AP: I spent a delightful evening with the Berlin Writers'
Group who graciously invited me to attend their October 20, 2020 meeting. The
group gathered in Gregory's house to celebrate two members' recent signing of a
feature film with Hollywood and a member's birthday, on top of exchanging
feedback on a novel excerpt and performing a scene from a member's script of a
play. Shrimp cocktails and chocolate cake were consumed, a tin of cat food
donated. This writers' group is a wonderful example of what happens when a
community of writers loyally and passionately gather.
Berlin Writers’ Group
AP: How long has the Berlin Writers’ Group been meeting?
GN:
BWG’s very first meeting took place on Tuesday, April 2, 2013.
There
were five of us that night. Three are still members of the group. Not long
after the group was founded, the TV show New Hampshire Chronicle reached
out to me to do a segment on my career. Sean MacDonald spent an entire day
up here interviewing me, and we dovetailed it to also join in on a meeting of
the writers’ group, so BWG was featured on TV in the summer of 2013, which was
a very auspicious and audacious beginning!
AP: How
did the group start?
GN: I
moved to the area one month earlier when my husband and I bought a beautiful
century-old fixer-upper (which we’ve since fixed up). Some six hours after the
closing, I traveled two houses down my road, turned left, and traveled two more
to the Brown Museum, where the local once-a-month writers’ group was meeting.
That group fell apart shortly after—it wasn’t really about writing but sharing
dessert. Nobody read. No one discussed publication or even writing. But there
were several really passionate and talented writers among the members.
One
of them came to me, knowing I was a member of the Nashua Writers’ Group. NWG is
a powerhouse in the southern part of the state. He asked me to form a weekly
group with a focus on workshopping—bettering—our writing and also on
publication. I was reluctant to do that. I had no interest in leading a group.
But I caved and I’m so happy I got out of my own way because the group has
prospered to become ‘the Cadillac of writers’ groups’, as I often say. And it’s
a great deal of fun for those of us who breathe, eat, sleep, dream, and live
the writing life.
AP: Where/when
does the group meet? Could you describe a typical meeting?
GN:
Before the pandemic, we met every Tuesday night at an art center space
downtown. For the first five years of BWG’s life, we gathered on Tuesday nights
at the conference room above the restaurant Tea Birds in Berlin’s downtown. Now
in the midst of the pandemic, we’ve split meetings into a virtual one held on
Monday nights and a smaller, in-person format held in my front parlor, with
masks, social distancing, and other safety measures.
The
meeting format is the same for both options. We have moderators, myself and two
other ‘Popes’ who run the meeting and keep us on point. We go around the room
and share any writing news from the previous week and then anyone who wants to
read reads.
Following
the readings, we offer feedback, never mean and always constructive—what we liked,
anything we caught that could be edited or tightened, and any general comments
on the strength of the writing. The level of quality is such that I’m often
astounded and end the night by congratulating my fellow scribes for bringing
their A games.
AP: I
noticed a stunning still life in your living room wall, to the right of where
you sat when I visited. I understand there’s a story behind that painting.
GN: The gigantic painting! For those first five years that BWG met in the conference room, that painting hung above the table. We all loved it and I often joked I wanted to steal it. Of course, it’s gargantuan—not so easy to run off with.
When
the building went into foreclosure two years ago, I reached out and asked to
buy it. It was our Christmas present and is now a reminder of the group’s
origins. And it goes great with the pomegranate accent wall in our front
parlor.
AP: Has
COVID-19 and the pandemic affected the Berlin Writers’ Group, for instance the
manner or frequency by which you gather?
GN:
As of this writing, we’re still meeting on Monday’s virtually and Tuesday’s
in-person. From April – July of 2020, we only met virtually on Zoom, which I
get really tired of fast but which provided us a forum to keep the group going
during such a stressful period in history.
Some
members aren’t comfortable meeting in person, even with our precautions, so
I’ve kept the virtual meeting intact. If we feel it’s safer and better to,
we’ll return to that outlet again. The Popes and I stay on top of group
maintenance and safety with seriousness of purpose.
AP: What’s
the intent behind any productive community writers’ group? For instance, how is
participating in a local writers’ group different than taking a creative
writing class or going at the writing path alone?
GN: I
think that being part of the right writing group has been so helpful to me and
to my fellow members. There is a competition in the setting, but it’s with
one’s own self to try and always bring your best work; work that’s even better
than you shared the previous week, which helps growth, evolution, and
motivation.
I’m
always inspired because the company I keep is pretty amazing to be judged and
measured against. I’ve taken workshops and courses and loved them, but the
frequency of a weekly writers’ group of peers who are writing at such a high
level and with such seriousness is invigorating, uplifting, and, yes, fun. A
writers’ group should be fun. If not, what’s the point?
AP: Have
you personally participated in other writing groups and, if so, how does your
experience with the Berlin Writers’ Group correspond or deviate from your
experiences with those previous groups?
GN: I
participated for many years in the Nashua Writers’ Group and have, as a result
of the pandemic, rejoined them for virtual Wednesday night meetings since May
2020. That group is the direct inspiration and model behind BWG. We’re a
satellite group of NWG and, since our move north, we’ve hosted numerous salons
and writers parties in which members from NWG attend and it’s like a huge,
fabulous family reunion. There’s a theme for the day’s readings and always,
always quite the buffet. NWG was founded and is still run by the wonderful
James Keough with vice presidential duties courtesy of Bradford Younie, both of
whom are also outstanding authors. When we adopted our model for
BWG—professionalism, fun, and a publication-oriented mindset—we really mirrored
the best.
AP: What
kinds of writing do members share with the group?
GN:
We are a no-censorship group. All genres and styles are welcomed. We have
writers who share novels—usually one chapter per week, short stories,
children’s books, and screenwriting, both in teleplay and feature film
format.
One
of our members, Gayle Greene, is a member of the famed Actor’s Studio in New
York City. She’s got quite the impressive resume as an actor and has broadened
her talents to write fiction, memoir, and plays. Presently, she’s workshopping
one of her plays and we all read different roles from it to help her gage the
effectiveness of scenes and dialogue. I’m reading the stage direction. It’s
great fun to be involved in that kind of writing, which is more of a
performance.
On any given week at BWG, you’ll travel to 1920s Russia, Earth’s
moon, a future war between good and evil, and to the very mysterious and
adventuresome realms of our own backyards.
AP: Do
members share drafts at any stage in the writing process?
GN:
Absolutely! I often share first draft work—I write all of my drafts save for
screenwriting longhand, which is, to me, the heavy lifting. Some members share
those early drafts and others their polished, final drafts. The space is very
safe and must be in order to expose that raw writing to outsiders.
AP: Are
there rules for giving feedback within the group?
GN: I
think we’ve done an admirable job in offering constructive feedback. I always
listen with a very editorial ear, and if the writer wants me to, I’ll take
notes. During the time in which they’re reading, they have my focus and
attention 100%. I always lead with what I think it strong. If I catch something
that jags on the ear, I point it out—a lapse in tense, a misused homophone, or
anything I question.
My
feedback never comes from a mean place but a place of respect for my fellow
writers. Across the board, that’s how the membership operates. In the past, a
few people have come and since gone that didn’t show the same
respect and we, the moderators, were quick to let them know that’s not how BWG
functions. Those incidents, however, have been few.
AP: When
I visited your group in October, two members were celebrating a recent
publishing world success (not to mention a birthday). Do share: what was that
success? What have been other publishing successes within the group?
GN:
That particular night was the official signing of a feature film option by
myself and Edwin Berne. We partnered together to write a Horror anthology movie
script based upon four of my short stories for a Hollywood production company,
Snark Hunter LLC, owned by actor/producer Dan Lench, who is a big fan of our
writing.
That
night, we signed the option, which is the first step to a movie being made.
It’s a rare and lovely thing, and Bernie and I did it. At this present time in
history, Hollywood is closed down for the most part because of the pandemic.
But this allows the production to inch forward until the crisis ends and the TV
and Film Industry returns, likely with a vengeance.
AP: What
role, if any, does your feline companion play in the group?
GN:
The Daisy Cat! She is BWG’s unofficial security guard and master-at-arms. We
adopted Daisy two years ago, intercepting her on her way to a shelter. Daisy is
a very sweet cat to me, but she’s prickly from eight years before living here
in which she was given very little attention or affection. She has become
fiercely loyal to me and also very defensive, so when people enter our home,
she checks them out and is very suspicious.
She
patrols the meetings in our front parlor and eyeballs everyone, even though she
knows them. It’s also very frustrating for her because we all wear masks, which
I imagine is quite confusing to her. Most Tuesday nights, she claims whatever
chair or seat she wants, flops down, and listens to the meeting—always with one
eye opened and watching.
AP: What’s
been personally the most rewarding aspect of the group for you or your writing?
GN:
I’ve seen so many wonderful writers get published or optioned for film, many
for the first time. It shows me that BWG is firing on all cylinders and working
as intended. Personally, for me it’s been super rewarding to share writing that
I do only for myself, namely my SPACE:1999 fan fiction. SPACE:1999 is a TV
series that aired in the 1970s and inspired me to first pick up my pen. Once or
twice a year, among all the writing I do for publication or production, I
escape to pen a new 1999 adventure and I get to share it with the group. It’s
like I’m living a previously undiscovered episode for the courageous men and
women of Moonbase Alpha who have inspired me for over forty-five years now.
One of the many lovelinesses of BWG is that ability to celebrate
one’s love for writing in whatever expression the writer desires.
AP: What’s
happening with creative writing in general in the North Country?
GN:
I’m not sure beyond our very bright oasis. The North Country has been
economically depressed for far longer than my seven-plus years here, but what
it provided was a great opportunity to put that golden nugget from writer Grace
Paley I’ve embraced for my entire career to play. When she was asked the secret
to a writer’s success, she said, “Low overhead.” So when we bought our house up
here and renovated it, we had the means to own a house and not be owned by it,
which allowed me to write without worry because I’m not dependent on a job
outside of my home. I think there’s a cool and unique factor here for other
writers and creatives to be able to follow their muses and maintain a decent
life because of low overhead.
AP: What
advice would you and the Berlin Writers Group give to other New Hampshire residents
interested in starting a community writing group (even during a pandemic)? Any
advice about how to grow and/or sustain a writing group?
GN:
First, I think frequency is important. A once-a-month or every other week
schedule can’t maintain the excitement about producing pages. I’m not an
island—I think of myself as a peninsula connected to the rest of humanity by a
thin land bridge that just happens to be my writers’ group.
I
set my clocks around Tuesday night’s meetings. I start to get excited usually
by Sunday. When I wake up on Tuesday mornings, I’m euphoric. And that frequency
will, if a writer is devoted, keep the fresh pages flowing.
The
more you write, in theory the better and more polished you’ll get, as in any
pursuit.
I
would also advise to seek out the correct group, one where writers are writing
and not meeting only to bemoan not writing or to gather for cupcakes.
Like-minded, serious scribes who will offer solid feedback and not draw blood
in their crits. And if it doesn’t exist, create it, as I did here.
