- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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Vickey Beaver
"That's what a writers group is all about," she says. "It's about joining with other people from a variety of genres, and a variety of experiences, whether they are published, unpublished, or never want to be published. All of you want to write something for some reason that is important to you. A writers group is all about having a place where other people are respectful and interested in the act of writing."
A typical session will begin with a writing exercise. That will be followed by a discussion of work members have done during the week. Pieces will be read aloud as members take constructive notes. Discussions will include resources for writers including where to submit work, or getting an agent. For those who want topics the group will offer writing challenges.
Beaver is a freelance writer. She has written in many styles, but says she particularly enjoys writing fiction, specifically fantasy fiction. She writes 'adventures' for Savage Mojo , a role playing collective. These 'adventures' are a kind of story outline that guides a session of a role playing game. She has had a poem published in an anthology, and was awarded a Cornell Council for the Arts grant for her original fantasy prose and poetry that involved a reading of her work. Her book, 'The Ratten Wakes,' will be published by Savage Mojo later this winter. She founded a similar group in Berkshire, NY when she lived there.
"Though the years I've realized that my biggest strength in writing is when I am working with other people, when somebody else reads it and says 'I read this two times and I still don't understand where you're going with it,'" she says. "Having those ideas from other people when they don't know what I'm thinking of helps me understand whether I am conveying what I want them to know."
Beaver says a writers group offers advantages to authors at all levels of achievement, professional and amateur.
"It depends on what a person is looking for," she says. "If they are looking for a place to bounce off ideas and to hear what people think before pitching the next thing to the next publisher, or if they're doing a personal thing it gives them a smaller, captive audience with similar interests. The feedback that they get is going to be different from what they get by passing their work to beta readers. Somebody who is more established could get honest feedback from people with no vested interest, and writers will be motivated to keep writing every week."
She has also established a Yahoo group that will be used to remind members of upcoming meetings, as well as provide an online element to the group.
"It will be a place where they may post files that is available to the writers group, but not available to non-members," she says. "That will be handy for writers who want members to critique their work before deadlines or for any reason between meetings."
The Lansing Writers Group will meet every Wednesday at the Lansing Community Library at 7pm.
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