Hang Out & Write – Mission Hill

Writing is a hobby where you can spend years at it and still discover something new every week. This group is for people who enjoy that journey: writers who are curious, thoughtful, and interested in improving with the help of friends.

Agenda:

11:00 - Get settled

11:15 - Tiny icebreaker

11:30 - Write and Chat

1:00 - Feel accomplished

Location: The [Tavern of Tales](https://www.tavernoftales.com/) in Mission Hill. It's a board game bar and cafe. Ask the servers to point you over to the writers group. We're generally in the private rooms.

Price: The tavern requires a $10 minimum purchase of food and drink (before tax, tip, and discounts). In exchange, we often get access to free private rooms. In slower seasons, we are frequently allowed to linger until 2pm, though that's not guaranteed.

Mass Transit and Parking: We’re right on the Orange Line! Plus, easy access to the 66 bus and the Southwest Corridor bike trail. Parking is free on Tremont St outside. Also try Smith St, Pontiac St, and Parker St.

RSVP: RSVP if you want to be informed of cancellations or changes. Most of our regulars don't RSVP and get the news from our Discord instead.

Will I fit in? Generally, about 20 people show up each week, with about 2-6 new people each time. Our 3 tables seat 8 people each, and this results in a good mix of new people and regulars. Each table has its own personality, but generally, we tend to be quiet and curious. About half of us are fantasy/sci-fi writers, while the other half write in diverse genres like non-fiction, historical fiction, memoir, etc. I usually recommend attending for 3 weeks in a row, as this seems to be the magic number for finding friends here.

Do you do critiques? Yes and no. We find that critiques are better when done by people we know, for people we know. So, longtime members will often swap work with each other. Sometimes this is publicly announced, with everyone invited to critique, sometimes not.

*

RULES

1. Be a good listener. Plenty of people come here to work, so quiet talking is fine. Do not talk loudly and constantly.

2. Avoid controversial subjects. Do not talk about sex or politics unless it is directly relevant to your writing.

3. Own your experience. Many of us move around to catch up with friends, get work done, or meet new people. If you are not happy at your table, you can switch to a new table easily.

4. No ulterior motives. Please don’t treat us as a captive audience for your poetry reading, book selling, or podcast pushing. It’s fine if these come up in casual conversation, but there’s a big difference between chatting about your work and trying to sell us a product.

5. Give the other customers and staff privacy.** This is a board game bar, so there will be other customers playing card games, board games, and role-playing games. Please don't interrupt them or watch them. Also, the staff is really cool, but they have a job to do, so please don't chat for a long time with them.

*I can, have, and will ban people for violating the rules or engaging in behavior that I hadn't thought needed a rule. I'm sorry, but for this, I cannot take into account people's different backgrounds and neurodivergences. Making other members extremely uncomfortable is always an insta-ban.