- Who can join us? A writer. A reader. Someone new to writing. An old hand at writing. Someone curious about writing. Anyone who lives within a reasonable distance to join us for meetings. We are not a virtual group, and we are a local group, serving our community in the Baltimore area.
- What does it cost? Zip. Nada. Zero.
- When/Where do we meet? We generally meet every-other Sunday at: The Bun Shop • 293 W Read St • Baltimore MD 21201 – 11 AM (for 90 minutes or so) – Check the calendar for directions and our next meeting.
- What do we do? We share things that we’re working on for the rest of the group to enjoy and offer suggestions. We high-five each other for successes, and support each other through the writing process. Simply put, we‘re writing geeks who hang out and talk writing. It’s D&D without dice. Once you stop by and decide we’re a match, we’ll add you to our Google Class group, where we post works in progress. There is also a Discord group to continue more direct communication.
- What do we read? Anything! Fiction, non-fiction, LitRPG, fan fiction, poetry, role-playing games – If it’s something you write, we read it. Whether you’re writing solely for the craft or to get yourself published – Bring it!
- How Does It Work? Work is submitted to the group online ahead of each meeting. We read, enjoy, and critique before the meeting, Then we meet live, present our findings and offer consrtructive suggestions.
- Do we publish? We have published a few “‘Zines” so far – mostly to leave at various literary-friendly locations, looking to drum up more writers to join our ranks. We are looking further into both print and online publication – But our primary purpose at this point is the craft of writing.
- What do we think about that evil AI? As far as we know, everyone in our group writes the old-fashioned way: Thinking of stuff and writing it down. But we definitely talk about AI – it is a world-changing event. Who knows what writing will look like in the far-flung future? But here in the present, AI has been trained through rather sketchy avenues. Its knowledge is built on the work of humans, often without their consent. If your goal is for AI to be your “writing partner,” you would be looking for an AI writing group. We are not an AI writing group. People craft art. Computers emulate art. It is a profound difference. That said, we’re not living in a vacuum. AI is here, and conversation is good. That brings us to our last point:
- This is a safe space. We are always ready to talk and listen. The AI question, the life stuff, and the ups and downs as we do one of the most personal things a human can do, put our hearts to paper. All are welcome!