Greetings on May 7:  In the last Blog I promised more discussion on organized writer groups.  I'll begin with the largest I know of.  This is California Writers Club organized back in the time of Jack London and spread from the CA Bay area to about 15 branches throughout the state.  It has a central  board made up of representatives from each of the branches.  Each branch requires a president, treasurer, newsletter editor and program chair–at least.  Attendance at their monthly meetings, as I mentioned last blog, has dwindled.  Apparently it is not just because the speaker chosen for a particular meeting does not appeal to the membership.  Whether it is gasoline cost, too many other activities, or the fact that after a time with no sales participants tend to go on to other hobbies.  I do not know.   I call these "umbrella groups."  They are valuable but are not where the diligent writing gets done–and with requirments for an elected board, finding bodies willing to serve can get to be a problem.  Nobody "has the time."  

A lament has come to me from a long-term program chair of one group:  "I hesitate to engage a prominent writer to speak at our monthly meetings  because I never know how many will show up in the audience."

HOWEVER, what I do know is that one group–San Luis Obispo NightWriters–(not a branch of CWC )sponsors about a dozen writer workshops that meet regularly, most twice a month, in homes.  Some specialize in fiction, some poetry, some non-fiction.  The members of one group bring to each meeting a chapter of a book in progress. These workshops require only a leader willing to hold the meetings.  No program is planned;; the only activity offered is the opportunity for members to bring and read their work for evaluation and marketing suggestions.  What else shoud a writer club stress?  Annual conferences are held that attract name writers, and we can learn a lot from them but a small club would be hard-pressed to put on a big conference.

.A group still thriving in Porterville, California has been meeting in homes for more than 30 years.  There's no president or officders, no "umbrella" group of directors.

My five writer workshops continue to meet here in Sedona with enthusiastic participants.  Neither they, nor I, feel it is necessary to have a board of directors, dues, a newsletter and a treasurer..