How To Build Your Writing Community by Pam Chiaro

I’m writing this piece from a special writing space of mine. It’s an old, floral, wing-backed chair in the corner of a sunny second-story porch at the Hand Hotel in Fairplay, Colorado. This is my chair when I’m up here. It’s mine because when I joined this group seven years ago, it was one of the few places in the hotel left to sit and write. Every other quiet spot already had a writer in it. And this crowd is more than a bit proprietary.

Four times a year, we come to the hotel, getting away from our daily lives, to do nothing but write for four or five days. The group includes a few successful traditionally published authors, others who have published short stories in magazines and anthologies, one indie author (me), and some who are still working toward a first published work.

This morning, while sipping tea in the dining room, I pondered the unique privilege of belonging to this writing community. Then I realized I am blessed with several: this Fairplay group, my Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers tribe, my friends at Western Colorado Writers Forum, and the critique groups I’ve belonged to over the years. They have each been critical to my journey from an avid fiction reader to a closeted fiction writer to an indie-published author.

I first confessed my writing hobby to my sister.

I first confessed my writing hobby to my sister at an RMFW Conference I attended under the guise of wanting to see one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon. Diana was the keynote speaker that year. What my sister didn’t know was that I had signed up for several of the workshops and had even submitted a piece of writing to one of the presenters. That piece of writing was the first I had ever shared with anyone. What a gift the friendly critique I received from that presenter was. I’ve been serious about my writing since.

At that same conference, it came to light that authors were normal, not necessarily brilliant, people. In fact, nerdy, goofy, and hilarious come to mind more often. They came in all the same varieties I encountered in my business career. Who knew? Maybe I was as smart and creative as they were. Maybe I could be one of them. Like everything else I’d succeeded at in my life, it appeared to be more a matter of desire, learning, and hard work than it was a gift from the gods.

After that conference, my sister, who had been writing for years, invited me to critique with her group. Scary as that was, I said yes. We exchanged pages electronically each week and met in Delta for a meal and discussions of everyone’s work. Wow! My first lessons were about how much I didn’t know. As an avid reader, and someone who’d grown up in a family of excellent communicators, I had a decent innate sense of how to tell a story and could put a grammatically correct sentence together. But… POV? Character arc? Internals? I had so much to learn. My group happily coached the newbie, encouraging me as often as they criticized the work. They also told me about their favorite tools, websites, podcasts, and writing books. At the Fairplay retreats, discussions of craft and the writing industry during our dinners together were invaluable.

Over the years, I moved on to other local critique groups. One group included a poet, a memoirist, a short-story writer and one other long-form fiction writer. I learned from all of them.

I took on the role of Western Slope Programs Chair for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and later became the treasurer on their executive board. Now, I’ve facilitated workshops and even taught a couple. I started a new critique group because so many people in my community said they couldn’t find one. I met Melody Jones and started attending the events the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum makes available.

Every one of these experiences enhanced my knowledge of craft, bolstered my courage, or provided me with encouragement. An added benefit is all the friends I’ve made along the way.

The above was a long preface to talking about the importance of being part of an active writing community. There may be wonderful creatives out there who don’t need it, but I believe we all benefit from being part of one. Writers tend to be solitary souls. We enjoy tapping away on our keyboards, heads down, working hard to ignore the world outside of the one we are creating on the page. How do you break free from your self-made shell when you need to discuss ideas with someone who shares your passion for the imaginary? Where do you find answers to your questions? Every writer tires of the constant conversation with their self-created imaginary friends from time to time. But how do you develop your own writing community?

Attend Local Events and Workshops

It begins with attending as many events as you can talk yourself into. They don’t have to be expensive conferences, and you don’t have to travel far. The western slope offers a lot of free or inexpensive events. Get on the mailing lists for as many local groups as you can find. Then get out of your house and attend the events they provide. (I’ll offer a few to begin with in the conclusion of this post, and there are likely others I’m not familiar with. If you have suggestions, please add them in the comments.)

Some events may not be “your thing.” It doesn’t matter. You are supporting and encouraging other writers with your presence. Go to poetry readings. Listening to poetry will enhance your fiction writing, I promise. And you’ll learn from authors who write way outside your genre, so don’t limit yourself.

If you’re on social media anyway, follow local groups and watch for the events they post. Follow or friend other authors, especially any you love to read. Get on their mailing lists. You’ll find out about things going on in the industry and you’ll start getting a sense of the marketing that’s going to be your job too.

Drinking a beer (or cup of tea) with other writers puts you in that headspace of understanding you can be one of them. You are welcome. It sparks some creative muscle in us to be around other creatives regularly. So, go to the social events. Drop into all of them once or twice until you find places and people you enjoy.

 

Support Other Writers and Artists

Put yourself in the place of those who are courageously putting themselves out there. Don’t let another writer experience a book signing or a reading in a mostly empty room. Support your fellow writers the way you hope people will show up for you someday. Take ten minutes out of your Saturday to stop at Barnes and Noble to say hello. That’s all it takes to keep someone from sitting at an empty table. Ask them about their writing. Maybe even buy the occasional signed book if you can. Be the applause at a reading or an open-mic night.

Take a friend to a local book fair even if they don’t write. It’s a great way to spend an hour before going out to lunch. Make a drive up into the North Fork Valley and take in a reading at Paonia Books—then tour a winery. In Cedaredge, the Grand Mesa Arts and Events Center constantly buzzes with activities.

 

Find or Start a Critique Group

The next brave step is finding a place where others can read your work. My favorite is a critique group. Can’t find one? Start one. Critique groups can be any size. Two writers who are new to the craft can be an amazing and effective critique group. Developing the courage to put your work out into the world is critical.

Leaning good critique skills is like any other part of writing. A quick online search will give you all the information you need about starting a group and being a skilled critique partner.

Talk to each other and understand the expectations. How many pages? How often will you meet? What is it your partners are looking for? It isn’t all about playing the role of grammar and punctuation police. In fact, most of us can find that in a good piece of software these days. The best critique partners are collaborators. You need an honest interest in making your partner’s writing the best it can be.

Share ideas that come to you as well as giving suggestions about sentence structure and grammar. Help them identify plot holes. Let them know when they’ve lost you or bored you. It requires opening your mind to genres other than your own. Both providing good critiques and receiving them will make you a better writer. In every critique you give ask yourself if your notes are in service to your partner or in service to your own need to be the expert. There is a difference.

Writers must be resilient.

Not everyone is going to love your work. Learn to take each criticism as a learning experience, think about it, and reject it if it doesn’t ring true for you. No one is forcing you to do anything. Above all else, don’t get all bent out of shape. Say thank you and move on. If a partner doesn’t work out, keep looking.

One of the most important pieces of a critique group for me is the accountability. I owe a completed piece of writing to my group on a regular basis. I tend toward procrastination, but even if I’m getting the writing done at the last minute, it’s getting done. It means I never ignore my work-in-progress for long.

 

Get Involved

Another way to get to know other writers and create your own fun writing community is to help out. You don’t have to take on a permanent role in any one organization. Just make yourself available to help. Maybe it’s being the cashier at some annual fundraiser, or filling in as secretary at a meeting, or bringing snacks to an event. Become the person folks are comfortable calling when they need some little contribution. Those of us who are trying to keep these organizations up and running are always looking for help. There’s nothing wrong with being stingy with your time and more open about your wallet, either. It takes both types of volunteers.

 

Online Communities

If you’re not willing to completely emerge from your shell, there are also countless online writing communities. They can be great places to find support, inspiration, and motivation. A few good ones are free, others are inexpensive, and some offer free versions that tend to be worthless because they want to draw you into their expensive paid products. It requires some research to sort them all out. Again, a simple search for online writing groups will pull up several options.

The one thing I will caution is that if you are already spending too much time on social media or other screen type brain numbing activities, these groups can easily become huge time-sucks. Be sure you know precisely what you’re looking for and hold yourself accountable for getting in and getting back out. Maybe set a timer on your phone. Don’t spend an hour of your precious writing time a day answering comments and posts.

The writing community is diverse.

Romance is the best-selling genre out there—somebody’s writing it. There’s no shame in that or any other genre. And, almost without exception, authors don’t judge other authors. It’s easy to steer clear of those who do. Writers in the literary genre are as down to earth as those who are cranking out vampire romances. The divide between traditional publishing and indie publishing is closing. Come as you are. Just be prepared to put in the work. The more you invest yourself in your local writing community, the more you’ll get out of it. Remember, everyone who looks like an expert to you, started out somewhere along the path you are navigating now.

 

My Favorite Local Resources (These are enough to keep me busy.)

• Western Colorado Writers’ Forum Website
• Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Website and Newsletter Sign-Up
• Justin Weaver is RMFW’s Western Slope Programs Chair. Email him and ask to be added to his email list to be notified about local events.
• Grand Mesa Arts and Events Center (and newsletter sign up)
• Paonia Books

Online Resources

Jane Friedman’s Newsletter Sign up Look at her “Resources for Writers” tab. The few communities I like are on her list and I look forward to her newsletter.

 

Pam Chiaro writes contemporary romantic fantasy under her pen name PK Stuart. Her favorite reading mixes magic, mystery, and romance with a touch of humor. So, that’s what she writes. 

She balances her time between being introverted—glued to her laptop—and being outdoors. Pam enjoys hiking, biking, and exploring all the amazing archaeological sites in the four-corners region. 

 You can find her at her website, on Facebook, or on Instagram.