The Write Life: You can’t do it alone

Writers are probably the most antisocial people around. After all, our ideal state is to be locked alone in a room all day, trying to convince imaginary people to do what we want them to do. Most days we’d rather read about other imaginary people than leave our homes to meet real people. If you’re a writer, you’re probably nodding in agreement at this point.

There is nothing more important to writers than community, though. In fact, I think building or joining a community is where the writing starts. I never would have become a published author if not for the university writing group I joined, which for the first time introduced me to editorial feedback, other perspectives on writing, revisions and writing to deadline. That writing group became some of my closest friends, and those friendships persist today even though we are scattered across the continent. (I swear they’re not all trying to avoid me.)

The value of finding like-minded people cannot be overstated. Did I say value? More like critical need. Without such a network, you are in a void when you start out, and you will be writing into the void. A community gives you an audience, gives you affirmation that what you are doing is worthwhile and necessary, gives you a path of development.

Of course, not everyone can find a local community. And there’s something to be said for joining online communities even if you do have a writing group that meets in person. Your writing community can never be too large. Or perhaps you need more than one community to fill all your needs. I contain multitudes and all that.

I have a local community in my area that has helped a great deal with improving my writing over the last few years. Hell, I likely wouldn’t have written anything without them. I was going through a hard time in my personal life, and writing would have been the last thing on my mind if not for my community. As it turned out, that writing group was what kept me sane and motivated during some crazy times. If not for the accountability of writing to hit the group’s deadlines, collaborating in some writing sprints, etc., I don’t know what would have happened.

We’ve mostly moved the group online to a dedicated Discord server but still meet in person once a month for games nights. And I’ve joined other groups to meet the needs they can’t fulfill — a different writing group for other projects, Codex and SFWA for writing and market chats, and a few private Patreon groups linked to magazines. All those communities help keep me immersed in a culture of inspiration and creation, which is half the battle right there when it comes to writing. And most of the battle when it comes to procrastination.

So what makes for a good community?

Make sure you find or create a community that actually helps you contribute to your development. That development can be different things at different stages of your life. It could simply be having readers and deadlines for accountability to keep you writing, or it could be beta readers to help polish your book for publication, or it could be agents who can connect you with markets. It could just be a group of writers talking different theories of writing. My writing group spent time studying Save the Cat, the hero’s journey and the heroine’s journey, and various Masterclasses.

Whatever it is that you need to become a better writer, you’ll find that a writing community will better help you achieve your goals. And hopefully keep you sane in the process! Well, as sane as a writer can be….