Recently, I shared a survey link with my newsletter subscribers, to get a feel for how or whether people value accountability to their writing craft. Would anyone be interested in being part of a writing accountability group? Is a virtual community built around group coaching and quiet writing time something people would be willing to pay for?
I have hosted a free hour-long Write-In on Zoom twice a month for almost two years now. Nearly 100 people have signed up to receive reminders of these free writing events, and a few of us gather at every session. There are the familiar faces, and often, people hop on for the first time, eager to see what an hour of dedicated writing time might produce for them. Everyone shares a specific writing goal for the session, and then I set a timer and we write for a solid 45-50 minutes. At the end, we reconvene and writers have an opportunity to share any insights that came out of their writing session.
A few things I’ve heard at recent write-ins:
“It’s amazing how fast the words can go down,” one writer said.
“I’m going to just hop in here and work on this with the moral support of you all,” said another.
A third writer recently showed up to a write-in with the goal of beginning to write her father’s obituary. It was a colossal task she didn’t necessarily feel up to doing. But with the built-in structure and accountability of the hour-long write-in, she knew writing at this specific time and place would be beneficial to that task.
Once our hour of writing was up, she said, “If it hadn’t have been for this [write-in], I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have taken the time to gather my thoughts, wouldn’t have put down a timeline, wouldn’t have taken the time to write. Thank you.”
If an informal, hour-long session once or twice a month can pack such a punch, what could a more regular and more robust writing accountability group look like? Loosely, I envisioned a weekly or semi-weekly gathering on Zoom, for 90 minutes of group coaching and writing. Group coaching means we would reserve the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes of each session to talk about our writing, share our goals and struggles, troubleshoot specific problems in one another’s drafts. Writing means we would put the proverbial pen to paper and spend a dedicated quiet hour, writing. The writing time would be individual, but we’d all be working on our own writing at the same time.
Would anyone be interested in such a group? Would anyone be willing to invest in quality, structured writing time, combined with coaching to help them gain clarity and direction in their stories?
Well … maybe.
The results of the survey suggested that, for the most part, people love the idea of free things they can have access to often, with no real strings attached.
- Forty-six percent of those who responded said they would prefer weekly writing and coaching sessions.
- Sixty-two percent would pay up to $12 per month for such an offering.
- Thirty-one percent would not be willing to pay at all.
- Only one respondent would be willing to pay more than $20 per month for regularly scheduled, ongoing coaching and writing sessions.
I share this not as an admonition but rather as an intriguing look into how people think about and value their writing time.
For almost five years I ran a free online writing community that encouraged members to share their writing goals, network with other writers and join in conversations around our writing. More than 400 people joined the community. Few of them interacted with one another or participated in any of the online events or questions after joining.
The lesson, to me, was, when something is free, you have nothing to lose. When you have nothing to lose, you have no skin in the game – no real drive or motivation to show up or contribute.
What is your writing – your creative time and your creative work – worth to you? Where do you want your writing to go? How far do you want to take it? Is that goal something you can confidently achieve on your own, with no outside accountability or motivation or encouragement? Is it a goal that already benefits from accountability and encouragement from a loving circle you have created?
How to you consistently show up to the page to do the creative work?
It’s one of the questions I am asked most often.
I totally get it. Writing can be a lonely endeavor. Often, when you’re the one writing a book, penning a short story or trying to get an essay down, no one else is looking over your shoulder. No one is checking in on you, asking you how the project is going or what you accomplished on said project today. If you don’t show up to work on it, no one but you will notice.
Sometimes, that lack of accountability is enough to ask ourselves why our work matters anyway. Who cares about what we have to say?
Hope Clark, one of my heroes in the writing world, addressed this challenge in one of her weekly newsletters a few years ago. She said: “You have to love to write. It has to be something you’d do regardless of sales. It’s a hunger. It’s not about tropes and trends; it’s about what burns inside you that needs to show up on paper. It’s about storytelling.”
Do you love to write? Are you one of those people who can’t NOT write?
How do YOU consistently show up?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to drop me a line at kate@katemeadows.com, or schedule a free 20-minute Discovery Call here.
For more on Write-Ins and establishing a regular writing practice, check out these blog posts:
