Free tool
Host your write club in one free room
A write club room gives your club one shared place for the evening and the week after. Everyone joins on their phone with a link and a 4-digit code, shares the piece they brought, and comments on each other's words while it is read aloud. You run the reading order. Only you sign in, with Google, to keep rooms free of spam; your club needs no account. The room stays open for 7 days, then everything in it is deleted.
By the Wordsmith team · Last reviewed
Open a room for your club
Anyone with a Google account can host. Sign in with Google, then open a room in under a minute. Only the host signs in, which keeps rooms free of spam, and each account can open up to 3 rooms a day. Your club joins with the link and the code, with no account. It is new, so tell us what works and what does not.
Open a roomQuestions or feedback? Write to [email protected] or [email protected].
What is in a room
A link named for your club
Your room lives at wordsmith.page/write-club/your-club-name, locked with a 4-digit code. Up to 40 people.
No sign-up for members
Only the host signs in. Members type their name and the code, and they are in. If they already use Wordsmith, their name is filled in.
Typed or handwritten
Paste a piece of up to 15,000 words, or take photos of the pages (up to 12) and we type them up.
Shortest piece first
Pieces line up in reading order, shortest first, so the evening keeps moving.
Comments on the exact words
Select a few words and leave a comment marked Liked, Didn't like, Could be better, Confused, Helpful or Thoughtful. A comment on words the writer later cuts goes away with them.
Your own read, unswayed
On someone else's piece you see only your own comments, so nobody is swayed by what others wrote or skips a point because someone made it first. Writers see every comment on their piece, and the host sees them all.
Open for 7 days
Writers asked for more time than one evening, so a room now stays open for 7 days. Then it closes and everything in it is deleted: pieces, comments and names. Before then, each writer downloads their comments as a PDF.
If you are the host
You open the room, invite the club and run the reading.
- 1
Open the room
Go to wordsmith.page/write-club and sign in with Google. Only the host signs in, to keep rooms free of spam, and each account can open up to 3 rooms a day. Add your name and your club's name (at least 3 letters). The name becomes the link. Leave it blank and we pick one for you.
- 2
Invite your club
Send the link and the 4-digit code to your group chat or by email, or read the code out at the table. Up to 40 people can join.
- 3
Watch who is ready
Your host dashboard shows everyone in the room as Ready, Still writing or Not started. You do not need to share a piece yourself. If you wrote something too, tap “Share a piece of your own”.
- 4
Start the reading
Tap “Start with” and the first name. The shortest ready piece goes first, and everyone's screen moves to the piece being read.
- 5
Move the reading on
When a writer finishes, tap “Done. Next”. You can also start any piece in any order, or mark one as done without reading it aloud.
- 6
Close the evening
Remind everyone to download their report. 7 days after you opened it, the room closes and everything in it is deleted.
If you are joining
All you need is the link and the code from your host.
- 1
Come in
Open the link your host sent, type your name and the 4-digit code, and tap “Come in”.
- 2
Add your piece
Paste or type it, or tap “Add photos of your pages”, add each page (one photo at a time is fine), then tap “Type up” and we type them in. Check the words after. Pieces can be up to 15,000 words, and they save as you go.
- 3
Tell the club you are ready
Tap “Done, show it to the club”. Your host sees you are ready. Tap “Edit” to change it; you show as still writing until you tap Done again.
- 4
Read along
Your screen follows the piece being read. Tap “Pieces” to see the whole order.
- 5
Leave comments
Select some words (on a phone, press and hold a word), tap “Comment on these words”, pick Liked, Didn't like, Could be better, Confused, Helpful or Thoughtful, and add a note if you like. You can remove your own comments.
- 6
Keep what the club said
Open your piece and, in Comments, tap “Download report (PDF)”. Do it before the room closes: after 7 days your piece and its comments are deleted, and we keep no copy.
Open a room for your club
Anyone with a Google account can host. Sign in with Google, then open a room in under a minute. Only the host signs in, which keeps rooms free of spam, and each account can open up to 3 rooms a day. Your club joins with the link and the code, with no account. It is new, so tell us what works and what does not.
Open a roomQuestions or feedback? Write to [email protected] or [email protected].
Questions writers ask
Does it cost anything?
No. Rooms are free for hosts and for everyone who joins.
Who can host a room?
Anyone with a Google account. Go to wordsmith.page/write-club, sign in with Google, add your name and your club's name, and the room is open. Each account can open up to 3 rooms a day. Questions or feedback go to [email protected] or [email protected].
Why does the host have to sign in?
To keep rooms free of spam. Opening a room takes a Google sign-in, and each account can open up to 3 rooms a day, so nobody can open rooms in bulk. Only the host signs in: everyone in the club joins with the link and the code.
Do I or my members need an account?
The host signs in with Google to open the room. Members do not: they need the link, the 4-digit code and a name.
How many people can join, and for how long?
Up to 40 people per room. The room closes 7 days after it opens, so download reports before then.
What happens to our writing after the room closes?
It is deleted. 7 days after a room opens, we delete the room and everything in it: every piece, every comment and every name. Photos of pages are typed up and never kept. The only copy left is the PDF report each writer downloaded.
Can people bring handwritten pages?
Yes. They take photos of the pages, one at a time or several at once, up to 12 in all, then tap Type up and we type them into their piece. They should read it through and fix anything we misread.
Who can see the pieces?
Only people who have the link and the code and are in the room.
Who can see the comments?
A writer sees every comment on their own piece. On anyone else's piece, members see only the comments they left themselves, so their read stays their own: nobody is swayed by a comment they disagree with, or skips a point because someone already made it. The host sees every comment on every piece.
Why do rooms stay open for 7 days?
Writers asked for longer than a day, to finish their comments and download reports after the evening. Rooms used to close after 24 hours; now they stay open for 7 days.
What happens to a comment if the writer changes the words?
If the words a comment was on are cut, the comment goes away. It does not show in the room or in the report.