Building a Writing Communuity in London

I minored in creative writing at Stanford and have always loved writing. But when I moved to the UK, I found it really hard to find time to sit down and establish a consistent writing practice. Luckily, I found out that there is a thriving Stanford women alumni community in the UK. I reached out to the organisers and pitched the idea of starting a writers' studio.

How It Works

The idea was simple: get together a group of serious writers each week to carve out dedicated writing time and bounce ideas and advice off each other. Basically, accountability plus community.

I started it in the summer of 2024 and we've met almost every week since. I also maintain a resource list for members with podcast recommendations, writing resources, contacts in publishing—all things people have suggested during our sessions.

The Community

We have 35 members with about 7-8 regulars who show up most weeks. What makes it awesome is that our ages span from 23 all the way to our 60s, but writing is still something we can all really connect over. Meeting weekly means we're genuinely more in touch with each other than many of our own friends, which creates this nice, wholesome dynamic. That matters when you're sharing personal material like your unfinished writing.

Our professions are all over the place too; everything from students to career coaches to stand-up comics to tech employees to people working at the World Bank. Somehow, despite how different our day-to-day lives are, we all find ourselves at the same table every week.

What I'm Currently Writing

✨ The pilot episode of a sitcom set in a fictional Oxford college.

✨ A road trip buddy novel, set across the Indian subcontinent in the midst of the pandemic.

✨ A series of short essays on the craziness of being in your mid-twenties.