Writing Doesn’t Need to Be Lonely

On this writing journey, sometimes we assume it’s a lonely road to success. However, blog guest Clarice Treml tells us her story of how finding community has shaped her writing journey.

I’ve been trying NaNoWriMo since I was 13, but now 20, I have failed consistently through all of these years. Many different projects, not a lot of words on paper, but every November, there I was, ready to try again because this event reminded me of my writer side and the projects I kept accumulating and never finished. Not even a draft.

Everything changed last November. In 2020, while social distancing, I discovered what was the essence of NaNoWriMo: community. After all this time, trying to go through this journey alone, I finally understood what was lacking, and it made all the difference. I reached 40k words and went back to writing, thanks to the group of writers I found. So, even staying home, here are ways to form connections and find a community.

Participate in Sprints

Consist of challenging yourself to write as much as you can within a time limit. In a 10-minute sprint, for example, you focus only on writing for this period and then check your word count. If you can’t find someone to sprint with you, there are Twitter accounts that run sprints all day, so you feel there’s at least one person with you (that’s the only way I can bring myself to write some days). For those who thrive on healthy competition, you can see how many words others wrote for that same period and try to do more. No matter how many words you write, though, because people cheer on each other and celebrate all wins (being it reaching 50k or starting).

Chat and Join Groups

There are many regions in the NaNo Forums, so you can find people near you, meet your MLs who are excited to help, and discover if there are Discord or Whatsapp groups to join. In my country, there is a group where we arrange sprints almost every day and an IRC chat where we run them. Between the sprint sessions, we usually talk about our process, how writing is going, and share about our struggles. This support motivates me when I’m about to quit. Also, you’ll always find someone sharing resources, blogs, videos, and podcasts, as well as discussions about writing topics like different points of view on the Hero’s Journey or if settings are more difficult to write than dialogue. You can ask for help to improve your draft in those groups and even find beta readers or make friends.

Make Writing Friends

Talking to other writers feels like finding people like you. NaNoWriMo is a collective marathon, so someone is going through the same thing you’re experiencing right now. That’s why it was so important to me to talk to writers who haven’t finished a single draft as well, and tried and failed for many years but kept on just like me. You discover people that write really fast and others that write a little every day, or some never won a NaNo, some are veteran winners. This diversity means you can find advice, tips, or just talk to people with different experiences. They can be similar to you or totally different!

Writing is a lonely activity while you’re writing, but you don’t need to go through your journey alone. Most of our favorite writers had writer friends, resulting in famous friendships like the one among J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. 

Without the conversations I had with my writer friends, I think writing wouldn’t be as fun and transformative as it has always been for me.

Late nights on chat, talking about writing or random things (I even discovered new songs) with strangers that became sort of friends made NaNoWriMo even more meaningful to me and got me a rough draft, which I’m currently working on because now I have something. November is starting from nothing to getting something, be it memories, words, or friends.

There are thousands suffering and enjoying this long ride at the same time, and now, more than ever, they’re within our reach. Try reaching them, take part in write-ins (official or not), post in forums, anything you feel like doing. I promise you’ll get out changed.

Clarice Treml is a Brazilian writer who lives in São Paulo. She has been writing since she was able to read, having self-published a children’s book when she was 12. Currently, she writes YA and horror novels in Portuguese, and poetry in English. Besides writing, she loves reading poetry, obsessing over TV shows, and singing. You can follow her on twitter @ClariceTreml or check out her blog.

Top Photo by Devin Avery on Unsplash