Never Write Alone

Why Every Woman Needs a Writers' Group (and How to Start One)

Yamini Naidu, Sandy McDonald, Kath Walters and Carolyn Tate (me) on a writers retreat where we ur um….did no writing but talked and walked and bought beautiful hats at the local market. 😊

Let’s name it: we are living in a time of rollback for women’s rights.

Of erasure. Of a backlash against everything women have fought for.

Abortion rights. Gender equality. Education. Safety. Voice.

If you’re a woman who writes — or wants to — this is not a time to sit quietly with your notebook and doubt yourself.

This is a time to gather.
To write together.
To become louder and braver than we’ve ever dared.

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🥰 My Writers’ Group Saved Me

I’ve been in a women’s writers’ group since Covid hit Australian shores in early 2020.

Just four of us. Four friends. Four women to hold space, witness growth and call bullshit on each other.

Yamini Naidu. Kath Walters. Sandy McDonald. Carolyn Tate (me).

We’ve written through heartbreak, publishing deals and retirement.
We’ve written nothing at all yet still shown up for a deep dive on ideas or subjects dear to us all.
We’ve gathered in each other’s homes for monthly write-ins and on zoom for weekly updates.

We’ve had a weekend retreat at our farm, Kookaburra Rise. Not one word was written, yet we relished in the deep conversations—and the silence, the walks, the wine and home-grown meals. We even bought matching hats at the Red Hill markets (except for Kath, who refuses to conform).

It’s more than a writers’ group. It’s my sacred circle.
It’s where I remember who I am; a writer trying my damnedest to write brave words.

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✍🏽 When Women Write Together, Something Revolutionary Happens

When Yamini needed to perfect her keynote speech (for which she received a standing ovation!), we were the ones she turned to.
When Kath retired, we lunched and celebrated the new life she’s stepping into.
When Sandy signed with a publisher after five long years, we screamed and applauded.
When I launched Brave Women Write, they were by my side giving speeches.

Because one woman’s success, is all of our success.

Women’s writers’ groups aren’t just for writing.
They’re for healing, witnessing, rewilding and reminding each other:
You matter. Your story matters. Your voice matters.

The women from my first Brave Women Write program back in 2023 are still meeting (without me). Still writing. Still showing up. That’s what the sisterhood of a writers’ group does.

We hold each other up when we feel like we’re falling — or failing.

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🤲 What If You Don’t Have a Writers Group?

You’re not alone. Guaranteed, there’s another woman out there just like you waiting to be found.

She’s sitting on a story. Doubting her voice. Hoping someone will say: ‘Let’s do this together.’

Be the one who asks.
Be the one who gathers the circle.

Here’s how.

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🙆🏼‍♀️ How to Start a Writers’ Group

1. Attend Events

Attend a writers’ festival. Join a writing workshop at the local library. Join a course. This is where you’ll meet kindred spirits.

2. Start With One

Invite one woman. Just one. Someone you trust. Someone craving more. Then ask them to invite one more. And on it goes. Four to six women will turn up in no time.

3. Choose a Format

Will you meet monthly in person? Weekly online? Both? Every new moon by candlelight? There’s no rule. Just make it consistent.

4. Set the Vibe

This isn’t school. It’s soul work. Agree on your purpose, values and boundaries. No perfection. No pressure. Just presence.

5. Mix It Up

Free flow writing stints. Readings. Journaling. Walk ‘n talks. Sound baths. Potluck dinners. Go rogue. Go deep. Keep it alive.

6. Keep It Sacred

This is not just a calendar event. It’s a sanctuary. Show up. Stay open. Protect the container. Honour the women in it.

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✨ What To Do When You Meet

Whether you meet online or in-person, here’s some tips to ensure your gatherings flow:

• Open with a check-in: What’s alive in you right now?

• Write to a shared creative prompt in silence for 15–20 minutes.

• Share your writing (optional) without judgment.

• Reflect with kindness, not critique.

• Hold writing sprints (25 mins writing, 5 mins check-in, and repeat).

• Invite a guest speaker to join to share her writing experiences.

• Give each woman time (keep it timed) to share personal issues and tap into the group wisdom.

• Close with a ritual — a quote, a blessing, a song.

• End with lunch, a wine or a barefoot walk in nature.

Note: My personal passion is for rewilding women, and our writing, with nature as our muse. Incorporate nature immersions into your gatherings often. Let Mother Earth be your greatest teacher.

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💥 My Writer’s Life Manifesto

(from Brave Women Write — distilled for power)

When you start your writers’ group, consider co-creating a manifesto like this one to keep you grounded. Or feel free to borrow mine.

I will write in service to myself and trust my words will serve you too.
I will not write to please. I will write to be true.
I will write with vulnerability, especially when it’s dark.
I will not compare my writing to others. I am incomparable.
I will write with courage, compassion, and conviction.
I will write to advance women’s rights and the rights of Mother Earth.
I will push you out of your comfort zone — and walk with you through it.
I will learn by writing, and write to learn.
I will welcome the gifts of imperfect work.
I will seek diverse voices to challenge my blind spots.
I will protect my time to write, my truth, and my creative fire.
I will honour the sacred sisterhood of my writers group.
I will do my best to live a writer’s life every day.

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📣 Final Words

Women are being told — yet again — to sit down, be quiet, behave.
To shrink. To defer. To shut the hell up.

We will not.
We will gather. We will write.
We will be louder, softer, bolder, messier, wiser — together.

Whether you’ve been writing for decades or just started journaling, you belong in a writers’ group. And if one doesn’t exist near you?

Make one.

Never write alone.
Find your tribe. Rewild your words.
Write like it’s an act of resistance — because it is.

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✍️ Thinking of starting a group? Already in one? Drop a comment or hit reply. Let’s build a network of rebel women writers around the world.

Carolyn Tate is an author, educator and community-builder who writes to advance the rights of women, nature and the environment. This Brave Women Write Substack publication is FREE and delivered bi-weekly on Friday’s. If you like what you read, please support her work to help amplify women’s voices by sharing it with a friend.