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Writing Like Your Life Depends On It
Maybe it’s the best thing you’ll ever do
Writing is a solitary pursuit that many people have changed to be more public with the rise of coworking and remote work. It can be a community pursuit with writing groups as many people flock to Meetup and the like for challenging themselves with accountability groups like Shut Up and Write!, plus meetings with friends who participate in the art making. Then, of course, there’s the kitchen table masters programs of committed, professional writing groups.
It takes whatever it takes to keep on getting the words down. As more than one someone has said to me, “One sentence at a time.” Some days it feels closer to one word at a time, especially when doing rewrites for my latest book. The point is to persist in a positive fashion — you can do it! Maybe it’s that we need to do it together, a page at a time. The alone time is precious yet humans need their collectives. Personalized feedback is key to learning.
Another someone once told me that “sharing is one of the greatest ways you can ever be of service [to a person].” I’m the first to admit I have high anxiety around people; I love people, yet they also freak me out. So sharing is something I’ve had to consciously work at, something that didn’t come naturally to me. I used to be quite sealed off, a loner. But I’ve…
