Starting a Focus Group

... for my novel. In which I share a few things I considered before starting my writing focus group

Jan 13

‘They lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles.’

History is filled with stories that prove the power of community in creating the best artistic or literary work. Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir critiqued and celebrated each other’s work. Although more of a movement, the Harlem Renaissance group had writers like Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston who promoted African American writing.

In September 2021, during my first solo trip to London, I stayed in Bloomsbury and learned about its literary history. Then this week, I stumbled into more information about the Bloomsbury group.

The Bloomsbury group were friends (including one of my faves, Virginia Woolf), united in their belief in the importance of arts. They promoted and supported each other’s work, shared ideas, organised exhibitions, and discussed their work, as well as the ‘wider art world.’

They met for food and drinks at Vanessa Bell’s home (Virginia Woolf’s sister) every Thursday. The idea alone seems romantic: afternoons with artsy friends, drinking wine, discussing art, arguing about politics and society’s hypocrisy, putting forth more ideal ways to inhabit the world, etc.

More than whatever beautiful feeling of community the group’s image invokes in you, it all seems so practical to me. It reminds me of why I chose to create a focus group for my novel, several years after my first-ever writing group, Arts and Africa, died — a story for later.

I cherish my friendship with creators not just for friendship sake, but for all the miraculous things we can learn from each other when confined to one space and otherwise. I’ve been lucky to be blessed with some of the best friends — and I exaggerate not — in the world.

Why I started a focus group

When I got the idea to start my focus group in the second half of 2021, I was thinking about accountability. A system where I could submit my writing to a body of people outside of my regular school workshop group. At the time, I hadn’t been shortlisted for the Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship… But I knew I was going to apply and was hopeful.

As I continued to think about the group, my thoughts evolved from accountability. I began to see different use cases. It could be a space to learn, share ideas, and receive feedback from fellow creators.

At this point, I had just finished my dissertation and was getting emails from literary agents interested in my work. Creating a system to write and complete a great book became urgent.

I’ve spent the past few years mainly writing in isolation. But most of my best work has been with the help of others. ‘After The Birds’ was born from a pseudo-situation like this. It was late 2018, and I had just completed the Purple Hibiscus Foundation Creative Writing Workshop, organised by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I wrote this story during the Christmas holiday and shared it with a few friends from the workshop. Their feedback shaped it in a way that I know writing alone wouldn’t have. For example, Loretta and Ope asked that I touch up the use of birds to foreshadow incidents in the story. I hadn’t even thought the birds were doing anything other than beautifying it.

Everything — even art — requires a level of intention: being deliberate about your commitment, creating a system that allows you to commit, designing your environment to make commitment easier.

After thinking it through and with encouragement from a few friends, I started the group on WhatsApp.

Navigating the fear of starting

The idea is still frightening. Why would anyone want to be in a group just to read this fake world I’m building? Why should anyone invest in my work with no real or clear-cut incentive?

Again, I could have started a writing group instead: one where we would swap work and share feedback like my school workshop system. Or like the Bloomsbury group. But I still went ahead with a focus group.

If you’re thinking of starting any group — a writing group, a focus group, a book club, a community of like-minds, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Have a clear goal in mind

Know what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve it.

In the past few years of working in media and now tech, I’ve learned (and I am learning) that it’s increasingly more helpful to approach content and my literary work as a product first, then entertainment later.

The thing about good products is that they solve real problems for real people. They don’t just exist for the sake of existing (or l’art pour l’art — art’s for art’s sake).

To me, an excellent book would resonate with an audience, would be indispensable, and would help my reader (re)think deeply about long-held values and ideas. And it’ll do all of these without being preachy (as I’ve always said is important to me.)

That’s the primary reason I created this group. The members of my focus group are like alpha testers.

The idea is to utilise them as my very first source of feedback. They also share thoughts on areas I struggle with (most recently, the authenticity of the voice of a 13-year-old.)

Be Ready to Engage and Listen

Most writers struggle with receiving feedback. It can feel like a sting or a bite. It will hurt a lot. How do you move past thinking you and your work are the most extraordinary things in the world? Or that you’re not a failure and suck at this writing thing?

Products need feedback from users. That’s why product teams conduct user research, listen to their users’ complaints, etc.

Creating this group is my first step to getting all the initial feedback on making this project the best novel ever. It’s also preparing me for the public’s harsh feedback if my book is ever published.

(Let’s face it, you can’t win with everyone. There’ll be people who’ll hate my project and with valid reasons too.)

As ‘talented’ as you might be, you can’t do it in isolation

One of the most annoying lessons I haven’t stopped learning as a writer is that no matter how great you are with writing and editing, you’ll never be able to spot all the errors. This newsletter is the perfect case in point. I reread issues I read several hundred times before publication only to find new errors.

Something will always slip by you, despite your commendable attention to detail, despite reading and rereading hundred times.

Beyond grammar, it’s easy to lose track of the small details in your work. Your protagonist might have been described as tall in the first few pages, but then you refer to them as short. It’s an obvious mistake. But if you have to write over 80k words, it’s bound to happen at some point.

There’s also support: friends to celebrate your resilience and skill. You can’t do these by yourself.

Plan, create a structure, be accountable but don’t be afraid to fail

When I started the focus group, I had a clear plan to write 10k words every two weeks. At the time, I’d had a lucky writing streak and suddenly thought I was a beast, superman, even.

Unfortunately, my luck ran out, and I couldn’t meet up to expectations. I had to come clean and readjust timelines.

Luckily, the friends in my group are super empathetic, so they encouraged my new pace.

Choose people who believe in the dream ❤️

My novel’s focus group is pretty much like a startup—friends and family who understand the dream. Let’s face it; I’m selling them dreams to build with me.

My promise is that a few years from now, this baby we’re working on will scale. That is, a big five publisher will sign and publish my work. It’ll be translated into multiple languages, published and distributed in several countries, accrue thousands of dollars in yearly royalties, win awards, and broadly become a cultural force. These are all dreams that might never happen.

My friends are taking a risk on me and hoping I succeed.

On a more sober note, they’re some of the people I trust most in the world, whose taste in art is first-rate. I can tell that they’ll be instrumental in shaping the face of my debut and the next 👀

Should you start a focus group?

Maybe, maybe not. There are several factors to consider. You might prefer to write or create alone — without any interference until you’re done with your project. You might think I’m crazy to think of my book as a product. Whatever the case, consider answering a few questions:

What is your project about?
What is your career plan as an artist or writer?
Would you have the time to invest in a group?
What would a focus group help you achieve that you won’t achieve on your own?
How well do you believe in your dream? How good are you at selling dreams?

What I’m Currently Reading

I’m not one of those people who grew up reading self-help books. Ironic because if my dad had 30% fiction titles by Sidney Sheldon, Jeffery Archer, Leo Tolstoy and Wole Soyinka, the remaining 70% were a clean divide between religion and self-help.

It’s funny how small moments of decision-making can chart the course of your life. I became a writer after reading the 30% fiction, and my sister became a psychologist, possibly influenced by books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The 48 Laws of Power, Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Even before it became ‘cool’ to frown and snare at self-help titles on social media, I didn’t get their appeal. Why should a teenage girl be bothered about who moved my cheese when she could discover more exotic meals in a character’s escapades in Italy.

Today, I’m turning back to self-help. It might be age or something in the air. I enjoy James Clear’s newsletters, so reading Atomic Habits isn’t surprising. I’m also learning a lot about habits and looking forward to applying them on the road to building a healthier life.

Other things I enjoyed this week:

‘There’s only so much one can do in isolation. How do you know what you don’t know if no one tells you?’ Lagos to Lomé: Reflections on Borders
‘Easy reading is damn hard writing. But if it’s right, it’s easy. It’s the other way round, too. If it’s slovenly written, then it’s hard to read. It doesn’t give the reader what the careful writer can give the reader.’ The Daily Routines of 12 Famous Writers
‘Community is so important on the internet specifically, because it makes this massively abundant place feel approachable and intimate.’ Lessons from Starting a Bookclub
‘Ours was an ancient story, the woman wants the baby, and the man doesn’t want the baby, and a middle ground does not exist. What would a middle ground be? We couldn’t have half a baby.’ Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
How not to pitch a billionaire
#NairaLife: How Did This Writer Hustle His Way to ₦1M/Month?
A Letter to Myself For The New Year
HBR Guide to Better Business Writing
‘“Each was to the other an affirming example of what black people could be like: wild, crazy, creative, spontaneous, at ease with who they are, and funny. A lot of attention has been given to their breakup … but very little to the pleasure Zora and Langston must have felt in each other’s company.”’ The Complex Literary Friendship Between Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston
‘Fearlessness is what love seeks… Such fearlessness exists only in the complete calm that can no longer be shaken by events expected of the future… Hence the only valid tense is the present, the Now.’ Hannah Arendt on Love and How to Live with the Fundamental Fear of Loss
‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is getting weaker.’ Sex can drop off in our final decades. But for those who keep going, it can be the best of their lives. The Joys (and Challenges) of Sex After 70