Writers' Groups and an Abundance Mindset

The August series on writing in community continues…

I have come to believe that the most important thing writers can do for one another in a writers’ group is simply to take one another seriously. We all need to be taken seriously. Writers are so often haunted by the question, “Am I wasting my time here?” And too often, the proof they’re looking for—proof that they aren’t wasting their time—comes in the form of attracting the attention of people they don’t know. If I can get accepted into an MFA program or get picked up by an agent or picked by a publisher or go viral on Substack, then I’ll know I’m not wasting my time. Then I’ll know I’m justified in taking this work seriously.

In a healthy writers’ group, writers take one another seriously. They give one another respect, not on the basis of their place in a hierarchy, but on because they understand the sacrifice and commitment involved in doing the work. In a healthy writers’ group, writers aren’t vying with one another for status, but entering into an allyship that is beneficial all the way around.

In short, a healthy writers’ group helps its members leave behind a scarcity mindset and enter into an abundance mindset.

In his book The Gift, Lewis Hyde writes about the market economy and the gift economy. I have written about these economies before, here and here. An important distinction Hyde makes is between tangible goods and intangible goods. When it comes to tangible goods like food, clothing, bicycles, real estate, laptops, etc., if you give something away you have less than you started with. This is self-evident, of course. The market economy is intended to even things out. I give you a bicycle, you give me money or some other consideration that makes things fair and even. But intangible goods (knowledge, respect, hope, peace, love, joy) are different. When you give away an intangible good, you have multiplied the available stock. When you give away knowledge or hope or love, you don’t have less and there is a good chance you will have more. Those intangible goods are the province of the gift economy, where generosity and abundance are the prevailing principles.

A writers’ group operates in the gift economy. When you give another writer courage, you have more courage. When you share your insight, you end up with greater insight. And when you take other writers seriously, you find that you take your own writing more seriously.

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This week’s episode features Jennifer Degani, Tania Gutting, and Pam Kiper. They’ll read two stories about frequent home-leavings, and one story about one big move after a long time in the same place.

“Leaving Home Stories,” is a special summer series in which writers from The Habit Membership read personal narratives on the theme of leaving home, literally or metaphorically, temporarily or permanently.

Sponsored by The Habit Membership.