Hi Lit Service and all of its participants!

A few months ago, I decided I desperately needed a writing group. Or, rather, I decided that forever ago, and it was only a few months past that I decided to do something about it. I created a group through MeetUp that focused on A) women supporting women through writing and B) sci-fi, horror, and fantasy genres.

I'm happy to say that the group has flourished. With 40 online members and regular attendance of about 7-8 people each week, I am really pleased with how the attendees have come together.

However, I now have to figure out how to best lead the group. We have writers who are in very different points of the process - for those who attend each week, we have three writers brainstorming/outlining, two working on first drafts, and I am looking for critiques of my third draft. After our last session, we decided to do monthly goal check-ins. I'm currently working on some questions to help my group craft their goals, and on the last meetup of each month we will check in on our progress.

My questions are: How do I help my group make meaningful progress toward their writing? Our group currently is a process/brainstorming/question/vent-sesh with one hour dedicated heads-down writing time. How can I make that time more valuable for them? How do I (selfishly) lead them to critiques?

I value my group and want to make it worthwhile for everyone involved. Any guidance on how to best lead fellow writers would be much appreciated!