An Author’s E-Writing Group

And God smiled again. Pam and another wonderful Caribbean writer, Nalo Hopkinson, had begun a mutual support scheme whereby at the end of every day they e-mailed to each other a word count for work done that day, and work done on the project to that point. Eventually the group widened to include three other writers whom Nalo knew: Hiromi Goto, Jennifer Stevenson, and Larissa Lai. Pam asked if I could join; some time later, David Findlay, Nalo’s partner, came on board as well. The purpose of the group, spread out across the continent from Toronto to Vancouver with points in Illinois and Calgary, was mutual support and encouragement. Every day we’d post our word counts. Sometimes we’d post excerpts, a couple hundred words or less. No comment was required, though people often read excerpts, and if you were having a problem with a passage, or an idea, suggestions were sought and willingly given.

It’s a new take on the old idea of a writing group, and I’d recommend an e-group to every writer who has motivational problems (and which writer doesn’t) or lives in physical or social isolation from other writers. All but one member of the initial group (she took a break to do a PhD!) now has a book that was part of the process.

Read the entire article here and read about how Martin Mordecai’s book ‘Blue Mountain Trouble’ took shape.