Blowing on the Glowing Embers (In Other Words, Being in a Writing Group)

OTP author Fiona Fieldhouse discusses the motivational force of her writing group, Glowing Embers

We are a small writing group consisting of five people of a ‘certain age’ who came together in order to share our writing. Like all good opportunities, the group came together through a mixture of serendipity and good timing. We were all attending the same WEA literature class and the tutor picked up that we were each working on personal writing projects and encouraged us to meet, so we did. In a noisy tearoom we each shared our personal writing experience and what we were doing now. Having only seen each other in the literature class we were virtual strangers, but as we finished our discussion, Andy said, “Well one thing is quite clear. We’re all blowing on the glowing embers.” And the name stuck. The group became The Glowing Embers, or GEMS.

We meet every four to six weeks at each other’s homes. We email the group a short piece of writing, written for the meeting or taken from what we’re working on, a few days prior to the meeting. Each piece is critiqued verbally. We take turns to act as facilitator, keeping time and ensuring that each member has roughly equal space for their work to be considered. There is one steadfast rule. No self-deprecation is allowed.      

All feedback is honest, intended to be helpful to the recipient, and we know we have each other’s best interests at heart. Listening to endless praise is never as useful as honest, helpful comment, but we do trust each other’s guidance and encouragement. The confidence to do this is enhanced by working in a ‘closed group’ with consistent membership over time.

Not long after GEMS had formed, we decided to get together a book, a slim volume containing a small selection of our writing. We did this for a charity, Read Easy, which helps adults with poor literacy to read. After all, we thought, we’re writers. We need readers! This was an enormously bonding experience, gave us clearly defined goals and deadlines and nurtured our belief in ourselves as writers. We agreed the format of the book, a collection of poetry, blogs, short story, flash memoir and extracts from longer fiction, with pen and ink drawings and a short biog of each contributor. As it says on the back cover of the book, ‘Writers from the Gems Writing Group show how being part of the group has helped each of them find their voice.’ We had input from an editor, a cover designer and a printer did the publishing. The book is titled Glowing Embers, and states on the front cover, ‘Joining a Writing Group can Change Your Life’. Indeed, it has. Since our first meeting, two novels and a short story have been published, a play has been performed and during the pandemic a blog was regularly posted.

As our trust and respect for one another developed and our individual styles emerged, we have encouraged each other’s current projects. At the first WEA literature class I attended, I felt I’d found my tribe. When I met with my classmates in that noisy tearoom, it was like a door opening. I walked through it and became my other self. In 2020, my novel Alison’s New Beginnings was published. It is my belief that without GEMS this would not have happened. We have discovered that being with the group gives inspiration, validation, a sense of belonging, a huge affirmation of identity. The value of an open and honest relationship with other writers cannot be overestimated. Fellow GEMS have told me the group gives them the courage to keep going; builds resilience. Also that they don’t want to let the group down. The group acts as a spur, gives validation and over time a clarification of how one’s voice as a writer is received.

I’m working on two projects at the moment. One is a proposed book, a collection of weekly newsletters from my local church prayer group which were published online during the pandemic. This in aid of the church roof. The other is a final (I hope) rewrite of a short memoir. Plus, of course, journalling, writing pieces for GEMS meetings, and jottings of stuff which inspires or moves me, to be squirreled away in my laptop writing file. For the time being.