Be a Mad Scientist! A Test Mindset & Your Writing Group

Ready to be a writing mad scientist?

I was in a writers' chat recently, and one of the people talked about how a writing group is only useful if you're working on a long manuscript. The person said the group provides feedback and helps you keep going through to the end of your project, but other than that...zip. Zero. Zilch.

Can your writing group provide more than feedback on a book?

As you know I'm very supportive of writing groups, plus I haven't written about writing groups for a few weeks, so I wanted to share my reaction.

The person was almost right--a writing group is super helpful if you're working on, say, a book. But a writing group can be helpful in so many other ways, too. I think the potential for help and support comes down to what you bring to the group. If you've got a test mindset, then the group will be a valuable asset no matter what you're working on: book, story, blog post--whatever!

Usually, the phrase, test mindset, is applied to app and software developers. I often heard it when I worked on business communications projects for tech departments. But I think the phrase applies to writers, too.

So, let me explain what a test mindset is for writing purposes: a writer's test mindset means you bring an analytical, curious, and critical approach to your development as a writer. You could be working on the outline for the next book in your series, or deep in the development of an epic novel, or polishing a short holiday story, or preparing content for a social media campaign. The 'what' is not so important as the idea of testing your material with your writing group to get their perspective. You might learn about holes in your work-in-progress, or gain insight into reader behavior, or find new resources to make your work better, or be delightfully surprised that you've struck a reader chord.

This is what I mean by a test mindset. We have to be mad scientists and approach our writing groups as our laboratories. We toss our ingredients in the writing group test tubes, and see what happens. Whether there are explosions or "It's alive!" or anything in between--it's not a judgement. It's information to use or not, as we decide. We simply consider what the feedback told us and what we want to try next.

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If you're interested in exploring the value of writing groups, please consider reading my ebook, The Write Group. You'll get more information here, or click on the book cover to make your purchase:

If you want to better understand the nature of feedback on your work, check out From Draft to Craft: The New Writer's Guide to Feedback. Get more information here, or click on the book cover to purchase:

So will you be a mad scientist with your writing group this week? Turn up the bunsen burner in the comments below!