7 Reasons to Find Writing Pals
In my favorite book on writing, The Triggering Town, Richard Hugo suggests, “When you are writing, glance over your shoulder, and you’ll find there is no reader. Just you and the page. Feel lonely? Good.” Isn’t that a delicious sort of freedom, the ability to try and fall short and try again without any clucking tongues or under-breath mutterings? Yet when I’m asked to give advice to young writers, I suggest finding others pursuing this strange career, then rooting for those people as much as you root for yourself.
My advice is not sprung from saint-like selflessness, but rather self-preservation. We can handle the loneliness of our writing room, but what about when we’re done for the day? While my suggestion to go out and make friends might make the introverted among us cringe, it’s unnecessary to find soulmates. You just need some folks in real life or online who get you. Here are a few reasons why.
More Cake
I keep a positivity journal, three nice things about every day. It’s a cheerful little exercise. On good days, I imagine an animated bluebird chirping along at my notes. On other days, however, I strain the limits of my imagination to finally settle on “my desk lamp still works” or “my cat didn’t wake me up at 5am.” (She totally did, though, so no guarantees of coherency.) What I mean to say is that there aren’t enough milestones in our own writing lives to celebrate. Why not celebrate the milestones of your teammates?
Pompoms
On those days when you’ve been staring — or yelling — at your screen in frustration? A quick text or social media post will be met with encouragement. We all have days when we fail at being a writer or even putting real pants on. We need someone to tell us that we’re okay anyway.
All the Boats
Despite what movies — excuse me, cinema — would have us believe, writing isn’t all that glamorous. Rejections pile up quicker than dust bunnies, and some days “writing” looks a lot like laying your head on your desk. And then there are the mind tricks we develop to keep us moving forward. If we sit here for an hour, we can have a snack. If we disconnect the internet and move our computer closer to the window, we’ll be more productive. Having people in the same boat as you, understanding the swells and surges, helps you feel less crazy.
Living Textbooks
We can learn from others, as well. We can try out their crazy superstitions or, perhaps more helpfully, read the resources they recommend. If I’m stuck, I know that I can share the worrisome passage and get suggestions. You might be familiar with the term “beta readers,” those kind volunteers who will review early attempts and provide feedback. This takes a lot of time, so having fellow writers as beta readers can alleviate guilt — you can return the favor! Your neighbor probably doesn’t want to read your masterpiece, and professionals cost money.
Best Medicine
I recently swapped examples with a fellow novelist about forgetting basic facts while drafting. That is, we’ll forget how old characters are or (cringe) change their names halfway through a story. It’s nice to be able to laugh at yourself, and others can help you find the humor.
Same Language
I recently moved to Houston, Texas where I’ve met some lovely people. I’ve enjoyed exploring my new home, but on a recent trip back to New York City, I found myself in a conversation that bounced from a debate on glossy versus matte book covers to a question about T.S. Eliot to a description of the Perry-Castañeda Library. That is, my friends and I were geeking out. I love my non-writer friends, too, but I need a good geek out once in awhile.
Trophies
Thankfully, there are a lot of books published each year, a lot of nice reviews and prizes. It can often feel like writers are in competition with each other, but there’s enough success to go around. You’ll see.
Erica Wright’s latest novel is The Granite Moth (Pegasus Books, 2015), a sequel to The Red Chameleon (Pegasus Books, 2014). She is also the author of two poetry collections, Instructions for Killing the Jackal (Black Lawrence Press, 2011) and the forthcoming All the Bayou Stories End with Drowned (Black Lawrence Press, 2017). She is the poetry editor and a senior editor at Guernica Magazine as well as an editorial board member for Alice James Books.
Find out about working with Erica as your novel writing coach. >>
