Finding a writing collective
Striking a balance between solitude and society
Bonnie Tsui, one of my Grotto colleagues, 
wrote in a New York Times “Draft” column about what she has gained from working alongside other writers: “It has reminded me of the reason I became a writer in the first place. We don’t write in a vacuum. We write because we want to share a piece of ourselves with someone else.”
One of the way we Grottonians “share pieces of ourselves” with each other is through our in-house listserv. A recent conversation generated a list of other places more or less like the Grotto. I’ve included them here in case you live somewhere else where there is a similar community—or in case you want to start one. If there are others that you would recommend, please add to the comments.
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Located in the main New York Public Library building, Robert Caro wrote The Power Broker here. Open to those with book contracts, writers have permission to use a dedicated room with cubicles and can keep books out from the stacks of the research library in the room for up to 30 days.
The Brooklyn Creative League rents workspaces, both physical and virtual (see their “virtual office membership”), to creative professionals, writers included.
The Brooklyn Writers Space is a shared office space that was founded by playwrights Scott Adkins and Erin Courtney. Since opening in 2002, the Brooklyn Writers Space’s mission has been to provide a quiet, professional environment for writers.
Paragraph is a membership organization for writers located in a Greenwich Village loft. This writing center was founded by two graduates of the New School’s creative writing graduate program.
The Castro Writers’ Cooperative
This is a small community of professional writers located steps away from Castro Street in San Francisco.
A workspace for self-employed writers of all genres, filmmakers, radio/TV producers, new media creators and others. The Grotto also offers classes on writing and hosts community events.
The Writers’ Mill, located in Northampton, MA, welcomes writers of all genres whether they’re published or not.
Founded in 1978, this New York City nonprofit is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, collective writers spaces. More than 1,000 books have been written by its members since it first opened.
The Writers’ Room of Boston is an office for writers who seek a quiet, affordable workspace in a secure location. Members have access to the room 24 hours a day. Writers of all levels of experience and skill are invited to submit applications for membership.
The Writers’ Studio at The Center for Fiction
The Writers’ Studio in New York City offers membership to writers of all genres, at any stage in their careers. Members have access to The Center for Fiction’s circulating collection of 85,000 titles.
A literary arts organization in Houston, TX, that invites writers of all genres to join. Writespace offers writing workshops, readings, manuscript consultations, and more.
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What are your thoughts on finding your tribe versus needing the freedom to stretch, roll on the ground, groan or otherwise go through your writing process in private?
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—Constance Hale
{Research assists on this list were provided by Kailani Moran.}
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