Built by people who missed writing class, too.
We started this program because so many capable adults stop writing after school, not because they run out of ideas, but because they lose the low-stakes space to practice.
A living room writing group that outgrew the living room.
Guhili Deroka began as a small weekly meetup among a handful of friends trading pages back and forth. There was no syllabus, just a shared prompt and a rule about being generous with feedback. When it moved online, more people asked to join than a living room could hold, and the format we use today grew directly out of that original habit: show up, write something small, read it out loud, and listen more than you talk.
What hasn't changed is the underlying goal. This was never meant to be a pipeline toward agents or publishing deals. It's meant to be a place where writing stays enjoyable, even on the weeks when the sentences come out clumsy.
A few things we hold onto in every session.
Curiosity over correction
Facilitators ask questions about a piece before offering opinions. It keeps writers curious about their own choices instead of defensive about them.
Small, repeatable practice
Fifteen focused minutes on a prompt tends to teach more than an occasional marathon writing weekend. We build around the smaller habit.
Groups stay small
Feedback circles are kept compact so every piece gets real attention, not a quick skim between other people's work.
No pressure toward publishing
Some members eventually pursue publication on their own. That's fine, but it's never a requirement or measure of progress here.
Facilitators who write alongside you, not above you.
Sessions are led by facilitators with backgrounds in creative writing instruction, editing, and community workshop facilitation. Their role is less "instructor" and more "host": setting the prompt, keeping feedback constructive, and occasionally sharing their own attempt at the exercise so the group remembers that first drafts are allowed to be rough.
Group sizes and facilitator assignments are adjusted periodically based on enrollment and the format of a given circle, whether it's a general prompt-based group, a character-focused lab, or a personal story circle.
Everything happens online, on a schedule that repeats.
Because the program runs online, participants join from across the country, from Philadelphia apartments to small towns without a local writing group. Sessions are scheduled weekly with recordings made available for members who can't attend live, and written feedback threads stay open between sessions so conversations about a piece don't have to end when the call does.
