First and foremost:

We are not a critique group.

We are not a workshop group.

We are a group of writers who get together to...just write.

This is a group that meets to WRITE, to socialize, and to offer encouragement and inspiration to others as we practice our craft. We're focused on the process, not the product.  Writing can be a solitary activity...but it doesn't have to be.

This is a group where the focus is actually on DOING the work as opposed to critiquing already finished works. I found so many groups on meetup focused on the critique, but none focused on motivating each other to get the writing done. So if you need motivation to get started, set a writing schedule, keep at it, or finish that novel, this group is for you.

We meet on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays on the north side of Chicago.  Feel free to come to work on your novel, play, short story, poem, journal, news article, blog, dissertation...or use a writing prompt. Writers of every level and genre are welcome. Bring your laptop and your iPod and we'll all buckle down and get some writing done silently for an hour and a half. Then we'll close our laptops and take some time to socialize and have some coffee or a drink depending on where we are. If you'd like to read a bit of what you're working on, feel free to share!  But you don't have to share unless you wish to. You're also welcome to team up with other members to edit each other's work on your own time, but again, we will not be doing critiques as a group.

If you have alternative venue suggestions, please let me know.