Writing together, as a group, offers us an opportunity to create from a deeper space. There’s more risk, because we know we might share what was written. 

Consequently, more energy is generated because no matter what, people will react to what we’ve written. And we will react to their reaction.

This internal reaction becomes a kind of fire for us, a spark. Whether you wrote a piece that fell flat or moved people, the simple fact is you wrote. You turned your neurological response to life into something understandable and tangible on the page. 

As we read our work aloud in class, we learn to cultivate an indifference to both praise and criticism. Rather than generously handing over our personal power to others, we learn to take each shared experience in stride, and to simply continue to write. Because writers write. 

Over time, we develop our own unique voice, and cull our deepest stirrings for our stories, which makes them inherently interesting because they are real. 

As we gather together in this supportive group, we learn to keep on writing, and see what happens. Also, we learn to listen to what others have written, and see what happens within us. 

~ Will Donnelly