Do writers groups help?
In my opinion, for the most part, no, although some classes taught by working writers can be useful. What almost always happens in writers’ groups is that the participants start writing for the other group members, which is deadly in developing an audience. Remember, if you publish, you will hardly ever come in contact with the vast majority of your readers, and so any in-group writing will be lost on them, as well as getting in the way of the story being told. For some working writers, groups of other working writers can be useful, but even then, there is the temptation to go for personal feedback instead of broad audience appeal. But notice I say working — that makes a real difference.
