Writing Groups - What's Not to Like??

During the last couple of days I've been moving into a new computer -- nightmare -- and for a twenty-four hour period it has felt as bad as moving house: all my metaphorical boxes are piled up just anyhow and I can't find where anything it is. However, I've done most of the unpacking and quite a lot of migrating, with the indispensable help of the people at Geek Squad (thank you agent Peter!) Probably too much information for you, but it's a kind of apology for my silence yesterday.

As a treat after all of this discombobulation I'm going to my writing group this evening. I've been working with this particular band of inspiring scribes for more than ten years now, and if you aren't already a member of a writing group, I couldn't recommend it more highly. You could try looking online to see if there is a group near you, or pop into your local library, or failing that, start one yourself. Here are some of the benefits I think you will enjoy:

• Writing is an incredibly solitary occupation; not just solitary, there are elements of obsessive compulsiveness about it too, so to meet up with people who share the same imagination/ambition/disorder can be extremely life affirming.
• It can be very difficult to find constructive help when you are starting out.  Enrolling for a creative writing course at your local college can be useful, but what writing groups give you is something more long-term than that. There's nothing to beat the fulfillment of seeing each other grow, develop and mature as writers as the years roll by.
• You get incredibly valuable feedback from a range of different people who, over time, will have come to know your weaknesses and the giddy heights that you are capable of attaining.
• Through listening to other people's efforts, you will develop your editorial skills and be able to bring a keen critical appreciation to your own work.
• Each meeting provides a fascinating, intricate and stimulating analysis of what makes writing work - who could ask for more?