How to Choose a Paid Writing Group (or Program) That Fits You Perfectly

When you’re ready to take things to the next level.

Shaunta Grimes
Nov 6 · 6 min read

Dear Shaunta,

I’ve joined some well-known paid groups in the past that claimed they encouraged writers of all varieties (traditional, indie, hybrid, etc.) at any stage of their careers, only to learn that the group was largely leaning in one direction.

While the craft-related information was somewhat helpful, the publishing-related side made me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. Years later, I managed to conjure the nerve to politely and apologetically cancel my membership.

Having said that, I’ve listened to you on podcasts and have devoured and shared your posts on Medium. I’m intrigued by the Ninja Writers Club and want to ensure I am the right fit.

Signed,
A Writer Who Wants the Right Fit

At first, I was just going to email this person privately and answer their question. The answer is easy. Ninja Writers Club is a membership community that I hope has room for every writer, but seems to appeal especially to newer writers.

We talk about fiction and non-fiction pretty evenly. I’m traditionally published myself as far as fiction goes, so I tend to talk about that more, but I don’t push people that way at all and share whatever resources and information I have about indie and hybrid freely.

But I decided to answer here, because I think that maybe there’s something to say here about joining groups and programs and classes in general. It can be wildly confusing and overwhelming to choose the right fit, when you decide that you want to start to learn more.

There are so many programs out there. And most of them cost money. All of them cost time and energy. Often you don’t get to know that you’ve made a bad choice until the money’s spent. You know you need help getting to the next level, but there are just so many choices.

Octavia Butler said, “Continued learning is more dependable than talent.” It’s important to keep learning if you want to be a good writer.

But just telling you that isn’t enough.

Here are some of the ways I’ve gone about learning how to be a better writer.

Some of the best writers in the world have put everything they know about writing into books that you can get for free at your local library. This is a good place to start. And honestly, I don’t think it’s something that should ever stop.

Craft books give you some of the best return on your investment that I know of. It’s important to actually do the work inside them, though.

My undergraduate work is in English and I have an MFA in writing for children and young adults. The is about as opposite from reading books as you can get, as far as investment goes. (Although, interestingly, the work is not a lot different.) I have an advanced degree — and $100,000 in student debt.

These generally range from about $50 to $500. I’ve enjoyed Masterclass, where you pay a flat fee of less than $200 for the year and can take pre-recorded courses by well-known writers like Neil Gaiman and Judy Blume. I’ve also signed up for classes when there was a specific skill I wanted to learn.

Sometimes those classes were excellent. Sometime they sucked. A class I took early on when I started Ninja Writers taught me how to build an email list and it changed my whole life. It was worth every penny of the $250 I had to scrape together. I took a general blogging class the year before that cost $300 and was a complete dud.

I’ve also joined a couple of membership programs that, frankly, didn’t do much for me. The biggest benefit I’ve received from those is learning what I wanted to do different in my own.

Each time, the program cost $5000. I got something completely different from each experience.

The first time wasn’t what I expected and, to be honest, it wasn’t what I needed. But I came away with a super tightknit mastermind group that made it worthwhile. And I learned enough, made some connections, and overall found away to be sure I got my money’s worth.

The second time was much more straight-forward successful. I had more experience, so I knew better what questions to ask. Again, one of the biggest lessons I learned from both of these experiences is what I wanted to do different in my own program.

This is one of my favorite things to do and I try to make it to at least one a year. The energy at a conference is contagious and it’s often enough to keep you going for months.

The cost and quality of conferences varies widely. A large, national conference might cost a thousand dollars or more to attend by the time you pay for travel and your hotel room. A smaller, regional conference that you can attend for the day and stay at home might cost less than a hundred dollars.

Let me start by saying that learning to be a writer is important. Because writing a lot without ever getting any better is . . . well, it’s just sad.

I think you can go pretty far on your own when it comes to learning to be a writer. Read those books. Write a lot. But at some point, you’re going to want more. (You’re going to need more.) And when that happens, you’ll find yourself in a sea of chocies.

  • Is the person you’re looking to learn from already doing the thing you want to learn? You’d be surprised, for example, how many courses about writing are taught by people who either aren’t published or aren’t successful with their indie publishing.
  • Talk to other people who have taken the class or are part of the program. Are they happy? (Don’t just read the testimonials provided on a sales page.)
  • What are the stakes for giving it a try? Ninja Writer’s Club, for instance, has no minimum requirement. You can join for a month and quit if it’s not for you. Other programs require you to pay hundreds of dollars for an expensive class or join for a year at a time. Is there a refund period?
  • If you’re not sure whether what you want to do will be supported by the program, do what the person who asked this question did — ask.
  • What are your goals? Is there something specific you want to learn? Are you looking for motivation or inspiration? Do you want to connect with other writers? If you know what you want going in, then you’ll have a better chance of making sure you’re not disappointed.

Love,
Shaunta

Click here to ask me a question.


Here’s my secret weapon for sticking with whatever your thing is.

Shaunta Grimes is a writer and teacher. She is an out-of-place Nevadan living in Northwestern PA with her husband, three superstar kids, two dementia patients, a good friend, Alfred the cat, and a yellow rescue dog named Maybelline Scout. She’s on Twitter and Instagram and is the author of Viral Nation and Rebel Nation, and The Astonishing Maybe. She is the original Ninja Writer.

The Write Brain

Posts about productivity, business, and systems for right-brained creatives. Ideas aren’t enough. We actually have to do the things!

Shaunta Grimes

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Learn. Write. Repeat. Visit me at ninjawriters.org. Reach me at shauntagrimes@gmail.com. (My posts may contain affiliate links!)

The Write Brain

Posts about productivity, business, and systems for right-brained creatives. Ideas aren’t enough. We actually have to do the things!

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