If you're in a group, and feeling like you're not fitting in, the problem might be you're in the wrong type of group.
Many years ago, I joined the wrong type of group. I didn't understand the circle's purpose, and since I was a writing noob, I misinterpreted what members said and did. This led to contortions of self-doubt, and ultimately, I abandoned my work in progress (WIP) and the circle.
The truth? I simply had picked the wrong group.
This is such an important concept I’m devoting all of July to sharing what I know about the three major types of writing groups. Last week, I started with critiquing circles. Now I’m going to talk about the type of group that helps us hold ourselves accountable to our writing commitments.
An accountability type of group is all about mutual support, motivation and encouragement so that every member can reach the targets and deadlines they set for themselves. Whatever goal you’re aiming at—establishing a daily writing practice of words or minutes, taking a class to learn a new system, reaching a number of submissions, sending an agent query, achieving a milestone in a manuscript, implementing a Facebook ad strategy, researching Kickstarter campaigns—you name the goal, and the accountability group is your helper to accomplish it.
If you belong to an accountability group, you won't share your WIPs. You can expect to articulate writing-related aims, set due dates and report out on your progress. You also can expect to listen to and actively encourage others on their goals.
Since you set your goals, you might think you can easily work on your own stuff without a lot of fuss from other people. But science begs to differ. Neuroscience says human beings have a hard time establishing new behaviors. On top of that, recent studies have substantially furthered the scientific understanding of the relationship between setting goals and achieving behavior change and confirmed that human beings need motivation to reach a goal.
I used the word 'need' intentionally. Motivation is more than an a 'nice to have'.
So, what this means for you as a writer is your brain is wired to benefit from people cheering you on as you progress on your writerly goals. Plus, there’s an added boost to your motivation when you encourage others to achieve their goals. Win, win.
Still, in order to reap these benefits, you have to be an active member of a group. That’s why members of an accountability-type of group communicate their goals with each other and establish a regular check-in routine to keep each other on track. Check-in routines can be live or online—it doesn't matter. What matters is that there's a regular connection point for monitoring progress against stated goals.
And here's something important about that check-in: It has to be judgment free. The check-in is not a competition to see who wrote the most or met their aims the fastest compared to who didn't. The check-in should be a place of encouragement on progress towards a goal, whatever progress that is, and offer motivating and empowering support. So, even if you don't reach your target (and let's face it, none of us reach every writing goal every time), you should feel it's okay to share your truth, learn from your progress, strengthen your commitment by helping others, and refresh your dedication to whatever you choose for the next measurement period.
If you're in an accountability type of group today, how's it going for you? Are you giving/getting support? Let me know in the comments!
Next week I'll share about the third type of writing group.
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