Supportive circles spark literacy success

Writing groups in the Nelson Tasman region offer invaluable support, community, and feedback for local authors, fostering creativity and helping writers achieve their publishing goals. Adrienne Matthews takes a closer look at some of the groups in our region.

American author Amy Neff had her first book, ‘The Days I Loved You Most’ published recently, for which she is estimated to have received over seven figures for. She puts a big part of her success down to the support received in a writer’s group she established with three other authors to encourage each other in their writing efforts. Extraordinarily in a world in which it is very hard to get published, all four have had their work accepted for publication.

Writing groups have existed for centuries with Socrates and his students known to have formed one back in 400BC. Early last century the Bloomsbury Group brought together Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster and John Maynard Keynes, amongst others, to share ideas and philosophies, while Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald were some of the writers who made up the Stratford-on-Odeon group.

Writing is a solitary and sometimes lonely occupation and having time out with a group of fellow writers can be a rich opportunity to share ideas and even be the balm and reassurance needed when words slip temporarily out of mind.

New Zealanders love their books with over 2000 new ones published each year by established publishing companies. With self-publishing now mainstream, many writers are choosing this alternative option, making the figure considerably higher.

The Nelson/Tasman region has its own considerable share of successful writers and a surprising number of writing groups.

S.T.E.M gets its name from its meeting time – Second Tuesday Each Month – “so we don't forget the day!” explains its founder, author Jackie Cook. It meets at 1 – 3 pm in the activities room at Nelson’s Elma Turner Library. The group is so successful that they have added another meeting on the fourth Tuesday of each month.

Jackie established the group about ten years ago. “At that stage I couldn’t find a group that was doing the things that I wanted, like actually writing, so I talked to a few people that I knew and said, ‘let's set up our own group’”, she says.

“The library staff were very kind and supported us and gave us the right sort of work space, plus tea and coffee facilities. They even provided an initial grant to help us with our first collective publication.”

Member numbers hover between 25 and 30, with around a dozen people turning up for meetings on a regular basis.

“Each month we set a theme so that members can write a piece five to seven minutes long if they want to, and then present to the group. Alternatively, they can bring something completely different. Everyone gets a turn to read out their work and get instant feedback. Reading aloud is so valuable. It helps you develop a good ear for your own style and helps identify your authentic voice.”

Members write in a wide range of genres. “Everything except porn,” she laughs. “Well so far. It could be challenging to listen to. Many start by writing family or local community histories and the tools of narrative fiction help widen the audience for it, letting writers move on to other genres.”

A more recent annual event has been a Nelson-based NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). It is an international creative writing project in which participants have to write a 50,000 word manuscript in a single calendar month.

“You commit to writing thirty chapters, one per day. That's 1667 words,” explains Jackie. “It sounds crazy, and even impossible, but it works. You need about an hour and a half to put aside. It really focuses your mind, keeping your story on track, and on theme.”

Most years S.T.E.M self-publish a collection of member’s work. The ten publications completed so far are a fitting example of what a group of writers can achieve and are designed to lead contributors through to individual, longer-format commercial publication.

S.T.E.M is open to anyone with a love of writing. “I put its longevity down to the homemade cake always being a feature of our sessions,” laughs Jackie.

Rock-up & Write operates with a different format altogether. On the fourth Saturday of each month members meet in the Constance Barnicoat Room at the Richmond Library from 9.45am - 12.30pm to write. It is run by the New Zealand Society of Authors Top of the South Branch.

Committee member Kate Shaw appreciates the opportunity it gives to write unhindered for a set time. “We write from 9:30 to 10:45 and then stop for coffee before writing again,” she explains. There are around a dozen members in a wide age range with varying numbers attending each time.

“We’ve had a screenwriter attend and one of our current members is writing a sci-fi western. I am currently editing one novel and writing the third book in a trilogy. Writing is isolating. You often feel like you are in very alone and it can be a bit of a slog. This is one way to get together with others who are in the trenches too.”

“In our mid-morning break, we have a chance to catch up on how everyone is going with other aspects of writing like publishing. A number of people are self-publishing these days and there is a lot to learn about that to do it successfully, especially around social media and the marketing necessary to be successful. It is good to bounce ideas off other people.”

“Rock-up & Write is a collegial group. We support and leverage off each other and, best of all, it’s space where we can feel that we are legitimately authors. That is both motivating and freeing.”

Writers at Lunchtime was originally established in 2005 under the umbrella of the NZ Society of Authors but is now run by Sue Perkins and Belinda Mellor. Held from 11.15am to 1.30pm on the first Wednesday of every month (except January), members meet in the cafeteria at the Nelson Golf Club. Currently there are around 64 people who belong.

“We have a wide range of ages in our group,” says Sue. “There are people with young children, through to pensioners. You don’t even have to be a writer. You just have to be interested in books and writing. Everyone is welcome. Writing can be a very lonely thing and the primary goal of the group is to share ideas and enjoy some time out with fellow lovers of the written word.”

The group meet at 11am for a coffee and a chance to catch up with what other members are up to, and have a speaker who may be an author, expert on publishing or social media. A wide range of writers belong to the group, including those who write about history, ecology, fiction and non-fiction.

Sue and Belinda are themselves published authors. Sue writes in the fantasy genre and has had 35 books published to date.

Golden Bay’s Sue Clark is a member of the Writer’s Group of Golden Bay, one of several writing groups in the area. There are seven people in their group and we meet once a month.

“Around a week beforehand we email a short story or an extract of work we would like critiqued to the other group members and when we get together, we have already read it, so we can be as constructive as possible. We take turns meeting in each other’s homes and its good fun. We set the world to rights as well,” she laughs.

Sue joined around 12 years ago but the group had been going before that. “I was starting on my second book and was thrilled to find a group like this so I could get some feedback. Over the years we’ve also become good friends and the support of other writers means such a lot as writing is a solitary task,” she says.

“We’re quite a cosmopolitan group with members from Germany, Britain, America, in addition to those of us who were born here, so we come from a range of different angles. One of our group will soon be publishing her memoir and another one has written two books with a Maori theme. I’ve published five novels and one children’s picture book under the name of Suzanne Clark.”

Nelson’s Live Poets Society celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and continues to be a strong force for spoken poetry in the region with monthly meetings held at Yaza Café on the third Tuesday of every month (except December) at 7pm.

Each meeting is an open mic one, giving poets a chance to read their poetry aloud to an enthusiastic and encouraging audience.

Those who want to share a poem or two write their name on a blackboard and there is an emcee to make sure the evening runs smoothly. Dylan Mackie is one of the current organisers and says they generally have between 15 and 30 people attend.

The group has enabled many poets to develop their skills over the years with some going on to have collections of poetry produced and some representing the Nelson region at the national Poetry Slam. Awards have been won and local poets have even performed at festivals throughout New Zealand and some have toured with their work.

Dylan says it has been the inspiration and encouragement for him to move from not writing to writing. “It’s a good community of people and you get encouragement and support for your work. I sum it up as a place where we celebrate the courage to write, to share, to speak, and to listen.”

An offshoot of Nelson Live Poets has been set up in Golden Bay by original Nelson Live Poets Society founder Mark Raffills.

Writing is a challenging yet intriguing art. No matter how big or small a writer’s group, those who love the written word can find belonging to a group a great way to encourage their enthusiasm to put words on the page and share the pleasure of them while the opportunity to receive feedback is a gift that can help propel them to achieve more than they thought they could.