Image Credits: One image directly from Pixabay. Some images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos or images taken by me, Allison Symes. Other photos were taken by me, Allison Symes, at the ACW Autumn Gathering event in 2025 (and for the funny captions on the tables from their event in 2024 but the captions do not date!).
Last Saturday, 25th October, I had the joy of going to Egham for the Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering. It is the annual in-person gathering. The other ACW meetings are held on Zoom and are so useful but there is something special about getting together with other writers in person.
Association of Christian Writers Autumn Gathering
I find the annual gathering to be a lovely chance to catch up with friends and former colleagues (I was the Membership Secretary for a few years) in person, as well as having the opportunity to listen to interesting presentations. It was also lovely to meet new ACW members, some of whom are at the beginning of their own writing journeys. Often there is the chance to have one to ones on various aspects of the writing life and I took advantage of one of these myself this year.
It was also fantastic catching up with some members of the online group I run for ACW once a month, the Association of Christian Writers Flash Fiction Group, in person at Egham. It was good to talk in person with Donald Southey, Ian Lister, Denise d’Souza, and Jenny Sanders.
It was also good to see Donald and Jenny having their books on the massive book table. Naturally my flash collections, From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping The Flash Fantastic, were on there too. (I’m looking forward to having my third book, Seeing The Other Side, at next year’s table!).
The range of books on this year’s table was seriously impressive. There was a wide range of fiction covering all ages. Non-fiction and biography were represented too, along with devotional works.
Some of the flash group members have gone on to have stories, initially drafted in the online sessions, broadcast on North Manchester FM. I have just heard one of our members will have a scary theme story broadcast on Hannah Kate’s Halloween linked show too.
Naturally there is plenty of networking over teas and coffees at ACW in person events!
Encourage, Equip and Inspire
ACW’s motto is to encourage, equip and inspire and it continues to do wonderful work on all of this for those, like me, who are Christians writing in the secular market, as well as those Christians who write Christian fiction and/or devotional material. We are a broad church and the members range from highly experienced published authors to those new to writing.
We have many genres represented too and include self published, traditionally published, and hybrid published writers. Basically, if you are a Christian who writes, it would be well worth your while checking ACW out.
I remember, many years ago now, going to one of the ACW events (in lovely Bath) which looked at why writers should have a website and stepped attendees through setting up a free one via Weebly. I promptly did that and while I have now gone on to having a paid plan (with more options for me to use) on Word Press, I remain grateful to ACW for showing me so much I needed to know at that particular event. It was a major step forward for me. Having a website is useful for writers as it is your way of connecting with potential readers.
Having become an ACW member, as well as being on the Committee for a while, I have written articles for the quarterly journal, Christian Writer, which I could never have written for anyone else but which gave me a way into being published in non-fiction in a print magazine. I’ll be sharing a regular tip in future editions of the magazine too under the title Allison’s Advice. Well, who doesn’t like a nice piece of alliteration every now and then!
The Presentations
There were two presentations. One was led by former Chair of ACW, Angela Hobday (who writes as Annie Try), and the other was presented by the current Chair, Jane Walters. The theme for the day was dealing with the gaps we all have in our writing lives. Tips were shared on how to see these as transition points, which is far more positive than seeing the gaps as pauses or even writer’s block/imposter syndrome. So many creative people have spells of experiencing these.
I don’t suffer from writer’s block, as I firmly agree with P.G. Wodehouse whose advice to writers was to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. I’d add to that if you only have a few minutes to do that most days, still do it. The writing done in that time does build up.
Imposter syndrome does put in an unwelcome appearance every now and again though I take comfort from the thought this only hits those who are actually being creative. It never hits those who aren’t creative because there’s nothing for imposter syndrome to “attack” so to speak.
The presentations were thoughtful and encouraging and much needed, I think. It is good to be reminded all writers go through things like this. It is too easy to think it is just you. It isn’t. Also life events, tiredness etc can all get in the way. This is why I don’t believe in writer’s block. I do believe there are things which can slow us down and push our writing to the background of our lives.
My own thoughts here are if you need a break, take one but set a point at where you will write again. Also it is fine to have writing sessions where you just write for fun. Sometimes that can be all you need to help you move forward again. There is no pressure here. You are just writing for the fun of it.
I found during difficult periods I couldn’t write so much so I focused on what I could get done. This is where flash comes into its own. I was writing small stories to begin with. I could keep going with those. Sometimes you do just need something to help you keep going and if it isn’t writing, why not reading? All writers are inspired by what has gone before as I mentioned last week.
The Afternoon Sessions
After a delicious lunch (provided by ACW), there were one to one sessions on different aspects of writing. I went to one as I was interested in finding out more about self publishing. I have a project, currently on the back burner for now, which may see the light of day this way. Yes, it was a useful session.
After that people split into groups ACW run. First up were the genre groups including the flash one. Then we split into regional groups. These were great ways for us all to chat to writers we didn’t previously know. It was a bit like the “speed dating” exercises Bridge House Publishing have at their annual celebration event. It does encourage mixing.
The Agenda and Annual General Meeting
As ACW is a charity, it must have a formal Annual General meeting with an agenda, so it does form part of the Autumn Gathering, and that took care of part of the afternoon’s business. It is also when new members to the Committee are ratified in their posts. This section of the day also gave a chance for members to be updated with the latest news. Hot off the press, so to speak, ACW revealed their brand new logo and that the website is being updated (though the link I have shared above is still current as I share this post).
Conclusion
I’ve not yet met a writer who hasn’t benefited in some way from meeting up with other writers. I’ve always loved the fact you don’t need to explain why you write, others get why you do write. We also get to share information with each other directly and I’ve found from past events, something I’ve learned then may become useful to me later on even if it isn’t immediately handy.
Also, we spend a lot of time at our desks writing away so getting out and about and networking is simply good for us. I am sure it can and does spark further creativity on getting home again.
Zoom was a lifeline for ACW during the pandemic and made the creation of genre groups possible. It continues to be a wonderful tool. Certainly the flash group couldn’t meet up any other way for the vast majority of the year.
But there’s nothing like enjoying a cup of tea while chatting to another writer in person, I think, and it was great to get the opportunity to do that with so many fellow ACW members at what was a lovely event.
Related Posts:-
Allison Symes – Author Update November 2024 – Book Fairs, Autumn Gatherings, Flash NANO and More
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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