Tips for Building Your Community

Writing is a solitary occupation, hence we must find our community. It has been quite a journey to find where I fit, with the common ups and downs. I do know now where I fit and can settle into my writing practice and getting my work “out there”.

I am reading Jordan Rosenfeld’s A Writer’s Guide to Persistence, and in Chapter 2, Create a Practice she presents our need to develop our creative support team. Identify your one Champion who is a non-writer, your comrade writers, your trusted mentor, and your critique partner(s). Excellent! I appreciate her step-by-step breakdowns. Do check it out!

Gabriela Pereira is big on community as you will note in Chapters 21-27 of her diyMFA book and website (see link). She uses a learning-based approach focused on the big picture—what you need and why you build connections.
Building your community by Gabriela Pereira
https://diymfa.com/category/community
https://diymfa.com/

I’ve searched for a writing mentor for a few years. The ones I wanted to work with, because I love their books, turned out to be way too busy to mentor anyone. Another author I searched out as a possibility was busy working a publishing deadline—however, her website is so full of mentoring posts, well organized by subject, that I downloaded them and created a notebook for my study.

Then a friend of mine posted a link to a podcast for Mastermind Groups. After several discussion, we started our own mastermind group that is now two months old, has grown to four members and is building momentum. A mastermind group has a super networking strategy with six or seven members that are compatible but not the same. Listen to the podcast and see if it might work for you.
Mastermind Groups, Community of Writers - give you an edge
http://www.novelmarketing.com/101/  (Podcast and transcript notes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUXdq_KRiA4 (YouTube presentation 7Min)

We need readers and feedback for our work. I’ve been burned by a critiquing instructor but thankfully, after a “pause”, I didn’t give up. I eventually found a good environment for reading, and critique feedback. In addition, I found a group online that you might be interested in checking out. It is free to join and get acquainted. It is:
Critique Group Online Community 
https://www.critiquecircle.com/Default.asp
Deborah Lyn Stanley is a writer, artist, and editor.  She is a retired project manager who now devotes her time to writing, art and caregiving mentally impaired seniors.  Deborah writes articles, essays and stories. She has published a collection of 24 artists’ interviews entitled the Artists Interview Series.  Careful editing preserves each artist’s voice as they share their journey. The series published as monthly articles for an online news network, can also be found on her web-blog: Deborah Lyn Stanley : My Writer's Life .  Her “How-To” articles have appeared in magazines.
“Write your best, in your voice, your way!”

The Benefits of Reading Blogs

I used to think I didn't have the time to read blogs. 

I thought:

•  I would get distracted spending too much time reading instead of writing. 
•  It would be shallow to subscribe or like/comment on blogs for the  purpose  of getting my name out there to build my own platform.
•  I would inadvertently copy someone else's thoughts or get stuck with "why  didn't I think of  that?

Then I realized the value. 

Variety breaks up monotony. Subscribe to blogs that spark your interest, even if it's not in your genre. I have chosen no more than 5 since I need to limit my reading time. As I've taken the time to read, it's helped me grow as a writer. A cooking blog showing a picture of a tasty, winter soup makes you remember Sunday dinner at grandma's, adding the next chapter to your book.

Perspective can get stale. It's easy to get locked into one way of thinking about things. Let the perspective of others help you grow but don't lose your voice in the process. I am thankful for the black-and-white thinkers out there who keep me focused on my goals. But I'm also thankful for the writers who think there is more than one way to reach a goal. 

Community is good for us. We're wired for it. Some of us need interaction more than others, but even if you prefer less, you still need it! The exchange of ideas and support keeps us going. But don't forget to give it, too. This is how relationships are built. Be thoughtful about your comments on blogs. Don't just comment or "like" just to get noticed. 

Do you read blogs? What kind? Please share how it has helped your writing in the comment section below.

Photo credit: TheGiantVermin / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND

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  After raising and homeschooling her 8 children and teaching art classes for 10 years, Kathy has found time to pursue freelance writing. She enjoys writing magazine articles and more recently had her story, "One of a Kind", published in The Kids' Ark. You can find her passion to bring encouragement and hope to people of all ages at When It Hurts - http://kathleenmoulton.com