IWAP Writing Group

About three years ago I decided to lead a writing group after I had tried a writing group in Prague and one in San Diego and realized how much fun it is to just write with others using prompts. I knew that starting any group in IWAP is easy if you find something you like to do and just need some other great people to do it with you. Besides, with a last name like Story, it seemed like I was destined to actually write stories.

At first I wasn’t quite sure what direction I wanted to take with the format of the group so I decided it would be an experimental writing group. It meant that I would experiment with the types of formats I had seen in other groups and get a feel for what the members wanted to get out of it. My original goal was to meet and write in different venues (not just in some boring room in a building). I wanted us to somehow interact with our environment and writing. After all we live in one of the most inspirational cities in the world!

For example, we met at some tables near all the circus tents in Letna for our writing. I provided the writers with 3 random words and we wrote for 25 minutes while the music played and the sound of excited people going to a circus were all around us. All I can say is the stories were beyond fantastic as we all had our own unique story to share, each including some sort of circus theme and the random words. The creativity of our group is so inspiring.

One time, we wrote a timed prompt before we went to the “witches burning” on April 30th. Some of the writers wore witches hats. Again our distinctive styles come out on the pages and we continue to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. We never require anyone to share their story if they don’t feel comfortable, but it is rare that someone opts out of reading what they wrote.

We have experimented with having pre-assigned prompts to write ahead and to only read at the meeting. Some writers enjoy this and others prefer the surprise. For the time being we alternate between the two formats. We try to meet at least once a month for about 90 minutes, and sometimes we get in a second meeting. For the time being we haven’t settled on a regular schedule as we try to accommodate our active lifestyles.

Our lovely group seems to have about 4-8 regulars that come while others come when they can. Keeping it on the small size is beneficial in allowing time to write and share so we can give each other feedback. We have a few non-native English speakers that write beautifully.

The beauty of this group is really learning about another person’s writing process and setting aside time to exercise our writing skills and unleash our creativity. We’ve really come to trust each other when sharing our own authentic work, which can often make us feel vulnerable. The real goal being to pursue something we care about which is writing.