Shut Up & Write!, which has chapters in Dublin, Ohio, and downtown Columbus, brings writers together to focus on their craft, free from distractions. Credit: Courtesy of Kelly Privette
Whether writing an essay for school or trying to finish a novel, many writers are familiar with the struggle of finding time to jot down a few words — and Shut Up & Write! aims to offer a solution.
Shut Up & Write!, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to helping writers focus on their craft, has brought together writers from around the globe since 2007, according to its website. Held in person and virtually, Shut Up & Write! meetups allow writers to gather together and write, free from distraction.
For Columbus-based writers, Shut Up & Write! hosts free weekly chapter meetups at different locations in Dublin, Ohio, and downtown Columbus, Kelly Privette, organizer for the Dublin chapter, said.
“We don’t have prompts, we don’t do readings, we don’t do critiques — none of that,” Privette said. “What you do is you show up, you be friendly with people, and then for an hour, you focus on whatever it is that you brought to work on. It’s really primarily about giving people the time and place to dedicate to whatever it is that they want to write.”
Privette said she got started with Shut Up & Write! when she was in college and considers it to be a valuable experience for students. Having a place outside of school to focus on her writing helped her make new connections while in college, she said.
“I was looking for an opportunity to meet people outside of my university environment and also to have a time and place dedicated to my creative work,” Privette said. “I was really busy with schoolwork, and I always felt guilty trying to make time for creative stuff, so having something on the schedule that says ‘This is when you’ll do it’ really helped me with that.”
Jeremy Thweatt, outreach manager of Shut Up & Write!, said founder and CEO Rennie Saunders started Shut Up & Write! in San Francisco in 2007 when he found himself struggling to find time to write his novel. In order to hold himself accountable, Saunders organized a meetup at a local coffee shop and soon found that it helped him write more consistently — other writers agreed.
Over the years, more and more chapters of Shut Up & Write! began until it had grown into the organization it is today, Thweatt said.
“We’re a global community of nearly 100,000 writers from over 50 countries who find support and accountability from free writing events,” Thweatt said. “We host these events to allow you to put a schedule down on your calendar for time to carve out to write.”
Writers of all experience levels and backgrounds are welcome to attend the meetups, which are designed to be judgment-free spaces, Privette said.
“We have some professional writers that are doing technical writing or vertical writing, and then we have a bunch of fiction writers, poets, journalers, I mean, all sorts,” Privette said. “It’s really come as you are; it doesn’t matter what you’re working on, how long you’ve been writing or how good you are at writing.”
Prior to the pandemic, Shut Up & Write! events were solely in person, but Thweatt said the pandemic led the organization to begin offering an “online events chapter,” which hosts virtual meetups. He said virtual meetups — which take place over Zoom and Google Meet — have created new opportunities for members across the globe to connect with one another.
“With our virtual events, we were able to connect and make friends with people all around the world,” Thweatt said. “I’ve made meaningful connections with writers in all time zones at this point, which I love, especially in a time in the past two years when we’ve all been increasingly isolated.”
The best way for interested writers to get involved with Shut Up & Write! is to sign up for one of the meetups, Privette said. Meetups for the Dublin chapter are held Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at North Market Bridge Park, and the downtown Columbus meetups are held Fridays at 8 a.m. at The Roosevelt Coffeehouse.
Interested writers are encouraged to use the Shut Up & Write! meetup page to view a list of nearby in-person and online events, Privette said.
“Memories that I have from these groups are about the people more so than the writing,” Privette said. “The writing, it happens, it’s productive, it comes and goes. But what gives the environment more than just going to a coffee shop by yourself or going to a library by yourself? It’s the folks that come along for the ride with you.”
