How to Write: Finding Other Writers

Kate CoeGuest Post, Writing, Writing Tips

Writing’s often a very lonely and very solitary thing; you’re stuck in your own head, dealing with your own problems…and it can sometimes be very hard to explain what the issue is to someone who doesn’t live in imaginary worlds! While readers and editors can help, it also helps to have a support group of other writers around you who understand the problems.

Well, you’re in luck. There are a lot of different writing groups out there, and here’s some suggestions for how to find them.

NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month takes place in November, and the aim is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. The idea is to encourage writing without editing, worrying or plotting issues – just write, write, write!

  • There are individual regional forums for many areas of the world; they have online boards, and many areas also do real-world meetups during November.
  • You can buddy up with other NaNo writers, and offer support and encouragement – or word count competitions, if pressure is what makes you write.
  • There’s also a number of general forums for writing support during November, and plenty of support including pep talks.

Online Forums

  • Reddit’s r/writing. You can ask any writing questions you have, and can get pointers to other support.
  • Genre forums. For fantasy, SFF World and FantasyFaction have good forums; the sites are primarily for lovers of the genres, but have a fair scattering of writers as well as readers!
  • Goodreads is a book-lovers site, there are lots of book-loving groups and you’ll often find many authors.
  • World Literary Cafe – this is good for self-publishing support.
  • Facebook groups: there are plenty of local and general groups, so it’s worth searching for your specific needs – or see what groups your friends (and favourite authors) are part of.

Conventions and Events

These will be bespoke to your part of the world, although there are quite a few international conventions! It’s worth checking out your favourite author and see where they’re going to be speaking or what events they’re planning on attending.

  • Genre conventions; for example, you’ll often find sci-fi writers at sci-fi conventions!
  • Writer’s conventions and literary festivals
  • Specific writer’s events; authors will often do local readings and signings. Ask in your local bookshops to see what they’re planning, or check them out on Twitter or their websites to see what’s going on.

Local Meetups

  • Meetup.com has lots of different local groups.
  • Local notice boards (try bookshops or comic book shops)
  • A local search – try “my town” and “writer” on a search engine, and see what comes up!
  • Other groups; for example, my local board game group has a scattering of local writers as well as board game fans.

It’s worth checking out a variety of forums and groups; they all have different aims and styles, and not every group will suit you. But there’s plenty of writers out there, and plenty of support if you need it – just go looking!


Green Sky & Sparks

Green Sky & Sparks

by Kate Coe

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Find yourself transported to a different world. The author really draws you in with her descriptions. I felt as though I could picture the whole landscape.
Sara Ellis

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