The Olive Tree Writing Club started with a small group of friends. Three to be exact. We’d meet up each week to share our wild ideas, give feedback on our drafts and hone our craft. For most of this year, we kept it small. This let us experiment rapidly with ideas for group activities. Some flopped. Some were surprisingly fun.

Slowly, the word got out and the group became bigger than we could comfortably seat around a single table. We started searching for new places to host it eventually settling into a new space in NY called Verci.

What’s surprising is that through this entire time, the amount of effort to organize the group has only grown slightly. It reminds me of some advice Andrew, from a community called Fractal, told me when we were just beginning. Do whatever it takes to stay alive. Keep it simple to organize so that you can commit to it week after week after week. If you can do this, and build a strong culture, eventually you’ll have something interesting enough for people to want to come.

For me, this experience has a broader lesson. In certain situations, persistant effort over time can be better than rapid sprints. Find a pace you can sustain for the long term and be patient. With time and consistency, things grow naturally.