Friday, April 6, 2012

What I'm working on

I've been MIA from the hinterwebs lately, but not because I don't harbor a deep obsessive love for all of you. I've just been busy. Work stuff, family stuff, life stuff, writing stuff, it tends to get in the way of my internet time.

But that doesn't mean I'm not working hard. I've been focusing the last couple of weeks on building out my writing communities. I am between/in the beginning of several projects and not knee deep in revisions, so I've had some time to evaluate the last several years of writing and when I seemed to be the most productive. And what I've determined is that even though writing is a very solitary activity, being a writer doesn't have to be.

So I've started looking for writing organizations, groups, secret writers among friends, etc. And I'm building a physical presence of writers around me. Not that blogging isn't great (because it is), but having someone to sit down and chat with over a steaming mug of coffee before playing dueling computers is much more satisfying. And since I (eventually) want to make writing my career, I want to build out those communities now so I don't get lonely and depressed and eventually drink myself into a Hemingway.

What do you do to keep in contact with other writers? What organizations (national or local) would you recommend?

4 comments:

Laurel Garver said...

Many genres have a corresponding professional group--SCBWI for kid lit, RWA for romance, etc. So they're a place to start. Also watch you local news outlet for info on local writing events--they're great places to meet people.

Lola Sharp said...

Dude, you don't write, you don't call. *sniffs*

Yeah, having writer friends is not just fun, it's crucial. For many, many reasons, on many different levels.

*hugs*

Dianne K. Salerni said...

My brother-in-law is a budding writer, as is my teenage daughter. And I met a few other local people interested in writing when the town library asked me to do a writer-in event for NaNo.

But my very best writing buddies are still online. :D

Andrea Mack said...

Some cities have local writing groups that get together - I'm thinking of looking into some of these too.