Hello all. As you may be aware, I am once again working on an anthology of short stories for the Glasgow SF Writer’s Circle.
Two years ago I was a junior part of the team who produced Gallus, a collection released to coincide with the Worldcon being in Glasgow. And it did, if I may say, rather well for a local group publication. Washed its face and produced enough to give each contributor something. Which is lovely.
You can find a copy here if you don’t have one, it’s great: https://www.amazon.co.uk/GALLUS-Glasgow-Writers-Circle-Anthology/dp/B0D93KTN2L
Following the success of that, thoughts turned to producing another and it was noticed that this year, 2026, marks the fortieth anniversary of the Glasgow Science Fiction Writer’s Circle, as it was at the start. And so we are creating a new collection, this time called Haverin, and, if everything works, we should have it available to launch at FantasyCon in Glasgow this October, followed up by a Waterstones event later in the month.
To build up to this launch I’ve decided to do a wee series of posts on the Circle and the anthology and this is the first, in which I shall haver on about my relationship to the GSFWC.
A long time ago, in a meeting room far, far away…
The Circle itself was founded in 1986, off the back of a successful speculative short story competition in the Glasgow Herald, by Duncan Lunan, and had been going for almost ten years when I stumbled in. I’d always enjoyed making up stories, scribbling in jotters and on A4 pads, but had rarely finished anything until I got to University in the early Nineties.
There I found the SF society (called IO after the most interesting place in the universe, at the time) and they had a wee publication which took silliness and stories. I chucked stuff in, VERY rough stuff, and basked in the glow of seeing my words in slightly iffy print.
This led to wondering about taking writing further, and, through one of the many strange pub nights that ended up in a random flat at three in the morning, I learned of the Circle and eventually got up the courage to attend.
In those days they met in the boardroom of Borders bookshop and they were very welcoming to a, frankly, terrible writer. I learned so much; about writing, about how to critique writing, be it your own or someone else’s, about receiving critique and giving it in a positive way, and about how to talk a right load of tosh in the pub afterwards.
Obviously it was the part where we talked nonsense that initially sold me on attending, the chance to join in the post-critique pub sessions that covered every corner of SF, Fantasy, conventions and the state of the world. It was friendly, it was sociable and, almost by accident, I learned loads and my writing became less terrible.
Another thing that helped me stay was that they used the Milford method, i.e. reading stories in advance, arriving with prepared comments and going round in a circle (hence the name), one at a time, with no talking over or arguing. Which gave me time to listen to what everyone said and to get my own comments out. The idea that everyone, no matter how long they’d been at this, was equally valid when giving comments was nerve-wracking to start with, but brought me out of my shell and gave me practice in thinking about writing that was invaluable.
Not that my writing went anywhere in the Nineties. I wrote nonsense. I gibbered and havered. But mostly I was just there as a hobby and for the company, and no-one thought the less of me for that.
At the turn of the Millennium university wrapped up for me and I followed the traditional path down to England for a few years. There my writing took much more of a backseat, although I still kept in touch with many people through conventions. But eventually I came back north and, after a few years, around 2005, I once again found myself in a pub with some of the circle and admitted I still did a bit of writing. Immediately they said I should come back to meetings and, like a long lost sock that suddenly appears under a sofa, I returned.
It was as if nothing had changed. My writing was still terrible, the pub chat was still brilliant and they were all very encouraging. Many stories were critiqued, many, many silly ideas were discussed and slowly, but surely, my writing actually improved.
Not as quickly as many, I have always been more of a hobbyist tinkerer, but it did, and so it was that in 2012 I got my first story published and, fourteen years later, I’m still at it.
The Circle is a lovely, warm, group of people. The primary focus is working together to improve all our writing, with critique meetings every two weeks, but the social side, the chats after a session, the collective hanging out at conventions, all make it so much more, while never forgetting what we are here for. There are people who’ve been attending for the full forty years, those who pop in and out as time allows, and the new, shiny, eager beavers. All of whom come together to create something special that has lasted an impressively long time.
It is this combination, this mixing of experience and new ideas, with no hierarchy, each person’s opinion and work being of equal weight, that has, in my opinion, made it work and last these forty years. There is experience there to help new people get better, but the new people’s critiques of experienced work is considered just as much as anyone else’s. It’s about constantly bringing in new blood, new perspectives, from many diverse backgrounds and mixing that with a realistic knowledge of how writing works that has produced many great things, including short stories, poetry, novels, anthologies and several award winning people.
I’m very glad to have been part of it, hope that I can help produce something suitable to mark the anniversary (which I’ll go on about more in subsequent posts) and hope they continue for many, many years to come.
Writing can be quite a lonely thing, after all it’s you staring at a blank sheet as the inside of your brain whirls, trying to find something to put down, so to find a decent and helpful social group is a glory.
If you’re in the Glasgow area, I can think of no group better. If you’re further afield, look for your own, I cannot recommend them enough, and your writing will thank you.
Gaun yersels, the Glasgow SF Writer’s Circle!
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