Do you see how I learn...

by M. L. "Matt" Buchman

I'm not here right now. Seriously, I'm so not. I'm off at a conference learning all of this week, but especially this day, Wednesday 9/25. So, I thought I'd talk a little about how I, as a writer, learn.

CRAFT
I'm not going to talk about craft. The best way to learn craft in the beginning is a class, maybe a few advanced classes (though only from people out way ahead of you and only if you want to learn how they write). To learn how you write, I think you only have to do only two things:

1. Read...a lot.
2. Write...a lot.

Nope. What I am going to talk about is how anyone can learn about their business--in my case, the business of writing.

CONFERENCES

Sure, conferences are great. There are often numerous smart people wandering the halls, leading sessions, or sitting in the bar. The "Bar-con" is about the best conference there is at any time. (Tip: I typically drink ice tea or 7-Up at a Bar-con because the really, really great discussions always seem to start well after my bedtime. If I drink a beer, I fall asleep instead.)

My typical conference day looks like this:

• Up at 6
• On the floor by 7
• Most conferences kick to life by 8:30, by which time I've either gotten writing done or chatted with some other early risers
• Somewhere around midnight, I realize that I've been talking to people all day and night. I'm hoarse, and I plunge into bed by 1.

Did I mention that I don't sleep much at conferences? At my last 4-day conference, I made it to 4 sessions, one of which I was the speaker at, but my shortest day on the floor was 17 hours. A lot of networking and learning.

My inner introvert (I have a very shy inner introvert) is mostly cast aside for a conference. Instead, I wear a conference persona that is much more social than me (almost all the way up to a normal human). Why? I'm there to learn and that happens by walking up to a group of strangers, asking if I can join them, and talking about whatever they're talking about. It's hard, but it's amazing.

But I'm not wanting to talk about conferences either.

MATT'S PERSONAL SCHOOL

I didn't even realize that I did this until I was explaining it to my daughter yesterday to help her in her business. I began to realize how structured my unstructured learning had become. And that with little change, that structure could address autism treatment as easily as writing.

I've developed a number of groups that I meet with. I built each one myself, to serve myself. So how did I do it and make it work? Because it also serves others.

What I did was put together groups who are like different aspects of me. And I think of them in levels.

Level One: Craft

I don't have a craft "how to" group anymore. I'm confident enough in my writing voice (except when I'm actually trying to write, of course) to know that I'm discovering my own path. But early on, this was my most important level of group.

Level Two: Basics

I meet with writers who are at or maybe a little below my level. In some ways I'm a mentor to the group but in other ways they force me to organize my thoughts by asking hard questions. In turn, it organizes my thoughts on each topic and every now and then they push me in some new direction.

Level Three: Advanced

I organized a group of advanced writers. Mind you, all I did was organize them. We get together every six weeks and talk business. Even with 25 years and sixty novels, I'm one of the beginning writers in the group, but I earned my place by bringing them together and then having no ego or agenda about the meetings. I learn advanced business and marketing techniques from this group and try to bring new ideas when I can. 

Level Four: Madness

At a major conference that I attend each year (NINC, where I am right now as you read this), a question came up about the shape of the industry to come--and creating a space for writers to have a voice in that shape. (Yes, it started in a bar one year on the final night of the conference.) I grabbed onto the idea, and over the next 6 months a friend and I pushed and shoved at it until we had created a pre-conference invite-only session on Brainstorming the Future of Publishing. That I'm the first speaker in a room filled with industry professionals and a group of amazing authors is a very humbling place to be. This year is the second annual...happening the day you read this.

Level Five: Fun

In all of this networking, spread over years, I also came across a like-minded individual who loves thinking about the industry trends and the implications over the next two to three years. We're both similar and different. He and I have a conference call once a month and spend two hours just taking ideas and giving them a hard stir to see what we come up with. 

BASIC RULES

I've learned a lot of things as I've built these groups over the last three years (and all the groups before that back to the first Legal Computer Systems Managers users group where I brought the top 20 Seattle law firms together into a monthly meeting--and law firms are not entities that get along with each other. Last time I checked, it was still going 30 years after I started it).

So here are my basic rules for making these types of groups work:

1. Almost no one thinks to organize a group to any advantage. Sorry, they do think of it, they don't take action. Every one of these groups was formed after a massive battle with my inner introvert (sometimes creating months of procrastination) before making the first call or e-mail. But each one I started, the members of the resultant group went, "Now why didn't I think of doing this."
2. I start small. Four attendees is plenty for a trial run of almost any group.
3. I invite them to just sit down and talk about...my chosen topic: business, marketing, craft, etc. (For my kid's autism therapy business it will be three groups that she'll be forming: treatment methodologies, business operations, and future vision.)
4. My role is only First Speaker (which I stole from Asimov's Second Foundation). I start the first topic. I rarely moderate or facilitate. Instead, I listen and I participate. No ego allowed, from anyone. I make that clear in my initial setup: safe place, only looking forward.
5. At the end of each meeting I ask if it was useful and would they like to do it again? This gives them all ownership. Also, "How's the group size? Are there people we'd like to add?" 
6. And then I schedule the next one. That's it.

THE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

I always ask (and keep asking in case the answer changes over time): 

• Does this help me? 
• And, if so,  does this help others? 

If the honest answer to both is yes, then I've got a winning idea on my hand.

The amount I've learned about every aspect of the business I've chosen has been enormous. And I am so grateful to the people who meet and work with me.

FINDING THE FOLKS

Often it's simply a matter of asking. Ask on a membership loop, "Is there anyone in my area who would like to meet for a lunch to talk about...?" The responses and the excitement are always a welcome surprise. 

I make the first meeting a one-time event. If it is an awkward group that I don't think will work, I just don't ask the "Would we like to meet again?" question. I may even cherry pick from that first meeting to start a new group (though this is a tactic to use with great care).

The key is, Is it helpful? I've dissolved or left any number of groups when they no longer meet my needs. I'm not the person who wants to be president of an organization or the conference coordinator. I'm the person who wants to learn how to be the best I can at my craft and my business. I've built it one step at a time over the last years. And who knows what the next incarnation will look like.

Whatever it is, it's bound to be fun.

I'd love to hear about ways you feel you've built successful groups...though I may be slow to respond because, as I mentioned, I'm not here.

M.L. "Matt" Buchman has over 60 novels, 100 short stories, and a fast-growing pile of audiobooks out in the world. M.L. writes romance, thrillers, and SF&F…so far. Recently named as one of “The 20 Best Romantic Suspense Novels: Modern Masterpieces” by ALA’s Booklist, he has also been selected three times as "Top-10 Romance Novel of the Year." NPR and B&N listed other works as "Best 5 Romance of the Year." As a 30-year project manager with a geophysics degree who has: designed and built houses, flown and jumped out of planes, and bicycled solo around the world, he is awed by what's possible. More at: www.mlbuchman.com.