Finding a Writing Community with Dabble

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Today, writer Christin David shares how Dabble, a NaNoWriMo 2019 sponsor, helped her find her writing community:

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall. 
—Ray Bradbury

After some writing adventures as a teenager twenty-something years ago, NaNoWriMo got me back into writing fiction in 2016. The key for me was to dedicate some time and energy every day to this one goal. The realization that I could write a coherent, interesting story (despite my day job as a scientific researcher and university teacher) gave me a huge boost in confidence. Reaching the goal of 50k words each November by writing two hours a day renewed the desire of my adolescence to bring stories from mind to paper. It has opened a floodgate.

Motivation is a feeble thing, though; it tends to slip away when looking at a blank page and wondering how on earth to fill it. My interest was sparked in a writing software that would allow me to plan and organize my ideas, but many softwares overwhelmed me with functionalities I didn’t need. Halfway through November 2017, I became a Dabbler. 

I found the perfect companion in Dabble to evolve my random writing habit into a regular activity without losing inertia and without anxieties creeping in. Its simplistic design and auto-focus is free from distractions; it keeps track of writing goals; accounts for days off; and even syncs with the NaNoWriMo word count. These days, I’m writing fiction whenever my brain itches and my fingers twitch. Dabble is always with me, on- and offline, on all my devices (and, thanks to automatic cloud backup and synching, I never miss a beat).

Dabble just celebrated its 2nd (!) birthday and I feel like a pioneer. I found Dabble to be more than a writing app. With Dabble, service is personal, as you can make suggestions and discuss any issues directly with its developer, founder and only full-time employee, Jacob Wright, on its dedicated forum or through the app itself. There, I felt right at home between people who debate every aspect of the craft and who enjoy having a direct influence on the product they use. For me, the support of such a community has been vital and gave me lots of insights into the tricks of habitual writers. Though I am not a professional, I feel among equals. We all love to write.

“Dabble’s ever growing community has been a major factor for me to keep going, to improve my writing habits and to, ultimately, self-publish my short stories.”

I didn’t think I wanted more. I knew, I had stories in me—and I was surprised at how many ideas rushed over me, once I allowed them to come. As an introvert, however, I rarely showed my finished stories to friends and family, publishing for a wider audience seemed unthinkable. Finding the courage to do something outrageously new is tricky. Dabble’s ever growing community has been a major factor for me to keep going, to improve my writing habits and to, ultimately, self-publish my short stories.

I’ve included the Camp NaNoWriMo events in April and July into my calendar, where I set less stressing personal writing goals for myself (e.g. editing my November draft in April, and collecting ideas and outlining a plot in July. Dabble as a community has given me the courage to follow this path and to not give up on my dreams. (I’m still terrified of the idea that it’s now all out there, though!)

A final note: As a scientist, I adhere to the scientific method. Each scientific publication is as dry, honest and precise as possible. I try to spread my wings in the evenings. And I love to fall into the unknown.

Dr. Christin David is a German scientist, teaching students about the laws of Nature by day, while writing fiction whenever time allows. Traveling frequently on the job, she draws inspiration from every corner of the world and inevitable, weird encounters. Her stories are full of mysteries, a healthy bit of laughter, and sometimes even science. Still trying to figure out a genre or niche, she has self-published a collection of short stories [in German ;)] written during NaNoWriMo 2017. Follow her on Twitter @CDavid_Fiction 

Top photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash.