Writing with others makes writing easier, whether it’s in a formal writing group that meets regularly or just a casual writing date with a friend.
Before I go on, I should clarify what I mean by writing with others. I’m using the phrase to mean literally meeting with other writers (in person or online) to write. I do not mean a coauthored text. Having coauthors can be fun and productive, but it’s also often difficult. Coauthors may struggle to share tasks evenly or to agree on the project’s goals.
Back to writing with others. I’ve been encouraging writers to do this for well over 20 years now. Starting when I was a PhD student, I won a fellowship (Professors for the Future at UCD) to help PhD students and postgrads use writing groups to increase productivity and decrease stress and loneliness.
Over the years, I've led and participated in a variety of writing groups.
How does it work?
No two writing groups are alike, so as you form your own groups, shape them to suit you and the other members.
Virtual cowriting session
Business owners who write their books with me and members of my blogging club get access to up to 5 hours of cowriting sessions each week. We meet via zoom and I or my guest host ask each participant what they’re working on during the session. Then we put ourselves on mute and write. In the final 5 minutes, we come back and report on how we got on.
Sometimes we leave our cameras on, but not always. If a participant works better with body doubling, I leave my camera on with them, but the other participants are free to do as they wish.
Consistently, the clients who attend at least a couple of cowriting sessions per month meet their goals. Those who don’t tend to struggle more.
In-person cowriting session
I run these the same way I run the virtual sessions. When I meet with my Content Retreat groups, it looks like this:
- Discuss our goals for the whole day
- Set a mini goal for that session
- Break – discuss progress
- Repeat steps 2 and 3 two more times
- Finish the day – discuss the last mini goal and how close they got to their big goal(s) for the day
We break the sessions up like this because no one can happily sit down to write for 6 hours. In my Retreats, we alternate between working on blog posts and working on writing behind-the-scenes posts because they take different kinds of focus. This keeps your brain fresh and engaged – which makes the writing easier.
Working with researchers
When I work with academics, I find that finding time to write is their single biggest problem. In case you don’t know any academics, they have this problem because they have far too many demands on their time. Keeping up with teaching, research, and administrative duties is like having three full time jobs – each category can and will eat up 35+ hours a week.
Often writing slips to the bottom of the to-do list because they feel like not doing it only hurts them, not their students or department/faculty. The trouble is that if they don’t write, career progression is nigh on impossible.
Since none of them want to work 90+ hours a week, at the beginning of each of their writing group meetings, I encourage them to spend a few minutes discussing what worked and didn’t for each of them since their previous meeting. These discussions look both at what worked in terms of writing habits and at how they’re saving time on other tasks.
Then they continue as in the sessions described above: set a goal for the meeting, write, discuss their progress at the end.
For this group, both the feeling of accomplishment of having written something during the meeting and the collegiality of discussing common challenges helps them stay motivated to write.
Feedback groups
You may have noticed that I haven’t discussed writers giving each other feed back yet. I’ve taken part in groups that provide such feedback. They can be useful, but they can also feel like a chore.
All the writers I work with are busy (mostly business owners and academics) – finding time to read an article or chapter from each member of the group and giving meaningful feedback, while also finishing their own writing in time to give it to the other members, is a big ask.
I’ve been in feedback groups with as many as 4 members – if each person writes 10,000 words per session, you’re committing to reading 30,000 words in the week before you meet. That’s a lot.
I’ve seen groups get around this by having one member per session read their work to the group. This gets rid of the reading-time problem, but not all writers are comfortable reading their works in progress. Also, not all members will be equally adept at taking in information that way and giving good feedback.
If the ability levels in your group are uneven, some people will be getting excellent feedback, while others won’t. Even if ability levels are even, you run the risk of getting too many varying opinions – there’s a reason the phrase too many cooks spoil the broth has survived as long as it has.
Now, if I’m working with a writer who wants this kind of support, I encourage them to find one other writer of similar ability to work with.
Finally, sometimes these groups also include some cowriting time in their meetings, but not always.
What are the benefits?
I’m not going to list all of them, but the three most striking benefits I’ve experienced and seen in my clients are these:
- You write more – Body doubling works. If you’re writing with others, you’re less likely to check your email or scroll social media. You’ll find it easier to stay focused on what you’re there to do.
- You’re happier about your writing – This is partly because you’ll feel accomplished at the end of the session. But it’s also because you won’t feel so alone, either in what writing problems you’re dealing with (you’ll see that others have faced them too) or just from the companionship of knowing someone else was engaged in this solitary activity alongside you.
- You’ll write more between sessions – That’s right, the motivation will continue hours or days after the session ends. I frequently say writing begets more writing; people who are engaged in writing groups see this in action.
How can I help you?
The answer to this question depends on what kind of writer you are.
You want to write a book
Have a look at There’s a Book in Every Expert and book a call with me to discuss whether now is the right time for your book. Please note, I don’t do high pressure sales and you won’t be able to buy anything on that call.
You want ongoing support for short-form content
For ongoing support, look at what is now called the Entrepreneurs’ Blogging Club. I’ll be changing the name because we do a lot that’s not focused on blogging (like looking at increasing engagement on social media and with your email list).
You want help with batch-creating content
Check out my Content Retreat these happen four times a year (roughly once per quarter). During our time together, you’ll write:
- 3 blog posts/articles that can be broken up into 15+ social media posts
- 12 behind-the-scenes/get-to-know-you style posts
That’s enough content for 12 weeks! What’s more, almost all of that content will be evergreen (reusable) so you aren’t always starting from scratch.
Academic writers
If you’re an academic or someone who supports academics, have a look at my offerings for universities. On that page, you’ll be able to book a call so we can tailor a package to support you.