NOTES FROM AN AMATEUR WRITER #43 - Seeking a Community of Writers
Notes From an Amateur Writer
This Blog series is an exercise in creative writing. Sometimes expressed in short story form, sometimes as a journal, or just my thoughts written down. This is my attempt to help coalesce my writing ideas and knowledge into usable form. It is a nursery of sorts for the stories that are on their way, or yet to be written.
This is post 8 in @dragosroua's January 30 day writing challenge.
Seeking a Community of Authors
Are you an author, or do you have plans to become an author one day. Are you published, self-published, dreaming of becoming published, or perhaps a writer who has yet to put pen to paper? The number of fiction writers here at Steemit is growing all the time and it's difficult to keep up with the volume. I have a keen interest in following as many other writers as I can, and to try to be a part of a vibrant community here at Steemit. I think this is vital for both Steemit and for any writers here that such a community flourishes.
I know there are channels on discord dedicated to writers, and resources are being, or have been developed along this line. Some I know of, but perhaps I have missed some of those too.
I joined Steemit in August of 2016 without too much idea of what I wanted to do here. I just loved the thought it was connected to the crypto community. That's what inspired me. I saw writing here as a form of mining the Steem coin so with that in mind set to work. Initially I was very wayward, but over time I started to find my voice, and gravitated to other writers and creative and inspired people – many of whom I still follow to this day – and my writing has benefited enormously from this. Both from the desire to improve and keep going, but also from the interaction, the comments and feedback, the sharing of ideas, and the knowledge that others out there are in a similar boat to me – trying their best and learning as they go.
And that is what the purpose of this post is all about. To help expand that community even further. If you are a fellow writer here then to me you already are a kind of kindred spirit. I don't see us as being in any form of competition. Your success – if it has already arrived – is inspiration to me – and if it is still on its way then your success is something I would like to see happen as much as you do. And not just here at Steemit.
Feel free to share in the comments about yourself. Include a link to your blog if you are an author or are working towards that direction, or even something you have written that you feel happy about. That you feel represents who you are as a writer.
What do you write? Who has inspired you?
Do you know of any writing resources, here or on the Internet in general, that you recommend?
I am happy to follow you, although this is not a follow for follow post. I don't do those, but I am calling for writers to share, so we can get to know each other better.
Images from unsplash.com and used with permission.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you liked it then please like, comment, and follow.
@naquoya
Links to earlier works
Notes From An Amateur Writer Collection
I was going to say that if you're seeking a community, there are tons popping up here and there. Personally, I don't prefer those sort of clique-ish types and I lean more towards a bunch of lone wolves helping each other out, resembling some sort of disjointed community. I think that would be a more conducive environment.
I feel like this is a proper post for self-promotion, so I'm putting @jedau's name out there. If you're looking for an honest, enthusiastic and genuine mutual support, then don't hesitate to comment on any of his posts.
I know of Discord groups around. I drop in occasionally, but I decided to just put it out there from my own point of view. As much as I am also a lone wolf type, and always have been, I have had to come to the painful realisation that, in this industry you need people behind you. It's not necessarily the best that make it, but those that are noticed. So a post like this is part of a lose strategy in that direction. I don't think I could ever embed myself into a community completely, even if I wanted to - it just isn't my nature. But I would like to make more acquaintances.
And yes this is definitely a post for self promotion. In fact I encouraged it. So people should certainly take this as a recommendation from me to visit your blog and read some of your material.
@jedau <-- that is where to go :)
(sorry.....)
You misspelled my name though >.<
Lol, what a doofus ....
@jedau (hang my head in shame).
I hope to be a published author someday:) But for now, I am spending time polishing my skills, posting here on Steemit.
I incline towards the evil side when I write:P
I do fiction as well as poetry in my posts.
More than talking about an author who is well known and mainstream, let me recommend checking out @alexbeyman. If I am reading fiction on Steemit, it's mostly his earlier & current posts that i'd be drooling over.
Thank you for introducing yourself and for the recommendation. I will be sure to check both your blog and @alexbeyman's out. It's always good to find new work, as ideas, inspiration, and motivation can come from various sources.
The evil side suits me. I will have to check out to what degree :D I find @snowmachine a great read on the darker side of things too. Surreal, horror, but mostly beyond categorisation.
Great post, @naquoya. You know me already, but I will add my two cents for others who don’t. I am a writer who began this writing adventure many many moons ago and returned recently when my kids got old enough to not need me so much. I am now writing and polishing stories and submitting them for publication. I have also published quite a few shorter pieces here on Steemit, and have placed well in a few of the fiction contests, which have been so fun. (One of my favorites was for a mixed media collaboration contest.)
I have a masters degree in creative writing, and I love to teach and share knowledge, so I started a workshop series here on Steemit. (I just published my 15th post in the series a few days ago.) When I began the series I was looking for and not finding a writing community here on Steemit, but I just hadn’t looked under enough rocks!
You are right that the writing communities are growing here on Steemit and Discord. I belong to several of them, most notably The Writers Block, which is open to all writers. All of my recent workshop posts include links to the sign-up page.
In addition to all that, I am a humble member of the first #writeclub group, which starts today. I posted about it yesterday, letting other writers know how to unofficially participate, as I think it’s a great opportunity for writers who want to up their game and need something to give them a push.
I am really excited about this opportunity, and I know it is going to result in many more publishable stories than I would ever have managed in such a short period of time (8 stories in 16 weeks)!
Thanks for getting this great conversation started, my friend!
Apologies for any typos. I typed this reply on my mobile phone.
Hi @jayna and thank you taking the time to tell me (us) about yourself. I have had the good fortune to stumble upon your workshop series recently, and Iam glad that i did. I do recommend them for others to follow up with also. Well worth the time to read.
How has having a Masters Degree in Creative Writing helped you? I find that fascinating. I've never taken any formal course in writing (I hope that's not too obvious), so I try to learn through osmosis. Read and watch what other writers are doing. That is where the writing groups come in handy.
It is a goal of mine to try to get something published soon. I need to learn all I can about the type of sources to do that. In the meantime I try to write all I can, and keep honing my story telling skills. Steemit is a great place for that.
Thanks for participating in my conversation :)
Hi @naquoya. Yes, I think the study in writing was a great experience. I promptly became a technical writer and have had a long career that is only loosely related to my studies. But I have always loved fiction, and love to write, and am in awe and wonder at beautiful writing. It is very exciting to be returning to it again with the goal to master the craft and help others do the same.
You don’t need to formally study fiction writing through coursework to become an excellent writer. But the mechanics are important. I think most writers pick all of it up through writing workshops and involvement in writing groups, and doing what you’re going—continually practicing the art of storytelling. Good luck! I look forward to reading your work.
I too am in awe and wonder at beautiful writing. Story telling is foundational, but to be able to do it with a unique and powerful voice is ideal. And takes a lot of practice. As I am finding out.
Your workshop series are a great educational tool. They do help with the craft, the mechanics, as you say. But I do like that a loose but constructive community of writers is springing up here.
Thanks for your comments. And I will continue to follow along on your Writer's Club journey. Best of luck to you.
And best of luck to you too!
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Many thanks for that. Made my day :)
Hello and thank you for your attempt to give writers an opportunity to be heard and say hello to other writers, professional, amateur, beginning or experienced.
In my case it is particularly hard to break in to the market because of my background, coming from another planet in a far away galaxy - Yes you say people love far out science fiction and you would think this would produce instant success - But without approval from the home planet I am looked upon as a renegade - and 'they' go out of their way to discredit
my writings, which for obvious reasons must be written as sci-fi, but in fact
are eposes of true happenings on other planets, in distant galaxies, and occasionally parallel and not so distant universes.
Though not Human or biological myself I am pro-Human, and that's what
gets me in trouble and causes the harassment from other entities from the home world.
For now I have taken over a Human {permission granted} and write under his name here on Steemit and have my own blog located here:
http://universalspacealienpeoplesassociation.blogspot.com/
Thank you naquoya,
It seems, perhaps, you'r problem is you know far too much about the inner workings of the creatures known as human, and that makes you dangerous in the yes of some.
However, it potentially makes you a creative genius in the yes of others. Misfits, vagabonds, and even pro-human non-humans are welcome here. Glad you dropped in and introduced yourself.
Science Fact masquerading as Science Fiction is a genre I can get into.
Thanks again, I shall peruse your work when I get the chance.
hey, great initiative! For me, Steemit is all about meeting other inspired writers. I just wrote a post about my present writing projects. In two months my first book will het the bookstores (can still not figure out if I'm more excited or more afraid of that).
Great to meet you here, looking forward to reading more about you and your work.
Thanks for participating. Very happy that you dropped by and introduced yourself. I'm thrilled for you that your first book will be out in only two months. That's an achievement I still aspire to. I would certainly love to know how all that came about for you - I will proceed over to your blog and follow up there. As for how all of that makes you feel now - I can understand the emotional rollercoaster. It's a huge step, but I guess it's another piece in the writing puzzle. Best of luck with it.
Once I have the actual book in my hand, I will start to believe it, I think. As to how it came about... a lot of perseverance, years of learning things, years of writing and editing... Maybe there are easy ways, but I haven't found them...
I'm absolutely sure it was a lot of perseverance, and years of learning and writing. The life of a writer. Glad that it is starting to happen for you. But like you say - not until that book is in your hand. Almost there :)
In a jar of cracked marbles I’m one of the ones that is hidden @beginningtoend. Check out my work and the link to my website.
And I can vouch for the quality of your writing and support. Others would do well to read your work regularly. Thanks for commenting.
Wouldn't consider myself a writer much but I do enjoy to write (and ramble)! Personally I'm more of a visual kinda guy but I do love to read what you guys come up with. I think trying to galvanise the community is always a reasonable approach to up your level. Good luck to you and all emerging authors out there, I think steemit is just the platform to build something like this! ^^
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I guess we all have our strengths and weaknesses, but communicating and expressing is the key. The need to be creative can be a powerful human urge. And the written word can make for a solitary process. Thus my endeavour with this post.
The visual arts have always interested me though. Many ideas have come to me through photos and films. Just as they have through music also.
Steemit does have a lot of potential in this regard. I am seeing it realise that potential more and more each day. I look forward to seeing how things will develop over the next 12 months.
Oh yes you can learn to combine various disciplines nowadays in ways that simply werenÄt possible 20 years ago. We can now make use of several creative processes at once and really learn from each other in new ways as new forums (like this one) emerge. Fresh!
Trailblazin' is never easy and often lonely work if I might be so bold to paraphrase you.
Happy Days.
The internet has been a godsend for the creative side of humanity. As for many other things also. But being able to bring various people together and give access to new ideas at a rate unheard before. Definitely a good thing for human evolution. I just have to remember to switch of the computer and get out into the real world also :)
I've met more writers through the internet though than outside of it. And having access to so many other art forms and artists also. It's great.
Thanks for your comments.
I'm an author (I say that hopefully). I have one completed book that's been sitting on the backburner for a few years. I had always had the intent to publish, but I've been working on my other career by getting my bachelor and master's degrees the last 7 years. I took a stab at finding an agent right after I finished the book, but had no luck because I knew nothing about the concept of 'platform'.
I passionately hated social media and the thought of self-promotion horrified me. But at some point I realized I would have to suck it up and put myself out there. So two months ago I finally took the leap, got my personal website and blog going and jumped onto every social media and writing platform I could find, attempting to plaster my name and face and words all over the interwebs until I get enough followers that I feel it's worth making the leap to publishing.
I still haven't decided between crowdfunding, self-publishing or traditional publishing (each has its pros and cons), but I figure the first step is to build a big enough potential audience that when I step off the publishing cliff I won't sink into the vast ocean of lonely obscurity with most other would-be authors on the planet.
I know that it takes uncounted hours of blood, sweat, tears and rejection to make this thing work. That's one I've learned over the years by looking at other writers who were successful. Aside from a lucky few overnight rags-to-riches stories, the successful writers are not the ones with the most talent, but the ones who kept slogging it out day and night for years until they built the critical mass of an audience that finally starts to expand on its own.
I've always been a sort of go-it-alone type, taking my only advice and inspiration from books, but I've been slowly beginning to realize the importance of community. We're all in this fight together, trying to realize our writerly dreams and get noticed by a beneficent demon-god somewhere that might have pity on us and bestow a bit of actual luck.
In case anyone is interested, my author website is at http://www.shawndove.com/.
It's nice to see so many other writers here on the steemit journey!
I have hated social media also. Wasn't really into FaceBook, although i tried. Twitter I have hardly touched, nor any other platforms. But Steemit for some reason has fitted in well with my style. So it is here I have started to try to find a network or community of sorts, as all authors, and aspiring authors need to have a community to support them. This just can;t be done alone. That's the reality i am having to face.
You offer real possibilities for the new author to release a book these days. I know of self-publishing, but hadn't considered crowdfunding. Again marketing and brand/name awareness play apart in how successful such endeavours are.
I can relate to the go it alone way of doing things. Best of luck with your writing pursuits. Thanks for leaving a link to your website. I'll be sure to have a look.
I feel the same about Steemit. It just feels right here (and getting some actual rewards sweetens the deal). I played around on Medium a bit and managed a grand total of 3 followers. I think most of my articles were read 0 times. It's not a bad place, but it takes a lot more work, or some luck, to get noticed there. They don't have a welcoming committee like Steemit.
I have an author page on facebook, but I haven't really figured out how to get anyone to visit it. I think that facebook groups are a nice idea. I joined a couple of writer's groups there. But so far I haven't found the time to really look around and see what they are like.
As for twitter, well... I don't feel any sense of community on twitter, and once you are following a few thousand people (as everyone on twitter is) it's almost pointless to look at your feed because 20 new posts pop up every second. But it's pretty useful for advertising blog posts and books (for those that have actually published), and potentially making business contacts. In the long run, I wouldn't recommend neglecting twitter.
I've tried Pinterest but couldn't figure that one out. I'm also on Google+ and Linkedin but haven't really put any time into those.
Instagram is a good place for authors. I was very hesitant to even try it at first, but there are lot of book lovers and other authors on there.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with these different social media platforms. Valuable information.
I have held onto my FB account purely for the groups - of which writing groups are the main focus. I get what you are saying about Twitter. I have always felt swamped, but interesting that you say not to neglect it. I will revise my strategy there (not that I had one prior to this).
Medium is one that I never really used, although I have been there to read other peoples writings. Each platform has it's own learning curve and difficulty at breaching the getting started era.
Good to know about Instagram also. I always figured it would hold little interest for book lovers, but if the facts say different then so be it.
Once again, thank you. You've given me ideas and concepts to think about.
Happy to share.
Re: Instagram. 'Bookstagrams' are a thing. Book lovers post pictures of their favorite books in different settings and artistic backgrounds. Many of them have thousands of followers. I don't have a published book to try it out yet, but I can imagine that making contact and offering to send a free copy of your book could be a good sales booster if they happen to like it.
Bookstagrams - well that is good to know. I need to get catch up with the 21st century!
I don't have any plans to become an author ..but I want to polish my skills in writing if there is any community you may suggest that would be helpful for me?
Hello, thanks for reading and leaving a comment. I can suggest two writing groups here at Steemit (there may be more that I still haven't found). These groups have pages on the Discord chat platform.
@thewritersblock
@isleofwrite
Take at look at those, and see how you go. Their Discord channels are always great places for learning and talking with other writers.
Thank you so much @naquoya .. :)