Writing in Good Company
We need that quiet time, that space to let our thought coalesce into words and those into sentences.
Writing and moreover improving our writing, I believe, requires a social element too.
There is in the very nature of the art a yearning for external eyes and minds to experience our words and worlds.
To this end I’ve founded and organized groups in three different cities so far. My philosophy with each was and remains the same.
The more people that can write their stories the better.
Blue Sea Writers: 2019 -
Blue Sea Writers was born out of a need to extend the benefits of the Valencia Writing Factory.
We’re active in both Valencia and Barcelona. Write togethers over the summer months of 2021 are keeping us all writing and in touch.
Workshops start in September and October and run through to December or June depending on the courses.
¿Discord? 2021 -
We’re opening a discord server as we need a broader base of communications to support the online elements. At present invitations are available only to users of our Critique Wheel.
Once we’re out of the testing stage, we’ll have something exciting to share.
Valencia Writing Factory: 2016 - 2019
After 15 years living in Madrid I moved to Valencia, Spain.
It was a logical step to find or build a writing community here too.
Initially named the Valencia Writing Factory, I started running workshops and an open mic in the city. It flourished. The Factory grew to include regular write-togethers in local coffee houses.
The pandemic finished any in-persona activities. We moved everything online.
This worked and I saw the possibility to share the benefits of the group in the neighboring city of Barcelona.
Madrid Writers’ Club: 2011 -
My idea behind founding the Madrid Writers’ Club was to travel the road of learning my craft in the company of other writers and by sharing what I was learning.
Every week started out with a few hours research into a writing craft topic that interested me. From that I formulated an hour and a half workshop for the group which I offered for free.
I ran more than eighty weekly workshops during the first two years. In the third year, we rotated meetings hosts and each host ran a workshop for the group.
The workshops evolved into a three part structure: an opening free-write, after our meet and greet, investigation of a specific element of the craft, and an opportunity to practice.
We grew the writers’ to include regular open mics and critique nights.
Happy to report, the Madrid Writers’ Club is still going strong.