Let’s face it, writing is obviously a solitary profession. You spend most of your time conversing with the voices in your head, resulting in your communication with real people deteriorating to grunting instead of speaking. You start looking over your shoulder, wondering when your loved ones will bust through your office door to haul you off in a straight jacket.
One way to ensure you don’t get hauled off is to make an effort to maintain some human contact. The good news is you don’t have to sacrifice your writing time for social; there is a way to combine the two. You can socialize and write with other writers by building a writing tribe!
But how does one go about building their tribe, you ask? Here are three ways to do it:
Leverage Social Sites to Connect with other Writers
There are so many ways to connect with other writers across the country through your social medium of choice. The easiest one to leverage is FaceBook, since you can create and/or join other writing groups. You can share your writing and ask for feedback, and even designate a day to plug your book/blog/social profiles, etc. to gain a following. I belong to one where the organizer of the group posts various writing prompts and daily questions, such as “Who can your main character not live without?” and “What does your villain fear the most?” There are also silly questions like “What kind of socks does your main character wear?”
This option is good to build a support network, but may not do much in terms of exercising your jaw. Which leads to option number 2…
Create or Join Groups on MeetUp.com and Actually Go
I admit, I’m guilty of joining awesome MeetUp groups and never actually going to any meetings. However, this year I decided to change that. I joined a number of writing-related MeetUps, and also met my awesome
Book Club through MeetUp. Hello–talk about an instant beta reading group for your work! But I digress…
One of the best things I did for my own writing was hook up with Sit Down, Shut up, and Write, a MeetUp here in Austin. The premise is you show up and chitchat for 30 minutes to exercise those social muscles, then you shut up and write for an hour or more.There’s something about being around the creative buzz, hearing other writers bang away at their keyboards that makes you want to work harder. It’s also nice to socialize with other writers, and chat about your works-in-progress. Perhaps your newfound writing comrade may provide a different angle to take your story in to make it pop. You’ll never know unless you get out of your pajamas and actually go to a meeting. Do it. I dare ya!
Write in a Coffee Shop
Writing is a lonely profession. Just being around other people at a coffee shop can help you feel less isolated, and a change of scenery could always help knock something loose that otherwise would have gotten lost in the “shouldn’t I be doing laundry or balancing my checkbook” internal dialogue at home. If the idea of making a leap toward a MeetUp seems too daunting, dip your toe in the water by going to a coffee shop. Chances are, there will be other writers there who may welcome a break for a few minutes to wax poetically about your respective WIPs. At the very least, you could nod your head and grunt at other writers and continue typing away until you’re ready to make human contact. Sometimes knowing other people are there who can relate to your introverted struggle can help.
And there you have it! Three reasons to step outside of your box and build your very own writing tribe. Have you tried any of these tactics and successfully built your own writing support system? I’d love to hear about it below!
