Well since nobody hijacked this post I guess I will talk about writing. Writer’s Clubs in fact if you didn’t read the title.
I started a writer’s club about a year ago. I called it The Guild of Scribes or something wanky like that. At that point I wasn’t very comfortable with my writing so I wanted to get weekly practice and critiques from other writers. Problem was I filled it mainly with people who didn’t or didn’t want to write. There were a couple of hidden talents in there, but mainly it was about socialising for the other members. Which is not necessarily a bad thing unless you actually want to talk about writing at some point.
I originally got the idea from a Stylistics class at university. I tried to create something where we could play with stylistic techniques and in the process better our work. Unfortunately because it was mainly (And I stress mainly, there were a couple of writers in there, some already writing and some just discovering their talent) filled with readers not writers the focus shifted from style to content. They wanted to read good stories, not interesting styles. I tried to keep it on the tracks but it derailed heavily and it ended up with me writing something every week and everyone else pretty much ignoring the tasks.
So this is the problem with writer’s clubs in my experience. You end up doing just what you’re supposed to be doing anyway. Writing by yourself. Writing is a journey that you can only really do by yourself. Sure you get others to read your stuff and get opinions on it, but really no one can make you write better. You write and then you edit. That’s it. Once you’re happy with it you get others to read it. You can’t get others in on the writing process, you have to go it alone.
So if your writing is just a hobby, writers clubs are a good thing. You can socialise and have fun and everyone can drink your wine and eat your cheese because you are the only one who bothered to make an effort. But if you want to make writing your career, I would suggest forgetting about it. It takes up a lot of time and effort which you could spend writing something that will pay the rent.
(Usual rules, first commenter chooses topic or I just talk about writing.)
Skydekkerix 