What is a Group - Can you be a Leader.

All in a Day’s Work

         And trust me I mean work. It is not enough to know in your mind that you would like to set up a group and invite people into a world all of your own and do something wonderful. While it is easy to put your name, title and description to a group you must remember that you must have thought out every possible angle that could arise. After all, your group will put you to the test as they read and inquire and input their own ideas into your working plan.

         Being “Chief” of your group requires an unconditional forgiveness. You need to realize that just because you know what you want to do does not mean that they do. The written word is a powerful one, and while you may understand perfectly what it is you have written it may be “Greek” to the person reading it. You can never assume anything as far as your group is concerned, and your descriptions have to be detailed, extremely clear and concise. When they are not you must be the perfect diplomat, or have a group member that is and can address these members with the kid gloves required to achieve your desired goal.

         Communication is of the utmost importance. You require an unlimited amount of time to read posts and email and reply to them too. The articles that are being submitted must also be read on an incoming basis and not held over for a later time. It is much easier for an author to edit their work when it is fresh in their mind and they are anxious about your comments than to send them edits a week or so later when they have moved onto some other element for the group. Be specific in your direction, you will from time to time require those specifics for backup when you receive something that just does not fall into the criteria of the theme or angle which you have chosen for your working project.

         Be prepared to be a tutor. Knowing how to maneuver about the site and all of the sites features that can and will be used. As Chief of this group you will be asked countless times how to do this or that and while most know how to write, they are not aware of what tricks their keyboards are capable of.

         Time is of the essence. Have a preset time frame of when and how you want your project done. Remember to make it feasible for yourself first. You will have what seems like an endless amount of tasks to be completed on a daily basis. If your group is productive, but you are not, they will lose interest quickly. Keep in touch frequently with emails and newsletters and group posts as to who is doing what and when.

         Understand the importance of information. I bet you did not think that you would have to do a newsletter for your group. But really think about it, you have 5-50 members all sending you questions or ideas. Things that perhaps you did not think about or that you would like to implement into your group. Your members are generally only in contact with you when it comes to ideas or questions that they may have. Most of the time they have no idea that someone else hasn’t thought about something or somebody already suggested that, and it was not feasible to work with.

         Compile questions, comments, concerns, and implementations and send out a weekly newsletter to the group and inform them of what is and is not going on. Remember also that while some members enjoy the group process, they do not wish to read 25 posts about the same subject and might just neglect reading and miss important parts of the group. A newsletter is a sure way to keep them informed without boring them.

         Be open when choosing group members. Not everyone has a thick skin and direct or indirect comments can offend easily and create animosity in your group quickly. Restrictions to accessing the group features must be done in a diplomatic form. A query from prospective members requires more than just “oh you want to be in the group, okay.” Take the time to view their port and see if their works in progress will suit your project and how you can bring out the best of that writers work for your group. Many members do not join groups because they believe they have nothing to offer. Do not be afraid to approach someone that you feel could be an inspiration to the group. Case colour truly means nothing when you look at the actual work, attitude and personality of a prospective member.

         If you are willing and open this can be a most entertaining and educational experience. You will meet a variety of writers, develop new friendships, learn new styles of writing and experience different genres that you might not have otherwise given a second thought to. Not everyone is a dark writer, a romance buff, or a sci-fi fantasy nut, some writers actually have never been given the opportunity to branch into a different form of writing because no one took the time to ask them to try.

         Above all else, if you are consistent and productive you will receive an indescribable amount of exposure for your group and yourself, not to mention all those who will take the time to read the works of your group and then come visit your portfolio to see what other surprises are waiting there for them.

         In a group you will be part of sharing good and bad, ugly and sad, and the terrific feeling of achievement. Have fun smile, laugh, cry, rant and rave, it is all a part of being a group.

~ Release the Emotion and Write ~

© Copyright 2001 Wannabe (UN: gresyl at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Wannabe has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.