The Writing Community
Why finding the right community is important on your journey as a writer.
The Life of a Writer
Being a writer is a mixture of so many emotions. It is impossible to discuss them all. The highs and lows happen to everyone, often in the same day. To write is to be free, creating without fear. Yet at the same time it is an anxiety attack waiting to happen as you question everything you know and who you are as a person.
It is a challenging role, the life of a writer, yet highly rewarding at the same time. Whole worlds are created from the thoughts swirling around in your mind. Often ideas jump out at you, filling pages and pages with new ideas and stories to tell.
Other times nothing is there, our characters refusing to talk to us. Or characters do the opposite of what we want, taking our ideas in a whole other direction. It’s unpredictable madness that we can’t get enough of.
Writing is who we are and what we do. We live and breathe it, yet even the best of us fall victim to our thoughts sometimes. The doubt sets in, and we question our ability as a writer. This my friends is called imposter syndrome.
Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome is very real, and many writers experience this throughout their writing journey. It can make you feel like a fraud. Like your not a real writer. Like you somehow found your way into the writers club, but you have no idea how you got there, or if you really belong.
It leaves a writer feeling like:
They don’t belong
They don’t deserve the success
They aren’t as good as other writers
Undermining their own achievements
It is important then, that as a writer, you find your own community, and know your not alone. Some of the greatest writer’s felt imposter syndrome at some point. Maya Angelou, John Steinbeck and Neil Gaiman to name a few. It’s a common attribute to writers. It is also fixable with the right mindset.
Acknowledge these feelings, but don’t let them define you
Celebrate your achievements, big and small
Share your work with others
Be kind to yourself and practice self compassion
Talk to fellow writers
Finding you Community
This is where finding your community comes in. It is important as a writer to be apart of a community. Big or small, it’s all about connecting and learning from others in the same boat as you.
For some, this might be finding a local writers group, preferring face to face discussions. For other, this could be online, finding a group of like minded writers to share your thoughts and ideas. For others, it could be a bit of both.
However you find yours, make sure you find a group that works for you. For years I tried to find where I fit. I found big groups had too many people, and not enough real connections. Other groups were quite negative, and lacked support for those who needed guidance. Then there are the ones filled with spam and people wanting to sell you things.
Recently, I found the perfect place for me. One filled with a large community of writers who are supportive, full of advice and love to talk everything books! They want to know what your reading and writing, and are always up to talk shop.
They are ready to share their pearls of wisdom, and give you an ego boost when you need it. They also have endless book recommendations, so you will never be stuck on what to read.
I found my writers community, and I hope you find yours. They are key to a writers success. I know I wouldn’t be here right now, writing this post or working on my own fantasy novel if it wasn’t for them.
The support from them has pushed me to commit and pursue my writing once more. Not to mention the abundance of advice on what to do next at every stage. For those who are searching, keep looking, your community is out there, I found mine on Threads, and I know they would love to have you too.
Come join the fun!
