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Join our community of 96,853 writers in 395 cities around the world.

Online and in-person writing meetups where you get your writing done.

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Free
& Safe

No fee for attending.
Write in peace.

Make Real
Progress

Build your writing habit
with social support.

All Skill
Levels

Everyone who wants to get
work done is welcome.

All Types
of Writing

Novelist or journalist.
Beginner or pro.

Featured Meetup:

Shut Up & Write
Online Events

 Check it Out
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How Shut Up & Write Works

1

Find Your Chapter
& Show Up

Find Your Chapter
Our Meetups
are Always Free

We meet up at local coffee shops and other quiet spaces. Our meetups are free, but we often like to buy a snack from our host venue.

All Skill Levels
are Welcome

Beginner or pro, whatever you’re writing, whatever form it takes, wherever you are in your process, you won’t be the only one.

All Types of Writing
are Welcome

We welcome all writers, working on any kind of project—be it a novel, essay, legal document, school report, poem, screenplay, or anything else.

2

Find a Seat,
Settle In, & Write

Everyone Writes in Quiet for the Session (Usually 1-2 Hours)

We write together each week, at the same time and place. It serves as powerful support for building our daily writing disciplines. We'd love you to join us.

No One Will Read
or Critique Your Writing

Our meetups are a safe space for writers to work on their craft. We won't invade your privacy or ask you to do anything. We gather to write.

How Our Meetups Go:

Example Itinerary

  • 7:05 - 7:10 PM Find a Seat
  • 7:30 - 8:10 PM Quiet Writing
  • 8:10 PM Finished Writing
  • 8:10 PM - 9:00 PM Optional Socializing

3

Take Off or Hang Around
to Chat, Share, Help, and Learn

Hang Out with Your
Local Writing Community

Afterwards, sometimes we talk. We love to share our methods, successes, challenges, and opportunities as writers.

Looking for Assistance?
We're Here to Help.

Workshops, writing resources, feedback groups, and guest speakers are a few of the ways we can help you write.

  • "I absolutely love this platform and what it means for young writers like myself. Thank you so much for everything you do for us!"

  • "I have found the experience to be very supportive, it acts as a grounding to my writing at home. It is a great format to exchange ideas about the whole process of writing. I would recommend this to ANY writer, professional or otherwise."

  • "I love it! It has been an amazing opportunity. I have met so many like minded people and they have inspired me to continue my passion for writing. My experience has also lead me to find out about other services within the writing community both local and nationally and its opened up so many more opportunities to write and help improve my writing process. I love Shut Up & Write and I encourage everyone to join!"

  • "I love Shut Up & Write - I've been going for over a year pretty consistently and it's a wonderful way to get work done with lots of terrific people around you."

  • "I really appreciate the opportunity to just sit for an hour with others who are doing the same thing. It's the first time I've been with a community like this and it helps me and lets me also focus. Thank you!"

  • "It's been one of the most important, productive, and useful groups I've ever joined."

  • "My experience with Shut Up & Write! has been very positive! I always get at least 2 pages written when I'm present during the group meeting."

  • "Shut Up & Write has increased my writing output and helps me to create time to develop new projects. It's amazing the difference it makes, just sitting surrounded by other writers who are quietly writing."

  • "Shut Up & Write has furthered my writing tremendously. I think not having a others critique my material and just putting pen to the paper with a group has inspired my writing more than any other group I've been in. I am grateful for the group I have been in and expect to publish by the end of the year."

  • "I have been a member of Shut Up & Write for about four years now, and now lead my own group. This is the best way to meet fellow writers, get some work done, and just spend an hour on yourself. It's truly an exercise in self-care for the upcoming writer."

  • "I've been part of Shut Up & Write for about six years now! During this time, I've finished four books, three now published. I couldn't have done it without the support and schedule that Shut Up & Write has provided. The camaraderie, inspiration and tips that I gain from this group has been priceless."

  • "Our group is really robust and we have a lot of regulars who have found a ton of support and productivity from attending."

  • "I appreciate the enthusiasm and generous spirit of my co-writers. I learn sooo much. I have finished my 1st draft. I am formatting, and choosing appropriate photos. I also started developing a fiction character for a 2nd book."

  • "I love the community at Shut Up & Write. I write better when surrounded by writers."

  • "I really like the feeling of being in a space with other like minded people. It gave me a sense of serenity."

  • "I've enjoyed the Shut Up & Write experience thus far. It's a very welcoming environment without the pressure to feel like I have to share my work to participate."

  • "It helped me complete my PhD and I made some great friends from it."

  • "It motivates me to write when I'm with others engaged in the same activity. The group has been really helpful."

  • "It's been a great experience for me. Completely changed my productivity."

  • "Love the concept and community. Being with like-minded people promotes accountability makes our work less isolating. Thank you!"

  • "Love the diversity of what people are working on. Great discipline to set aside time and space to write."

  • "Shut Up & Write is a very necessary part of my writing process. It puts me in touch with other writers, helps me to keep focused on my main task of writing, and jump starts me when I'm feeling down about my writing."

  • "The people in these meetups are friendly and helpful and it is easy to simply sit down and get things done in this group."

  • "I like that Shut Up & Write leaves you alone to do your own thing. People from all walks of life and who write in different genres have the opportunity to be supportive of one another."

  • "The writing meetups have been a lot of fun and have helped to keep me focused on actually getting the work done."

  • "I've been doing Shut Up & Write for a couple years now. I get a lot of writing done while having the pleasure of meeting like-minded fellow creative people. It is a joy to me and I always get something done, even on the really hard days."

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Why Shut Up & Write Works

Accountability & Habit Formation
One of the most successful techniques for developing a new habit is to commit to a specific day, time, and location when you will follow through. By making the commitment to show up for your writing at the same time each week, you are able to turn one hour of focused writing into a stable routine that yields remarkable results.

Social Motivation & Support
Studies have shown that even the smallest sense of belonging increases performance on a variety of tasks. When you show up for a Shut Up & Write event, not only are you supported and motivated by everyone else writing around you, you are also a part of a community of writers all over the world.

We started hosting meetups
to help writers like us
get more done.

Shut Up & Write was founded in 2007 by Rennie Saunders, a science fiction writer who wanted more support and accountability for his writing practice. He launched the first Shut Up & Write chapter at the Crossroads Cafe in San Francisco and committed to showing up every week for his writing.

Rennie's goal was to make writing a regular habit and provide a space for others to do the same. What everyone quickly discovered was that writing in the presence of other writers was not only incredibly motivating, it was also deeply satisfying… and fun!

Within a year, Shut Up & Write had a handful of chapters meeting in cafes around San Francisco. Over time it has continued to grow organically, and today Shut Up & Write has chapters in hundreds of cities, and has hosted tens of thousands of events all over the world. With the addition of our Virtual Chapter and Monthly Writing Challenges, it's easier than ever for writers of all genres and skill levels to come together and get their writing done.

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