page, and providing citation. I’m aware of the value of reading widely and of studying good and bad writing—and so much more.
Identity
Members breathe in writing—and over time change from saying, “I write” to “I’m a writer.” While writing and reviewing each other’s work, we develop the ability to think like writers. We read with the eyes of a writer, listen with the ears of a writer, and write with the heart of a writer.
Resources
Other writers introduce me to helpful resources. These include:
- great recommendations for workshops to attend and suggestions for reference books,
- information about software,
- presentations by our family history writers group on topics that interest all of us such as learning more about maps and using FamilySearch Full-Text Search, and
- tips on a wide variety of topics such as effective reviews and feedback, style guides, citation templates, and when to use apostrophes.
Accountability
Some of my writing friends have become my accountability partners. This can manifest itself in different ways. Sometimes it means finishing and submitting a piece of writing for the next meeting. Or each of us sharing our writing goals at the beginning of the year and then reviewing them at the end of the year. Near the end of each meeting in my current group, we often mention the writing project we plan to submit for the next month’s meeting. Having stated our intentions sometimes gives us the hustle we need to finish and submit it for review by our submission deadline.
Attentiveness
We sometimes hear other group members’ voices in our heads—in a good way. Sometimes when I’m rewriting, I hear a fellow writer comment, “A map here would help me understand this better.” In the struggle to describe a lot of data, I hear another say, “A table will be helpful here.” When I’m looking for official records but baffled by jurisdictional changes in that area, I hear yet another member’s recommendation to visit the digital “Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.[1] When I wrestle to describe a complicated family relationship, I can hear group members say, “A simple family tree is worth more than a thousand words of explanation.”
A part of writing is the solitary experience many people envision. But our writing is better for others reviewing it and giving us feedback. I encourage you to be part of a group that nurtures your family history and stories you’re writing.
- What are the most valuable benefits you’ve received from participating in a writers group?
- How have members of a group encouraged you in your writing process?
- What valuable lessons have you’ve learned in a writers group?
[1] “Atlas of Historical County Boundaries,” The Newberry Library, Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture (https://publications.newberry.org/ahcb/ : accessed 06 Aug 2025).