Leadership of the Small Writing Group, Part II

         

Good leaders lead. Leaders need to delegate. In small groups, especially those which experience considerable membership turnover, the facilitators or loyal volunteers are apt to take on so many duties, they have little time left to write.

“Many hands make light the work.” Writers who want to gain the most from meetings agree with that adage, and prevent one person from becoming overtaxed with time-consuming tasks. Depending on the number of participants willing to share responsibilities a group might consider the following positions and their responsibilities:

Host and co-host: If your group meets in a restaurant, your host’s main duty is probably getting a head count if the facility requires it. Whether it’s an apartment club room or home, the host must make sure the meeting room is set up, and help guests feel at home. Usually one or more will volunteer to help with preparation and clean up. If not the facilitator should call for a co-host.

Critique Attendant and/or Time Keeper: This person should be aware of policies with regard to your group’s critique sessions, and make sure that part of the meeting runs on schedule. When the workload is heavy, s/he needs to divide critique time more or less evenly between all participants, and call “Time” if/ when a member runs over his or her allotted time to speak.

Librarian: If the group has a book exchange program, the librarian updates the books on the list members have available to lend out. The librarian should make available a dictionary, thesaurus, and grammar guide for each meeting.

Liaison: If your group is sponsored by or affiliated with a larger organization or is part of a writing group network, the liaison officer function as a link between the entities. Suggested duties:

·          At regular intervals submits an activity update to other groups or sponsor.

·          Keeps up with resources offered by the larger organization. For example, classes or activities they sponsor, literature available for distribution, and so forth.

Coordinator: This member is the group’s cheerleader. If budgeted, provides awards for goals met, checks on members who have been absent, and helps to arrange field trips or social activities if membership is interested in such functions.

The positions listed above are merely suggestions. One group may employ a grammarian, another a computer expert, or a photographer to record activities. Primarily, it’s important that the bulk of the work should never fall on the shoulders of one person. Secondly, a group should take advantage of members’ talents and willingness to help.

© Bernice W. Simpson 

Leadership of the Small Writing Group , Part I

                 

Support for one another is the common thread that holds small writing groups together. And that’s good. But even small critique groups, writing circles, clubs, or guilds, need leadership. Without it, friendships that develop can cause a writing circle to degenerate into a writers’ social. Serious writers drop out, and the group folds.

In its advice on how to organize a writing group, the book CRAFT: Create, Rewrite, and Fine Tune*, tells how to prevent a break-up by putting guidelines in place when the group is first formed. Basic guidelines in writing give prospective members a clear idea of what to expect when joining the group. A leader’s simple statement, “Remember, we do it this way,” is usually all it takes to head off conflict, a members’ press for change, or overly disruptive chatter.

That does not mean dynamics will not change. With fundamental elements in place, however, it’s easy enough to tweak ground rules as necessary. CRAFT suggests an annual review of its structure and the direction it is taking, regardless of an association’s size. The following are among dozens of questions leadership may want to consider:

·          Are members satisfied with the meeting day and time, and meeting length?

·          What about the meeting place? How well is the present arrangement working?

·          Variations in meeting structure are endless. Of importance is how well your present structure is working for your group. Members who suggest changes should be ready with ideas on how to implement the changes, and, if adopted, to then be responsible for putting new procedures in place.

·          Do policies require redefining? For example, what is: “too steamy” in romance novels; unacceptable language; overly violent scenes, and so forth?

·          Is the work load fair and effective? While large groups tend to elect annual officers, the leadership in small groups often falls to its original organizer(s). The book CRAFT lists a number of positions with duties, if there are sufficient volunteers to take on extra responsibility. Those are the subject of another article. The primary leadership role belongs to the facilitator.

A writing Group’s Facilitator

This is the group’s main leader. Duties will vary from group to group, but will typically include the following:

·          Makes leadership decisions between meetings, often in consultation with key members who make a point of keeping up with group concerns and activities, attend meetings as regularly as they can, and act as advisors to the facilitator.

·          Opens, and later closes the meeting, conducts the business session, if applicable, and makes necessary announcements, including welcoming of guests and introduction of guest speakers.

·          Keeps activities on track in order to complete the meeting’s agenda.

·          Facilitates discussion, aiming for a balance between encouraging participation of all in attendance while discouraging discussion from turning into desultory chat.

·          Direct the critique session if it is on the agenda. Typical priorities for the critique leader is to keep the session moving, and remind members, when necessary, to not interrupt the critique, to critique the writing and not content, phrase comments in a positive manner, and so forth. In short, the person who facilitates a critique session should be aware of the group’s standards for the giving and receipt of critique, and with diplomacy, encourage those standards to be followed.

In large groups, members' contribution to their organization may be limited to their annual dues. The smaller the group, the more each member should accept responsibilities. Learn how to add spark to the small writing group through teamwork in Leadership of the Small Writing Group, Part II.    

*CRAFT: Create, Rewrite, and Fine Tune is still in an editing stage, with a unit or two not finished.

I am indebted to my friend, Diane Mowery, for help with this article. 

© Bernice W. Simpson 

The Small or Local Writing Group: Reasons to Join It

Last week, Hang Tough outlined how to receive a critique. Next week’s topic will be how to give a critique. But to give and receive critiques, you must have interaction with at least one other writer. Preferably though, you are part of a critique group. Why? Consider these benefits.

·         A little push. Writers must be self-starters. No boss tells you when to work or what to work on. Your regular meeting provides impetus to finish that scene, chapter, poem or proposal.

·         Free proofreading. Your five-minute read by a fellow writer whose eagle-eye catches a simple spelling error is worth a dollar or more. That's what a professional reader charges for red-lining each of your careless mistakes.

·         A reader's reaction. Writers are readers--magazine subscribers, library patrons and book buyers, especially in their own genre. Most of them develop a feel for the market--the what's in and what's not. Where can you find a better bunch to respond to your work?

·         Truthful comments. Your mother and best friends don't want to hurt your feelings. Your writing friends don't want to be hurtful either, but they know their honesty is important to you in making your work the best it can be.

·         Professional style. Correctly written is not synonymous with well written. You may have excelled in English classes, but have you developed a fine, professional style? A focused critique group will help you define your voice and put punch in your prose.

·         Writers’ techniques. Most writers take writing courses, attend author's seminars and read books about writing. When armed with knowledge, they’ll not only tell you what works, but why it works, and how to employ techniques to overcome your manuscript’s flaws.

·         Editor-like input. Writers develop expertise in different areas. One writer is dynamite with dialogue while another can recite grammar rules and give the reason for each. Collectively, your group can equal one experienced editor.

·         Support. It takes discipline to spend long hours in front of a computer, only to shred your hard copy and start again. A writer knows how it feels to be rejected when he believes his manuscript is finally perfect. Critique groups give their members what money cannot buy—camaraderie and encouragement.

(c) 2011, Bernice W. Simpson