Welcome to Your Weekly Writing Room.

Become a better writer for $20/month.

 
 

Discover structured meet-ups online for authors, creatives, and professionals seeking greater productivity and a deeper engagement with craft. Sign up for a faculty-led writing group today.

 
Subscribe for unlimited access to one of GWG’s weekly Writing Rooms online.
 

These structured, accountability-focused group meetings convene on Zoom at the same time every week, and are are hosted by select members of our writing coaching faculty

Each hour-long meeting is a virtual salon for authors, writers, and creatives — a haven for thoughtful adults with busy lives who aim to make more time for writing (its analysis, its production) and create better work, more consistently.

By attending one of our Writing Rooms on a regular basis, you’ll gain something invaluable to any lover of this craft: a dedicated space in which to explore new techniques, chart your progress over time, and — most importantly — to get some writing done.

Writing Rooms are open to both private clients and non-clients of the Gilliam Writers Group for the same fee of $20/month.
 

Subscribers receive weekly calendar invites and Zoom links to their preferred meeting. Subscriptions automatically renew on a monthly basis, but you can cancel any time at no additional cost, so it’s simple to try out this service and see if it’s right for you.

Please note that GWG Writing Rooms are not open to youth or students under the age of 21.

The following Rooms are currently accepting new members: 

 
 

David O’Neill: Mondays at 5pm ET / 2pm PT

 
 
 
Creativity Through Connection
 

In today’s learning marketplace, real-time human connection is at a premium, yet the convenience of online options can’t be denied. Gilliam’s creative writing clubs online provide an alternative to the isolation that characterizes intellectual and creative life on the internet.

History provides countless examples of creative growth through mutual support, from the Platonic Academy of Athens to the salons of Enlightenment Paris. GWG’s Writing Rooms are inspired by these historical communities, which epitomize our belief that regular “meetings of the minds” can deeply benefit the private, individual work that claims most of our time as writers, readers, and thinkers.

read more +

Despite its cognitive benefits, real-time connection has become almost a luxury in today’s learning marketplace. Once our formal educations are over, most intellectually-oriented adults now find that the only convenient, affordable way to pursue self-development is through asynchronous learning, parasocial relationships, and individual content consumption.
From one perspective, the increasingly isolated character of our creative and intellectual lives reflects incredible advances in society: potentially life-changing information is everywhere and anywhere, available at the touch of a finger. Yet the promise of this new reality can be hard to make good on.
In the Information Age, abundance and overload are two sides of the same coin, and daily experience continues to show that real growth, real learning, stems not just from information, but from information made meaningful through relationships. Our individual efforts gain context and importance through engagement with some kind of broader discourse (and with the people who are driving it forward). For better or worse, that’s just how the human mind works.
That’s why our firm provides the services we do, and it’s why we designed our Writing Rooms program, which offers an affordable, group-focused alternative to the one-on-one creative partnerships that our faculty specializes in cultivating with clients.
Across great distances, and under the direction of a published author who will challenge and support you as you read, write, and think together, the members of your creative writing club online will become an invaluable resource for strengthening your literary practice.

Accountability & Accessibility
 

Every GWG Writing Room doubles as a writing accountability group, helping you find consistency in your creative work. By showing up for other writers week by week, you’ll learn to show up for yourself.

Want to write, but not sure where to find the time? Our creative writing groups are a way to prioritize your writing life by channeling your passion for literature into building long-term habits that support it. Sustainability is a concern for busy adults pursuing any kind of “extra-curricular” practice, and writing is no different. Many creative writers work full-time jobs, have care-giving responsibilities, or are graduate students.

read more +

But being short on free time doesn’t mean you can’t also write; it just means you have to be strategic when it comes to budgeting your time for writing. If you struggle with accountability, joining a writing group will jump-start your productivity by connecting you to a group of people who understand the difficulties of putting pen to paper – and who manage to do it anyway.
In addition to time, another common impediment to building a writing habit is money. Gilliam’s Writing Rooms are priced to make the experience open to as many writers as possible. Whether you’re doing this for fun or seeking publication, investing in strong relationships with like-minded creatives under the guidance of a trained literary professional will help you bring your goals within reach.

Space to Grow & Space to Rest
 

Structured guidance and thoughtful prompts when you're eager to stretch your wings; generous creative space when it's time to reflect and recharge.

The best teachers know when to communicate and when to step back. Every Writing Room is facilitated by an expert faculty member who is there to motivate and prompt you, but also to hold space, allowing you the uninterrupted time you need to write. Each faculty member is different, and each of their Room’s weekly sessions may be different, too, depending on your group’s evolving state.

read more +

In the tradition of yoga, teachers often invite students to use their instructions merely as a guide, encouraging them to adjust to their own body’s wants and sensations in the moment. The instructor who leads your Writing Room will take a similar approach as they support the well-being of your mind. Maybe you’re craving “movement” this week, eager for challenge and stimulation—or maybe you need grounding, space to rest. You are free to use your weekly Writing Room in the way that best assists your creative development from week to week. Faculty are present to direct you, but not to cajole.
Also note that our Writing Rooms are not confined to a single genre, like an authors-only book writing group or a poets-only poetry writing group, because most of our faculty are experienced with publishing in a variety of forms and venues. Instead, you can choose a room hosted by the faculty member whose artistic voice most appeals to you. Perhaps, if you’re itching to get started on a novel, you’ll choose one of our many faculty members with fiction experience; or maybe a poet would better inspire you to experiment with language. Whichever online writing group you choose, you can be assured that all forms of writing will be appreciated and supported.

A Room of Your Own, to Share
 

Building and maintaining a writing life requires not just solitary time for thinking, but communal sharing and support. Our online creative writing groups near you combine the joy of group learning with the individual control afforded by virtual meetings.

What does your ideal Writing Room look like? Perhaps you’re envisioning a quiet shed in the garden, like the one Mark Twain enjoyed, where you write to the sound of bees buzzing and birds singing. Perhaps you’d prefer a dark study with a roaring fire and a dilapidated easy chair in which to spin your tales. Maybe your perfect spot is simply a seat at your local library, or a table at your favorite café, where you can think and write while taking comfort in the company of others. Maybe, like Virginia Woolf, any room will do as long as it’s yours.

read more +

Whatever your ideal room might look like, Gilliam’s writing clubs online can offer you the very best aspects of them all: the tranquility of the garden shed and the bustle of the coffee shop, the convivial hush of the library and the focused community of the seminar room. When you meet with other writers online, they will only be as “present” in your space as you need them to be that day. Yet by showing up to those meetings, week in and week out, you’ll be taking an active role in transforming not just your own literary practice, but the collective one you share.