Part 3: Writers Groups and Networks
Surprise! A Writer’s Toolbox was originally intended as a two-parter focused on print and digital resources I use to help me in my fiction writing journey. However, no writer’s kit is complete without actual human resources. You know, peers and pros, fellow writers and the knowledge and wisdom they provide both as individuals and in organized (sometimes) groups. So, this unforeseen third installment of A Writer’s Toolbox will look at the people who help me out. Thank you to every one of them!
At a certain point (the earlier the better), every writer should join a writers organization. Big or small, they all provide vast benefits.
There are the big ones like SFWA (the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association), The Mystery Writers of America, and others which are nationwide (or global) and have qualified membership. That simply means members must have a certain number works in print, perhaps in specific markets, to join (plus dues, etc.). These groups are for professional writers. They offer conferences, publicity, education, and even serve as a form of writers lobby or union when it comes to big issues like diversity in the marketplace, contracts, corporate mergers, et al. I don’t belong to any of the big organizations, only because I don’t qualify, yet. But I’m working on it.
In every big city and in just about every region of the country there are smaller, local writers organizations. If you’re reading this and are unaware of what’s available in your neck of the woods, try a quick internet search. If on the off-chance you come up dry, check out other regions nearby, most writers organization offer membership and participation to any writer no matter where they live (provided you pay your dues).
Big or small, writers organizations are essential tools to have in your writer’s toolbox.
Currently, I am an active member of three regional writers organizations. Pikes Peak Writers, based in Colorado Springs, is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization with a thirty-year history of providing education and opportunity for writers of fiction, narrative non-fiction (a bit), and memoirs. This is my mother-group and I can’t speak highly enough of them. PPW runs an annual conference widely known as the friendliest in the country. Plus, they provide four functions each month that are free to the public. AND they publish an anthology. What more could you want? Membership is open to anyone no matter whether you’ve produced eight novels or haven’t even written a three-sentence story premise on a cocktail napkin.
Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers is an organization similar to PPW, but based in Denver, CO. They charge a meager annual dues, but it’s worth it. RMFW holds an annual conference, provides online and live workshops, has a blog and podcast, publishes a bi-annual anthology, and is run by a great board of volunteers. They, too, are open to writers of any level living anywhere.
The third group I am a part of is The League of Utah Writers. LUW operates via chapters all around the state of Utah. Each runs its own events and caters to their local author base. However, LUW also offers an unaffiliated membership for those not in Utah, like me. LUW provides free author promos via their newsletter, holds the Quills Conference every year in Salt Lake City, and has writing contests. LUW is also broad, in that they include and support non-fiction and poetry writers in ways the other two I’ve mentioned do not.
Find a writers group that is right for your writer’s toolbox.
Let’s say even a regional group sounds intimidating. You want to expand your writer’s toolbox, but were thinking more a set of pliers, not a rotary grinder. Take a look on social media or at your local library. It’s highly likely there are others in your area looking to get together without the hullabaloo of dues and conferences and newsletters. Whatever your preference, you need the tools only connecting with fellow writers can provide.
What interpersonal writing tools are you part of? What value have you found in them? Will you continue using them or trade them in for something newer and shinier?
