Yesterday I went to Shut Up & Write at The Archives on North Road. Ninety minutes, no agenda, no workshop critique. Just people and their WIPs in the same room.
I wasn’t expecting much. I’ve had enough of writing groups where half the session goes on discussing what everyone is working on instead of actually working. SUAW is different. You sit down, someone says go, and that’s it.
The Archives is a good venue for this kind of thing. Quiet, a little worn around the edges, which helps. You stop performing and start writing.
I ended up talking to a few people before and after the session. That part surprised me more than the writing itself. There’s something about meeting strangers who also show up on a Sunday afternoon to work on their drafts. No small talk about weather. Within five minutes you’re discussing plot structure and whether your MC is making believable decisions.
What I find interesting about shared writing sessions is the pressure they remove rather than create. You stop negotiating with yourself about whether it’s a good day to write. The person next to you is already working. So you work too.
I got about 600 words done. Not brilliant words, but present ones. And I left with a few conversations still running in my head, which is a different kind of output.
They run it every Sunday. If your WIP is gathering dust, it’s worth showing up.
Daria Ryzhikova Writer