Have you been struggling with writer’s block recently? You have that piece that you are working on and the harder you try to think the harder it is to get words? Then you might want to try attending a Shut up & Write session. I joined a meeting for the first time a few months ago and it has been a great experience. If you need to write regularly, have an urgent deadline but get stuck, or like me, you love procrastinating and get easily distracted, you should try Shut Up & Write. This is a group that I recently discovered and my experience so far has been extremely positive. For those of you who are just hearing about this group for the first time, Shut Up & Write is a community of people around the world who host chapters where members meet together, update each other on their writing projects and get cracking on with their work. Events are free and hosted online and in-person.

How do I join an event?

If you go to their official website, you can click Online Events and this will take your to a Meetup page that has a list of events. Members host events from all regions around the world so regardless of where you are based, chances are that somewhere around the world there will be a group of writers who are working on their projects and you can join them. So far, I have only joined online meetings (also due to COVID, I am assuming that a lot of chapters have moved online).

How does it work?

I am still very new to Shut Up & Write so if anyone more experienced is reading this post, please add your comments. However let me try my best in explaining how it works based on the few sessions that I have attended. These events are hosted online and the platforms used vary based on the chapter, although I observed that most chapters tend to use Zoom, I have seen others use Google Hangouts and Microsoft Teams. When you join, there is usually one person who acts as the host and he/she will ask participants to briefly explain what they are working on. People take turns to talk about what they are writing on; after a round of introductions, everyone cracks on with their work. Some people keep their cameras on, others turn them off. I have noticed that people tend to work on a wide range of writing projects, novels, essays, random homework, etc. After a set amount of time (usually around an hour), there are checkpoints where people share their progress. I saw that this part is optional and that hosts allow people to just continue ploughing through their work if they wish to do so.

I initially thought that this was just a group of people who wanted to write their first novels, however this is not the case. The way I see it is that Shut Up & Write is a way for people to get together and for everyone to work on their own projects. There are so many tasks out there which might sound daunting if you were to work on them on your own, however if you are surrounded by a group of people who are also faced with similar challenges, all of a sudden you no longer feel alone and become motivated. Hearing people make progress on their tasks gives me a boost and the energy to stop procrastinating and to get cracking on with my deliverables. This in my opinion captures the essence of this group.

Next Steps….

Given my positive experience with Shut Up & Write, I definitely look forward to attending future chapters. If you have been considering attending these sessions, I hope you give it a try as well, you will be pleasantly surprised by how effective this is. Happy Writing!