Writers in Somerset
I'm not sure how long Writers in Somerset have been formed, perhaps five to six years, whereas I've been with them for about three years. All our members came from attending night-classes for Writers' Courses arranged through the further education system around this part of the Somerset area. The classes were (and still are) taken by Andrew Puckett, himself a published crime novelist, who has always advocated the fundamental need for people aspiring to write should join like-minded groups and is always on hand to lend us support and swell the membership. Over the past years that membership has tended to vary in it numbers. Currently we seem to be ticking over with five stalwarts and we could do with a few more.
Successes I have to translate as achievements since, to the best of my knowledge at this time, none of our group has had anything fictional published. However, given the enthusiasm and the way they write, this can only be a matter of time. Two members, Joe and Chris (who is more into journalism by way of occupation), have completed first-time novels, which we hope will be successful. Christine - our resident comedy writer - has twice attended courses in Lanzarote and the signs there are very encouraging indeed. We are keeping all fingers crossed.
The group meets once every fortnight, but because we are pretty widely spread over the area we tend to share the inconvenience of night-time travelling by meeting in each other's homes. We no longer desire to have a proper constitution because about a year ago things got a little out of hand. These days we keep it simple: whoever's home the meeting is being held in then that person adopts the roll of chairperson. It appears to work. Each year we collect very modest fees to cover postage, things like that. And we do have a secretary/treasurer, and we do take regular minutes of each meeting held. What we don't have is a clause that makes it clear if a person fails to attend over a fairly lengthy period WITHOUT GOOD CAUSE then he or she is considered withdrawn. However, even though we have never made it a condition, we generally find that people tend to absent themselves because they haven't got that necessary need/desire to write. So far so good, but there is a danger that five people can get a little too cosy with each other, so new members will always be welcomed.
In the past we have held competitions - short stories on a chosen theme - and Andrew has often judged the outcome. I'm sure it would be beneficial to engage a celebrity writer on occasions, but being so few we don't think we could afford it. It would be helpful it we could share that experience with other like-minded scribblers. - Dave Lake