Writers and Editors

Listed here are official local and regional groups, but sometimes the most effective local groups for writers and/or editors are informal groups. For freelancers, such a group is one way to alleviate cabin fever.

One group of magazine writers, editors, and book authors, for example, began meeting once a month for networking sessions, and the group grew to about 50 people. The group invites guest authors to give 20-minute talks, after which members network. Members bring dishes to share, no fees are charged, and members find work through the networking.

Another, smaller, group meets the same day and place every week, after office hours, just to schmooze, vent, gossip, give and ask advice. Some groups meet to critique each other’s work. Some meet to discuss special interest (such as Victor Block's group in DC, which discusses travel writing).

If you don’t know of any such group where you live, start one. It’s comforting to have a local support group with which to vent, brag, query, bitch and moan, and exchange shop talk. Meanwhile, the larger organizations provide a place to make connections and learn about your craft. Sometimes their strength lies in practical features such as health insurance. (Disability insurance is harder to come by for writers; insurance firms think a writer wants to stay home and write the great American novel.)

You'll find more local and regional organizations listed under science writers and under specialty writing (where you will find many regional sports and writing organizations, including Southern Bowling Writers).