Writing Groups

I just joined a group where playwrights bring in plays each week to be read each week by actors, which then is followed by a discussion of what is heard. There are at least one hundred of them in Manhattan. Because they become the playwright's first audience, writers speak of them in the same urgent tones that other folks reserve for lovers. Is it working out? Do they respect me? Should I continue or break it off?

I ran one of these groups myself for ten years, a non-profit organization that was producing four new plays a year. Then I had to take time off to deal with my divorce and, when I tried to get it going again last year, the space was gone and the people had moved on.

So I decided to join someone else’s group, to focus on being a writer rather than a leader. It is a totally different experience, however, being just a writer, especially a new writer. When people know my work, especially when they have seen my work succeed on stage, they start with a level of acceptance. However, when I am new to a group, especially when the group has been around, there is skepticism, sometimes to the point of hostility, even if the leader has invited me because he/she knows my work.

Which is probably good for me right now. Let myself write new material for a new group and see if I can form new bonds. Besides, there are two groups I'm joining, one weekly and one monthly. I haven't really tried to make friends so far. Everyone seems to know each other and, besides, it is about the work and I won't be bringing in my writing for a week or two. So I've been sitting in the back, a bit standoffish I suppose, but opportunities for conversations will arise down the line.

One danger that comes with not knowing another's work is that, if a piece isn't working, one can think that playwright doesn't know how to write when it is just that the particular piece isn't working yet. I caught myself doing this in one of my comments. I wasn't nasty, but I started talking more about how to write a play rather than just my reaction to what was happening or not happening in the scene. Because it should be about the work, always about the work.