Writing

**HIYA** We’re a supportive community, and I’m here to organise this Meetup space. I’m enjoying seeing it growing and becoming a regular place for people to get-together. I also invite likemindeded people with shared interests from society. I hope this develops into a fully fledged, shared, literacy lounging experience - wether I’m here or not! **INTRODUCTION** Join us for some focused coworking writing or reading time. All experience levels are welcome and don’t worry, no one will see what you've written. This session is about getting your writing and reading done and meeting other literacy enthusiasts. **EARLY ARRIVALS** (around 6:45pm) When you show up, find the Literacy Lounge area to the far right and settle in. Take some time to chat with your fellow writers before the start of the session if you like. **START OF SESSION** (around 7pm) I’ll set timers for our no-talking and focused writing sessions (write, break, write, end). **END OF SESSION** (around 8:30pm) Afterward, there’s time to hang out. Perhaps chat and get to know each each other. Everyone tends to talk about their successes and challenges as writers/readers or similar interesting topics. If we don’t have time to stick around, no worries! We’re here every week anyway!! **CLOSURE** (before 9pm) Pleasure ensure you’ve paid for your orders with the waiters. This venue requires everyone to leave by 9pm the latest. **FORMAT** A note about the format: We don’t host critiques or readings. These events are a safe space for writers andd readers of all skill levels and genres to work on their craft. **VENUE** This is a hybrid venue, with a restaurant, lounge, and outdoors seating. The seating has been strategically placed for inclusive social gatherings and for welcoming guests (please keep them positioned). It has an extensive menu of breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, deserts, hot and cold beverages and alcohol - for you to purchase and enjoy during your stay. A waiter/waitress will come over to take our orders. **LOCATION & TRAVEL** Megan's is located within a commercial and residencial complex, with four portals to arrive and leave - two are located on Upper Street opposite St Mary's Church Yard, the other two are around the sides. This venue is just a few minuets walk from the nearest bus stop, and about 10 minutes walk from the main tube and train stations, which is located in between Angel, Highbury and Islington. **PARKING YOUR CAR** You can pay to park your car upto 6:30pm, although it’s free parking afterwards Monday-Friday: located on adjacent roads (make sure you read the signs for parking guidelines). **INTERNET USAGE** For the WiFi name/password: a Megan’s sign-in link will appear on your computer’s browser. **ABOUT ME** I create from lived experience—woven with threads of self-care, healing, and the quiet power of connection through talk, touch, and silence. I’m here to hold space and I try to greet each soul who enters, though I may not be able to linger with everyone - even though how much i’d love to get to knoww everyonee. Still, know you’re warmly welcomed. See you soon! With compliments, Sara x For our full event schedule, visit [https://shutupwrite.com](https://shutupwrite.com)

**UPDATE FOR FEB-APRIL 2026:** For February - end of April 2026 the host of this event will be away. It will still be happening every week, but will be a self-running group. If you are a regular - please welcome any newcomers and be prepared to set the 1 hour timer. If you are a newcomer, the group is usually easy to find (the table/s with notebooks and laptops), and the bar staff know where we are if you can't spot us first time. Happy writing! **\~** Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 18:00 on Wednesday afternoons/evenings. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. SCHEDULE: 18:00 - Quick introductions 18:15 - Timer starts: write for 1 hour 19:15 - The End: chat, take off, or keep writing OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 19:30. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled. If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you at the Peckham Pelican! What Should I Bring? Whatever you need to be able to write! Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block the cafe’s overhead music or the occasional conversation by other patrons. **Other Important Details:** \- If you arrive and can't figure out who we are \(usually the table with a lot of laptops and notebooks\)\, feel free to ask the bar staff who will point you in the right direction\. \- Many of our participants found the event through other means\, so please don't be put off by a low attendance number on MeetUp\! \- The Pelican has some\, but not many\, charging points\, so make sure laptops are charged and perhaps bring a notebook just in case\. \- The WiFi is also very poor \(non\-existent\)\, but most have found that to be a good thing\. Make sure to download or turn on 'offline mode' if working on a computer\. \- Please thank our hosts by purchasing something \(The pizzas are fantastic\, and we write during happy hour \- two for one on cocktails\!\)

We're the All Good Bookshop writing group - we've been around for 10 years now. We offer writing feedback and discussion, whatever your level. Never been before? That's fine. Can only come once in a while? That's fine. Want to come regularly? That's fine. While we're predominantly narrative-based, any type of writing is welcome. Fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, novels, short-stories... bring it along and see if it fits. The cost is £5 to join us. Half of this goes to the bookshop and the other half goes towards snacks/drinks for everyone. Pay when you get there. (If you're having any financial problems, feel free to have a discreet chat with Chris about it). HOW IT WORKS First, we do introductions, which cover: 1 - Who you are 2 - What kind of thing you write 3 - What you're working on 4 - What you've done in the last two weeks. Then we find out who has stuff to read out (1,000 - 2,000 words), and who has questions/discussion points. If you'd prefer to do written hand-outs, you can as well. We then run through as many people as we can fit in, so they can read out or run through a discussion point. The group is run by Chris Brosnahan, an experienced writer and a long-running facilitator of writing groups. HOUSE RULES 1 - No egos. Everyone's stuff is up for criticism/feedback. 2 - Be constructive. We're not a review group - we're trying to help each other improve. 3\. No pressure\. You can turn up and just observe if you want \- you're not under pressure to read out or feed back\. 4 - We do our best to be a safe space. You don't know the backgrounds of everyone in the room. If you're going to read something that might be problematic or emotionally difficult, talk about it first - and if you're unsure, ask. 5 - We do our best to be a safe space. For particularly graphic scenes, please discuss in advance. A reminder that listening to erotica is, in itself, a sex act, and needs the enthusiastic consent of everyone involved. 6 - Content warnings apply. This doesn't just mean things like sex or violence. It also includes things like abuse, long-term illness, death - think of things that someone may find difficult if they're dealing with at the moment. We do our best to be a safe space. 7 - If you're struggling with anything being read, you can take a break without any justification or questions. 8 - Banned question: "Is this based on your own life?" - it doesn't add anything and can make discussion awkward. Please don't ask it. 9 - Let other people talk. You'll get your chance to feedback or ask questions, but it can be all too easy to talk over people. You also don't need to respond to every piece of feedback. 10 - Keep it respectful. Keep it friendly. Any problems? Get in touch and ask.

Join us in the upstairs room of Craft Beer Co Brixton for our next practical workshop, focused entirely on **the querying process**. Querying can be one of the most intimidating parts of the writing journey, so, **in this interactive session, we’ll walk through the full process step by step,** from researching agents and preparing your query package to sending queries, handling responses, and understanding what happens if you receive an offer of representation. We’ll cover: * How to research and choose the right agents * What makes a strong query package (query letter, synopsis, sample pages) * How querying works in practice, including requests, rejections, and offers * What to expect once you sign with an agent and go on submission **The workshop will include discussion and a hands-on exercise**, with the opportunity to draft or refine a pitch and get feedback from the group. This session is **open to writers at any stage**, whether you’re planning ahead, actively querying, or just curious about how the process works. **This session will be led by one of our own members, Karin Robinson! Karin is an agented author of science fiction and fantasy, with one novel currently on submission and another going out to editors shortly.** She was a semi-finalist in the Spring 2025 Writers of the Future award and was shortlisted in the 2024 I Am In Print novel prize for Science Fiction and Fantasy. Her short fiction has been published in 100 Foot Crow, Trembling With Fear, Sci Fi Lampoon (forthcoming issue) and in the anthology Lesbians in Space 2: Sapphics Strike Back. She lives in London with her husband, daughter and two very spoiled cats.

A chance just to work in company on your writing, be it a book, blog, screenplay, dissertation, poem, song, coursework, memoir, play, journal, travel writing or work stuff. Newcomers always welcome. No one will see what you're writing or give you unsolicited advice. WE FILL THE ROOM, so you MUST SIGN UP below AND ARRIVE BY 11.40 at the latest, or we can’t guarantee you a seat. And if you can't make it CHANGE YOUR RSVP to "not going" ASAP to give someone else a chance, thanks. WHERE? FIFTH FLOOR CAFÉ, Floor 5, Waterstones, 203-206 Piccadilly, W1J 9LE TIMINGS:- 11.00 - Café starts serving 11:30 - Host of the day will be there. Say hello, especially if you’re new. 11.40 - Brief introductions for everybody - your name and what you’re working on 11:45 - Timer starts: write for 45 minutes 12:30 – Break, chat to your neighbours if you like 12:45 - Timer starts: write for 45 minutes 13:30 - The End…feel free to stay and keep writing or chat some more. Bring whatever you need to be able to write. It’s a café, there’s some noise so earbuds/headphones/earplugs are handy. There’s very few mains sockets so charged-up laptops are a good idea too. And please remember everybody, thank our venue by buying a drink or food, and don’t consume anything from outside while you're here. IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 11.45 - everyone will be quiet and writing. If there's no spare places ASK THE CAFE STAFF, they may be able to seat you in the adjacent restaurant section (without having to buy food). If not then there's sofas on the sales floors below as well as one cafe at the back of the ground floor and another in the basement. The hosts won't have any other alternatives to offer you. Please feel free to join us for the break and afterwards. We’re looking forward to writing with you, your hosts, Sarah, Nick, Laura and Anna

**Torture is a messy business but we writers must transform our characters by any means necessary.** Join a torturous seminar on how to surface core conflicts into cruel but useful tensions that will transform your main characters as the story unfolds. Character growth, development, transformation - call it what you will - is a fiction fundamental but not every story achieves the promise of the premise when it comes to delivering for readers. First though, you must understanding your story's capacity to 'torture'. This seminar will show how to create character transformations with practical writing techniques and you'll engineer more compelling stories for your readers, as a result. If a character doesn't grow, they die. How will your story inflict the appropriate level of emotional and psychological pain to produce change in your core characters? Sounds tough but it is not. I believe this is the stuff that keeps readers guessing, hypothesising, riven mad, turning pages frantically until 3am to find out what happens and every writer must aspire to be read with greed, no? In three hours (with a short break) we'll go through how to expand and apply internal and external conflicts for your protagonist, recognise which conflicts will drive your character forward, and pull that tension so tight it threatens to snap on any page. Brilliant. 'The only thing worth writing about is the human heart in conflict with itself ' - William Faulkner LEVEL: This session is designed for writers with a basic understanding of plotting, story structure and character development. If you're unsure if that's you, please message me and I'll be happy to advise. TIMING: Saturday, February 28th from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. LOCATION: The Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8ND. Nearest stations are Old Street, Barbican and Moorgate. We have hired the room but please don't bring your own food and drinks. The pub landlord will have my head! TICKETS: £20.00 to pay for content, preparation, venue hire and event organising. Please follow the steps to pay via PayPal when you RSVP. Refunds or credits will only be offered if the meetup is cancelled by admin. Please change your RSVP to 'Not Going' if you can no longer attend as we often have people waiting and we'd hate for them to miss out. Download the Meetup app to manage your RSVPs quickly. Please post below if you have questions above the above. Hope to see you there!

Join us at the top of the biggest bookshop in Europe to work in company on your own writing, be it a book, blog, screenplay, dissertation, poem, song, coursework, memoir, play, journal, travel writing or work stuff. Newcomers always welcome. No one will see what you're writing or give you unsolicited advice. Now that our Saturday events are filling the room we're testing out a Sunday, same format but an hour later. In case it's as popular as our Saturdays we're saying that you MUST SIGN UP below AND ARRIVE BY 12.40 at the latest, or we can’t guarantee you a seat. And if you can't make it CHANGE YOUR RSVP to "not going" ASAP to give someone else a chance, thanks. WHERE? FIFTH FLOOR CAFÉ, Floor 5, Waterstones, 203-206 Piccadilly, W1J 9LE TIMINGS:- 12.00 - Shop and café open 12:30 - Host will be there. Say hello, especially if you’re new. 12.40 - Brief introductions from everybody - your name and what you’re working on 12:45 - Timer starts: write for 45 minutes 13:30 – Break, chat to your neighbours if you like 13:45 - Timer starts: write for 45 minutes 14:30 - The End…feel free to stay and keep writing or chat some more. Bring whatever you need to be able to write. It’s a café, there’s some noise so earbuds/headphones/earplugs are handy. There’s very few mains sockets so charged-up laptops are a good idea too. And please remember everybody, thank our venue by buying a drink or food, and don’t consume anything from outside while you're here. IF YOU ARRIVE AFTER 12.45 - everyone will be quiet and writing. If there's no spare places ASK THE CAFE STAFF, they may be able to seat you in the adjacent restaurant section (without having to buy food). If not then there's sofas on the sales floors below as well as one cafe at the back of the ground floor and another in the basement. The hosts won't have any other alternatives to offer you. Please feel free to join us for the break and afterwards. We’re looking forward to writing with you, your hosts, Sarah, Nick, Laura and Anna

**We will be at The Mitre pub in central Greenwich.** This meetup is free and casual. We just sit around for a few hours and write together. Bring a laptop, or use a pen and paper or clay tablet and stylus if that's what works for you. The structure of the session is roughly: 2pm: chat 2:20–3:25: writing time 3:25: chat/coffee break 3:40–4:45 writing time 4:45: chat But our Saturdays are very casual, so feel free to drop in and out. **Our Saturday sessions sometimes rotate location. We're going to stick with the Mitre for now, but do check the location of the specific meetup before signing up. If you arrive later, you may need to ask the bar staff to show you through to the room.**

The MILDMAY CLUB, Newington Green Hackney based publisher, Indie Novella, are hosting a monthly in-person Writing Group in Stoke Newington, London. This is open for anyone working on a novel who is looking for a supportive group to provide advice and help to take it forward, be it if you’re struggling with writer’s block or you’re looking to submit to a literary agent and want to bounce around some ideas. The format will be in two parts. The first hour will be led by Indie Novella editor and author, Damien Mosley, focusing on a specific writing related topic. The first week at the Mildmay Club this will be the challenges of structuring our novel and we can discuss issues we face regarding plotting or where to begin or share examples which inspire us. The second hour each month will be dedicated to peer reviewing a sample of our writing. Authors Rose Diell and John McMenemie spoke of the importance of Writing Circles in helping writers develop at Stoke Newington Literary Festival and as such we hope this monthly space will allow writers to convene and share their experiences. Those interested please do come along. We do review one of the group's work each month and we can add you to the email list if you email [info@indienovella.co.uk](mailto:info@indienovella.co.uk).

## [You're welcome to book your space directly via our website, here: https://www.writeandpint.com/events/the-unknown-spirit-chaos-and-creative-writing-food-drink-handouts-a-pub-quiz] ... ## Hello there! So, what do we mean when we say *spirit*? Is there meaning in the universe, or only stories we like to tell ourselves? Does God exist, or not, and what happens when certainty collapses? What do we do with chaos, doubt, nihilism, mystery, and the things we can't know for certain? This Write & Pint workshop invites you into **The Unknown**: the vast, unsettled territory where existential questions, spiritual longing, disbelief, myth, and imagination meet. Not to resolve these questions, but to **live inside them**, to test language against the ineffable, and create. Together, we’ll be touching on themes like: * Meaning, being, and time * God (or not), belief, disbelief, and doubt * Spirit (across traditions: Abrahamic, Buddhist, Taoist, mystical, and esoteric) * Chaos, nihilism, and creative destruction * Mystical atheism and radical unknowing * Conspiracy, esoterica, spaghetti monsters, little green men, and the stories we invent to survive/make sense This is, of course, a **creative writing day**, designed to help you generate new fiction and/or poetry through guided prompts and shared enquiry. ## What we’ll read Across the day, we’ll draw from a wide range of writers, poets, mystics, philosophers, and mythic traditions. These will be **short excerpts, fragments, and quotations** used as sparks for writing, not as material to analyse in depth. So, there will be **plenty of time to write**. The readings exist only to open doors. Texts may include brief passages or quoted lines from: ### Fiction, Philosophy & Cultural Thought * **Fyodor Dostoevsky** * **Sergey Nechaev** (via *The Master of Petersburg*) * **Albert Camus** * **J. M. Coetzee** * **Jacques Derrida** * **Simone Weil** * **Clarice Lispector** * **Anne Carson** * **Louise Glück** ### Mystical & Non-Western Traditions * **Rabia al-Adawiyya** * **Hafiz** * **Rumi** * **Kabir** * **Mirabai** * **Ryokan** * **Han Shan** * **Chögyam Trungpa** * Selections from the **Tao Te Ching** ### Folklore & Myth * **Amos Tutuola** * **Birago Diop** These voices allow us to move beyond certainty, beyond Western rationalism, beyond fixed belief, and into paradox, absence, longing, humour, terror, devotion, doubt, and not-knowing. ## What we’ll write You’ll be guided through a series of **creative writing exercises and prompts** designed to help you write fiction and/or poetry around *The Unknown*, whatever that means to you. There is **no pressure to share**, though you’ll be warmly invited to if you wish. As always, our intention is to gather **likeminded, creative, enquiring, compassionate people**, writers, readers, thinkers, believers, atheists, doubters, and question-askers alike. ## Schedule **11:00am** Arrive, order your tea or coffee, settle in, meet some friendly faces. **11:00–11:30am** Introductory writing exercises to familiarise ourselves with words, images, feelings, and intuitions around *The Unknown*. **11:30am–1:00pm** Short readings and quotations paired with creative writing prompts. **1:00pm** Lunch break: a Finch’s pub brunch. **2:00–4:00pm** More writing, more prompts, more exploration. You’ll leave with new material to take home, edit, and keep. **4:00–5:00pm** **The Write & Pint Pub Quiz** A fun, light-hearted general knowledge quiz covering culture, films, literature, history, and society, a playful way to end the day together. ... If you have any question at all, about this full day workshop or any of our other events, you're very welcome to text or WhatsApp me on +44 (0) 7534 981 636. Cheers! Sean (A Write & a Pint).

Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 7:00pm on Wednesday, March 25 at Streetlight Guild. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. **SCHEDULE:** 6:45ish - Quick introductions 7:00 - Timer starts: write for 1 hour 8:00 - The End **OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING** happens before and after the writing hour. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. **BEING LATE IS OKAY:** just show up and get settled! If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing & I look forward to seeing you at Streetlight Guild! **WHAT SHOULD I BRING?** Whatever you need to be able to write! You're welcome to bring earplugs/headphones if noise will bother you! **OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:** * **RSVP:** Please RSVP by 6:00pm the evening of the meeting. This helps me know how many to expect, and if we'll need additional space! * **COVID:** While masks are not required, please be mindful of the other writers around you and their comfort levels. * **WIFI/OUTLETS:** Outlets are limited, so please ensure your devices are charged when you come! But Streetlight Guild does have free WiFi! Yay! * **PARKING:** There is free public parking at Streetlight Guild.

We'll meet at The Capital One Café, 167 Easton Town Center, Space A-103. This is in the main mall where the Microsoft store used to be, on your left if you're standing at the bottom of the AMC Theater escalator. Join us on Sunday for an hour of uninterrupted wordmaking! • What we'll do Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at noon on Sundays. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. SCHEDULE: 12:00 - quick intros. 12:10 - timer starts: write for 1 hour. 1:10 - chat / take off / keep writing. OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 1-1:30ish. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you! • What to bring Whatever you need to be able to write! Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block noise or the occasional conversation by other patrons. Electrical outlets are limited, so charge your devices before whenever possible. See you at The Café on Sunday!

We'll meet at The Capital One Café, 167 Easton Town Center, Space A-103. This is in the main mall where the Microsoft store used to be, on your left if you're standing at the bottom of the AMC Theater escalator. Join us on Saturday for an hour of uninterrupted wordmaking! • What we'll do Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 10AM on Saturday mornings. Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. SCHEDULE: 10:00 - SESSION 1: quick intros. 10:10 - timer starts: write for 1 hour. 11:10 - chat / take off / keep writing. OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING happens at 11A-11:30ish. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. BEING LATE IS OKAY: just show up and get settled, then check-in with me after the session. (I’ll be the person with the Shut Up & Write! sign.) If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing and I look forward to seeing you! • What to bring Whatever you need to be able to write! Bring earbuds/earplugs if you want to block noise or the occasional conversation by other patrons. Electrical outlets are limited, so charge your devices before whenever possible. See you at The Café on Saturday!

Greetings writers! Come down and join your fellow wordsmiths for one hour of uninterrupted writing time in the upper level of the Market District Supermarket in Upper Arlington. The main entrance of the shopping center opens onto stairs/elevator leading up to the 2nd floor cafe section where we will have a table displaying a sign with the Shut Up & Write logo. Writing is largely a solitary craft. Practicing with others in a community setting may be the thing you need to fire your own routine. We’ll meet on Wednesday evenings, starting the clock at 6:30, following a brief period of introductions. This is solid writing time and all inclusive. Any project is acceptable, be it fiction, non -fiction, work or homework assignment. All is welcome and will remain private to you. The market boasts a Starbucks, a full service bar and various affordable food options. Parking is plentiful, free Wifi is provided as well as outlets for charging your devices, though they are somewhat limited, so plan accordingly. Show up as early as you like, or stay late. This group tends to socialize some, both before and after the alloted time, but this is not mandatory to you. Feel free to come and go as you please and late arrivals are welcome. The cafe may be noisy on occasion so headphones/ earbuds are reccommended as you see fit. Please try to RSVP if possible so that we may grab enough seats for all—the venue can be busy at times. Feel free to message me privately wth any questions and/ or concerns you may have. Happy writing!