Reaching Out as a Group
by Kelly Huckaby

With the New Year now a reality, it's the perfect time to think about reaching out to others. Have you considered taking your local writers' meeting on the road? What better ministry for your local group to have than to reach out to writers in the surrounding communities and assist them in starting a group of their own!

Depending on where you live, the “next town over” could be down the road a block or more than 50 miles away. Either way, there are probably Christian writers in that town who don’t know about you or your group.

Investigate Surrounding Communities

Once or twice a year, check out neighboring towns for potential meeting places. Inquire at the local library or bookstore to see if they know of any writing groups in the area. If there are none, ask if you can use a room at the library for a meeting place. Check bookstores and coffee shops to see if they have space for you to hold a small meeting. Visit the local churches and ask if they would be willing to allow you to meet in their building.

Leave your name, phone number and email address at each place you inquire, and ask them to contact you if anyone in the area is interested in forming a writing group. Having a local person available to assist you in planning your meeting will be beneficial. They'll know of places to meet, and people to contact, to make your meeting a success.

Make Plans

About 4 to 6 weeks prior to the meeting, secure a meeting place in the designated town. Spend time promoting your group and posting info about the upcoming meeting. Give flyers (see sidebar) to local bookstores, libraries, coffee shops, churches and colleges. If possible, post notecard-sized “announcements” in these places if they have a bulletin board. Check the entryway of local grocery stores, too, to see if they offer bulletin boards where you can place your announcement. If your budget allows, consider advertising in local subscription-based newspapers, as well as free papers.

Final Preparations

About a week before the meeting, follow-up on your flyers. Ask those you left flyers with if there has been any interest or questions. Post new flyers and notecards if needed, to remind people of the meeting. Contact your established members and encourage them to attend the meeting—carpool if necessary. Let them know this is an “outreach” meeting, and that their attendance is a way to serve new writers. You may wish to offer awards/incentives for:

• The most people who carpooled together
   
• The one who drove the farthest
   
• The member who encouraged the most people to attend
   
• The youngest in attendance
   
• The oldest in attendance
   
• The person who submitted the most in the past two weeks
   
• The person published the most in the past month
   
• The person published for the first time in the past month

Have Fun

On the day of the meeting, add a little twist to your normal agenda:

• Start with an ice-breaker, using questions based on My Six Friends:
   
  1. If you could be any writer, who would it be?
      
  2. What topic do you like to write about the most?
      
  3. Why do you want to be a writer?
      
  4. How can others encourage you to write?
      
  5. Where do you go when you want uninterrupted time to write?
      
  6. When do you find time to write?
• Pass out the awards/incentives, and consider giving away a door prize (such as a subscription to a writing magazine, paid for with group funds if possible, or by an anonymous donor).
   
• Do some quick free-writing. Offer a starter sentence or phrase and have participants write a complete scene using only 99 words. Starter sentences can be first lines from popular novels or classics, beginning sentences from the local paper, or something completely off the top of your head.
   
• Spend time reading and critiquing these newly written works.

You want this meeting, in this new town, to be similar to your normal meetings, but at the same time you want it to be a little more fun. You want your established members to know you appreciate their willingness to drive the extra distance, and you want new writers in the area to see that writing groups are not dull!

If no one in the new town shows up, wait three to six months and then try setting up a meeting again. After two meetings, if no one shows up, move on to the next town. If you had some locals attend, and they are interested in meeting regularly, have volunteers from your group help them start their own writing group. And always encourage them to come to your town on occasion to experience your group meetings.

Reaching out to others is a great way to show the love of Jesus. You will be blessed as you bless others!