Writing groups. Like blogs and sea monkeys, they are born with such enthusiasm and yet so often stall and die after a very short time.

I have been a member of at least three that have long since expired, which was why I was very much inspired to read this post by Alaya Dawn Johnson, author of the Summer Prince, outlining five ingredients for successful writing groups.

While Johnson outlines a few good tips, the one that sticks out to me most is the importance of fun, both for the pure enjoyment of it, and for longevity’s sake. Too often in my drive to get things done I forget about this and only focus on the words during my writing groups–but not any more.

If I want to keep them going strong, I guess I am just going to have to start bringing bottles of wine when I go to hang out with cool literary type people. Life is tough that way sometimes.