Writing Friends Required

We live in an amazing time to be a writer. It’s easier than ever to share work, offer feedback, and commiserate rejection. With the glory that is THE INTERNET (imagine angels singing and the words illuminated by a heavenly glow), we don’t even need to put on pants to do it.

There are lots of places to meet fellow writers in person and online, several that Colleen wrote about yesterday. But as a writer, you might not want to. You’re a writer for a reason, and meeting people isn’t one of them. In fact, not dealing with people on a daily basis is probably one of the highlights. No slovenly co-workers that noisily chew their egg salad sandwiches. No bosses that make you stay late on a Friday. No one to criticize your work.

But that, dear reader, is where you have it wrong.

You need those people to criticize your work. Well, maybe not criticize, but critique. You need people that write too, that can see past the plot holes and dangling participles to the potential in your words. Friends and family are fine, but they don’t always understand how writing evolves, they only really get what works and what doesn’t, not why or how to fix it. But writer friends do, and they can help make you a better writer.

I’ve made most of my writing friends through Twitter, augmented by conferences and contests. These people have become my daily water cooler, my safe place, my sanity.

I can bounce crazy ideas off them and they’ll give useful feedback. I can call them to vent my frustrations with the publishing process. And they can do the same in return. This is a rough industry and there is safety in numbers.

Writing is a unique profession. We spend gobs of time alone with our imaginations. It’s isolating and can mess with your mind. There’s a reason so many writers have substance abuse problems. To keep our sanity and health, we need to surround ourselves with kindred spirits who understand why it’s devastating to kill off a character or why seeing your name on your agent’s website is reason to pop champagne.

And you need friends who will send you pictures like this, just to make you smile.