Writing in Community

Writing is a solitary pursuit. At least that’s what I’ve always believed. I never realized just how important community could be to the pursuit of a writing life. Not until recently that is.

Over the weekend while attending a writing class at a local arts school and met a fellow writer. We connected through our mutual love of writing and made plans to attend a writing group.

The experience made me realize just how important community is for writers. So much of the word we do is done alone yet there is much growth in meeting and joining in community with other writers. There are lots of ways to do this:

• Join an online community. Here are a few that I’ve checked out:
  • Writing.com –
  • www.scribophile.com
  • My 500 words – https://www.facebook.com/groups/my500words/
  • NaNoWriMo – National Novel Writing Month – http://nanowrimo.org/
• Find a writing group in your community even if there isn’t one nearby. I drive about an hour each way 2x per month for a group that meets my need for support and feedback. It also gives me a chance to connect to other writers.
  • The Writer magazine has a list of writing groups broken down by genre – http://www.writermag.com/
  • Local Libraries or bookstores often know about writers groups in the area
  • The local college may have their own groups
• Take a class
  • Local college
  • Arts councils
  • Libraries
  • Local magazines often have advertisements.
•  Conferences
  • Arts councils
  • Search engines
  • Libraries often have flyers posted for these

Find a friend and meet up once or twice per month – just to talk about writing and maybe even show some work

There are many ways to connect with other writers. If one doesn’t work, try another one. You may find your writing enriched by these connections. The challenge is to be brave and step out of your comfort zone. You will be glad you did.