Dec 9, 2020
Best Places for Aspiring Writers to Hang Out
Finding a sense of community with other writers
If you are just starting out on your writing journey or maybe just considering a writing project, where to you connect with other writers or industry professionals?
That’s a good question. I always imagined hanging out in cafes or artistic places out in nature. Other writers would also hang out there, and occasionally, when we weren’t busy creating our masterpieces, we’d have some time to talk about interesting topic or literary books we enjoyed.
Reality isn’t quite that romantic. But the idea of hanging out with other writers is still an important one. It just looks different that my ideal. I want to share some good places to hang out and begin meeting people who are doing what you want to do.
Facebook Groups — there are many great Facebook Groups for writers, and this is a wonderful place to meet people informally and to make friends. People share writing problems, they ask questions, and people in the group tend to help each other. The interaction is nice because there are not expectations. You participate if and when you can. You will sometimes get ideas on how to move forward with your writing from something others have shared. I am the administrator of a group for writers and readers on Facebook, and it’s a fun place to share writing and reading information.
Writer’s Workshops — Go to workshops. You will learn more about writing, about your genre, about publishing. and you will gain confidence in your writing skills. Look for workshops or classes for beginners. These will benefit the stage you are at now. I remember attending workshops about promotion and working with editors and I wasn’t ready for that yet. The information was interesting, but it wasn’t what I needed at that stage of my writing career. Sometimes writer’s organizations have great workshops that are reasonably priced.
Writing Communities — Find writing communities or private sites where writers gather and share information. A couple of good ones are Scribophile. They have a blog as well forums to share information and critique groups. They do charge a membership fee, but it might be worth it if you use the community and participate.
Another nice one for women only is She Writes. Here also, you can read blogs about writing, join groups about sub-topics that interest you, and meet people.
Medium — Medium is all about writing. You can read about topics you’re interested in, make comments and get to know writers. Once you find a writer you like, you can connect with that person outside of Medium and follow them on social media or on their website.
The nice thing about Medium is that you’ll find a variety of writers. Whereas writing communities and writer groups are typically filled with people writing fiction or memoirs, on Medium the range of writers is large so you can expose yourself to a huge number of writing styles and genres.
Today, I want to encourage you to connect with other writers and get to know what is out there so you better stand where you fall in the writing world.
Join communities of writers and enjoy being with others who share your interests. It’s an important step for all aspiring writers.
Have a story to tell? Want to learn how to record personal experiences before they’re lost or write a novel? Sign up for Julia Amante’s beginning writing course.
