I wrote recently about my slow, but intentional, break-up with Instagram.
I hope you had a bit of a laugh reading my Letter. I know that it resonated with some because I was delighted to hear about your own perspectives and experience.
On the other hand, I didn’t leave you with much to work with if you need a forum in which you can connect with other writers so you can share the laughs, and the pain, and the joy.
Writing can be a lonely occupation.
I have a few suggestions for how you might take small steps towards building a community around you.
Work out what you want
⚓ Think what your goal is in building such a community for yourself.
For example, is it for emotional and moral support?
Or is it for critiquing pages? Be careful of this aspect because if people aren’t your ideal/target reader, and if they are not trained in giving feedback, you can run into trouble.
Or is it to expand your network? With a view to – what? Potential collaborations (e.g. mailing list swaps)? Industry insights? Opening the door to opportunities like guest blog posts to promote your book, or introductions to agents and publishers?
Get clear on the purpose of your community and you will find it easier to use language talking or writing invitations to people, and images in posts, that will attract the people you want. (On images, BTW, do you know about Canva? Free and easy and – warning⚠️ – addictive: canva.com)
Research the topic
⚓ Read a book by Dan Blank. It’s called Be the Gateway, which helps to overcome the feeling of overwhelm in the process of making connections, whether with your readers or with fellow writers. Dan has free newsletters at wegrowmedia.com/
Ignore me and set up your own Instagram account
⚓ This short YouTube video is an absolutely basic introduction to opening an account, using #, enjoying creating content, and finding followers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klFsDmUiVpo
Use your favoured platform to reach like minds
If you are already established on a social platform, consider leading from the front. Decide on a day you can hold a video call and invite your writing followers/friends/connections, explaining you are setting this up as an experiment to see how it goes. Tell them what your goal is, and maybe have one topic for discussion, to give the meeting a sense of purpose.
Meet people in person
🫢I know, right? Old school. Go to writer’s events and festivals and grow your circle of acquaintance. Anything going on at your local library? Swap contact details and follow up after the meeting.
Host a virtual Writing Party
Nothing complicated. Just set a regular hour at a cadence to suit you and invite a few other writers to join you in a silent writing session. It’s amazing how much writing gets done. Follow it with a half-hour coffee session to build those relationships.
Just chatting about writing challenges and victories can be incredibly encouraging.
So, if you are feeling a little lonely in your writing practice, pick one way to build your writerly squad for mutual support and get started.