Cailin Riley Books

Have you ever heard of or participated in a writer’s circle?

I had heard of the concept before, kind of like a knitting or quilting circle, but had never participated in one until a few weeks ago.

I work at a midwestern academic library on a public university campus. As such, I work with a lot of librarians and it probably doesn’t surprise you to know that some of them are voracious readers and writers. The other week, I got invited to join a small group of our faculty and staff who had started a writing circle.

Every week, the group meets in a quiet and comfy conference room where we chat amongst ourselves until the circle’s host brings out her sound bath bowl.

Yes, there is a sound bath bowl. It’s legit.

At the start of the hour, she reads a quote from a famous author or writer and rings the bowl. The tone echoes through the room and for 15 minutes, we do nothing but write and focus. Every 15 minutes, we take a short break and then begin again at the sound of the bowl.

I won’t lie, it seemed a little woo-woo to me at first. But having a solid hour to focus on writing, with dedicated breaks spread throughout, has been a blessing. It can be really hard as a writer, in our busy day-to-day lives, to find time to truly immerse ourselves in our craft.

Some of the people in our circle use the time to focus on work-like writing; others use it to work on proposals, papers or other personal academic projects. I personally like to use the time to practice more creative writing or work on this blog.

I’m really looking forward to continuing to participate in the circle and I hope that we grow more members over time.

What do you think of the idea of a writer’s circle? Do you currently participate in one?