Cover Photo: In this cheerful graphic, we see piles of colorful, haphazard books organized in a pattern against a blue background. The question, "What advice do you have for someone who wants to start a writing group?" is in the middle of the graphic.
graphic created by Stella Cabot Wilson for Catapult

So You Want to Start a Writing Group

For our May Writing Question of the Month, we asked a few writers what advice they’d give to someone who wants to start a writing group for the first time

As a Writing Programs Coordinator at Catapult, I get a lot of questions from students about forming writing groups. Whether you’re just beginning a writing career and are hoping to find like-minded peers who can hold you accountable or you’re about to be published for the first time and want someone to commiserate with, a writing group could be just what you need. Writing is often a solitary practice, but not every step of the journey has to be made alone!

For our second writing question of the month, we asked several writers, some of whom are in the same writing group, What advice would give to writers who want to form a writing group for the first time?

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 ’s  reporting and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Aeon Magazine, Paris Review, Chronicle of Higher Education, Lapham's Quarterly, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and more.

reported non-fictionDeena ElGenaidiLilly DancygerNina St. PierreJeanna Kadlec

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Lilly Dancyger Negative SpaceBurn it Downhere

memoir Heretic  ElleAutostraddleLitHub

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Alex Marzano-Lesnevich The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a MemoirThe New York Times, The Boston Globe, Oxford American, Harper’s Both and Neither

The Fact of a Body

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Disappearing EarthThe New York Times,​The AtlanticThe Paris Review


Stella Cabot Wilson is an Associate Editor for Don't Write Alone and Catapult. She grew up in Colorado and Wyoming and lives in New York City. You can find her on Twitter @ssrosecw .