By Geoffrey Giller
You won’t find a website for most of these shadowy, mysterious groups with names like “VSG” and “the Posse.” They’ve been compared to terrorist cells, secret societies, and tribes; membership is highly selective and tightly controlled. Fortunately, these groups are comprised of science writers (and the occasional editor), not terrorists. At a session of ScienceWriters2013 titled “Going tribal: Cultivating community in an isolating profession,” science writers Dan Ferber, Kendall Powell, Erik Vance, and Corinna Wu explained the benefits of forming these so-called “tribes.”
Science writers have been forming these small groups, usually capped at around 12 to 25 members, to provide a confidential and trusted space for the discussion of potentially sensitive topics. They also provide much-needed human connections in a profession that can be extremely isolating, according to Virginia Gewin, who helped moderate the session. Within these groups, members can freely discuss things like editor personalities, contracts, rates, and pitch ideas in a way they couldn’t in a larger group. While most of the groups started out as “freelancers only,” over the years, some editors have joined (and some freelancers have turned into editors).
Back in 2003, Harvard-based Ferber formed a tribe for what he admits were selfish reasons: there were other, more experienced writers that he wanted to learn from, so he invited them to be part of the group. The members were spread across the country, so they mostly communicated online, meeting in person once a year. Over the years, the group switched from what Ferber called a “benign dictatorship” model to more consensus-based control; there’s been some tension, he said, but for the most part, the group has “worked things out pretty well.” For Ferber, such groups provide “voices of sanity” during stressful times.
Vance, another science writer, agreed with Ferber: “At the base level, they keep me from going insane, alone in Mexico City,” he said. Vance is a member of several different groups, including the Posse and The Last Word On Nothing. Unlike some of the more private groups, The Last Word maintains a public website where its members post blogs on a regular basis. Vance believes that, besides providing a safe space, these tribes can actually become recognized “brands” that might help place pieces or sell books, much in the same way that the Magnum photography group is a well-known group, even if the individual photographers are less well known.
Powell, who is based near Boulder, Colorado, organized a group of her own after she heard about Ferber’s. She realized that she needed people to talk to because, as she said, “I was talking to my mailman every day.” In 2005, after the NASW meeting in Pittsburgh, she started SciLance. The group, now with 35 members, has a set of rules that it abides by, published online for anyone else to use as a starting point for their own group.
As a profession, freelance writers often find themselves isolated from colleagues more than their office-going peers. Wu recalled switching from a staff job and looking forward to having some alone time. But, she said, having a group keeps her from “stewing in [her] own juices.” She started a group, with only 13 members, called the “Very Small Group” (or VSG). The members of VSG span three continents (North America, Europe, and Africa); Wu says there’s a benefit there: someone in the group is always awake, no matter the time of day or night.
Jill Adams, who moderated the session along with Gewin, is also part of SciLance. Responding to a question from Virginia Hughes, who asked about the fact that these groups are often perceived as “cliques,” Adams said that unfortunately, it’s hard to “be part of an intimate group” without having the feel of a clique. Powell said she wishes she could open the groups up to everyone, but that would defeat the purpose of the group. She hoped, though, that other writers would form their own tribes, guided by the principles that SciLance uses. Eventually, she envisions science writers coming together as “a nation of tribes.”
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