Small Groups

Camp Night - 2006

By Al Karr, WIW Member

WIW’s third annual Small Groups Camp Night turned in another solid performance as eager writers came together on a sultry summer evening to join existing small groups or form new ones.

Held Friday, July 7, at St. Columba’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., the event drew a somewhat smaller crowd this year than last—about 60 people compared to last year’s 80—but the atmosphere of enthusiasm and resolve was as great as ever. Attendees signed up for more than a dozen Small Groups, at least three of them new or revived groups, and four participants joined WIW, taking advantage of Camp Night’s $100 membership special.

In general, the evening was “a resounding success,” said Susan Hodges, chairperson of the Small Groups Camp Night Committee, who also emceed this year’s event and won WIW’s 2006 Small Group Leadership Award. “The beauty of Camp Night is its synergy,” said Hodges, as “writers seek other writers with whom they can share ideas, successes and challenges,” and sometimes “a venue that will provide serious criticism of their work.”

“The feedback and socializing are so important for us generally solitary writer types,” newly elected WIW President Michael Causey told the gathering. Causey said he had “chickened out” from joining a fiction writers’ group last year after reviewing his own novel-in-progress, but he took new heart that night and joined WIW’s Novels-in-Progress Small Group.

New Small Groups formed included Narrative History and Biography, and Spiritual Autobiography. The Mount Vernon Writers Group was revived. Sharon Puckett, who works at the World Bank, joined the Creative Nonfiction Group. Already a writer in this field, she said she has several friends who are members of the Small Group and finds that a Small Group “keeps me going.”

Anne Stewart , a Foggy Bottom resident who works at the Congressional Quarterly Press, said she wants to get back into writing—travel, fiction and food, in particular. She joined several Small Groups, hoping to complete some fiction pieces that at present, “don’t have endings.”

Rosemary Reed , another Camp Night attendee, has written one book, but said she wants to move beyond asking friends and family for opinions as she pursues nonfiction writing. “I think it’s good to bounce off other writers,” she told WIW.

Half a dozen attendees took home as door prizes books authored or suggested by members. They included Boss Tweed, by Ken Ackerman; Rose Man of Sing Sing, by James McGrath Morris; The Last Domino, by Adam Meyer; Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night, edited by member James Patterson; Stories of Strength, including “Addictions Conquered” by member Sharyn Bowman Greberman, edited by Jenna Glatzer, and Make a Real Living as a Free Lance Writer, also by Jenna Glatzer.

Catherine Woytowicz , a Camp Night speaker who chairs four—count ‘em, four—Small Groups said that in a Small Group, “you get to be with other people who are like unto you.” Small Group members learn, for example, “that you can make a living by writing 250-word “front of the book” magazine articles.” They can also learn more about the technology of magazine writing and develop good relationships with lawyers concerning copyrights and other legal matters.

Speaker Rabihah Mateen of the Corporate Writers Group has also belonged to other Small Groups, all with positive results. Groups can help track down resources, help create Web sites, pass along helpful information, and offer networking and support. “What you’re going through, someone else is doing, or has gone through,” she explained, adding, “We’re a family. I would join as many small groups as possible.”

Speaker Katy O’Grady chairs a new nonfiction group and helps run the Free to Be Freelance Group. She said that Small Groups provide “a sounding board for issues,” along with suggestions about following up with unresponsive sources, boost freelance rates and meet deadlines. Grady gave “full credit to the group” for getting her own Web site up and running.

WIW Board Member and President of WIW’s Freedom to Write Fund David Stewart belongs to the History Writers and the Fiction and Nonfiction Groups, and will soon join the ranks of published book authors. In his talk, he said groups provide the advantage “of having your work critiqued, not by the person with whom you have an intimate relationship.” Joked Stewart, “I don’t have to go to bed with any of them.”

Camp Night was planned and managed by the Small Groups Camp Night Committee: Greberman, Stewart, Emory Hackman, Barbara Rosenblatt, Mel Greberman, Frances Aubrey, Linda Adams, Harriet Dwinell, Al Karr, Larry Lesser and Hodges. A portion of the refreshments was donated by Trader Joe’s.

Board members in attendance included Causey, Morris, Stewart and Stillie Mason. WIW Executive Director Donald Graul offered support for the event.