How to Find Your People

Julie Owsik Ackerman

"I don't know any successful author who doesn't have a writing community," said Alma Katsu, author of The Taker, this weekend at the Philadelphia Writers Conference. This makes perfect sense to me.

I've been serious about writing for the past seven years, and over the past two years, I've been coming out of my writer shell, building a community of writers, and seeing what a huge difference it makes. So how does one find/make a community?

My two key strategies: 1) start a writing group 2) go to writing conferences.

Writing group: I searched far and wide for a writing group to suit my needs. I tried several over the years, but when nothing quite worked, I started my own. I posted a notice on a listserv that know about from showing up a writing conferences (more on that below), I recruited a neighbor when I ran into her at another writing event I didn't feel like attending, but dragged myself to, another friend joined, a mom I know from our babysitting co-op joined, and voila - writing group. We meet every other week, bring up to four pages, and have no homework. That's the format that has worked for us. We encourage each other, we read each other's work, we make suggestions. Most importantly, we break the isolation of trying to do this thing alone.

Conferences: My first writing conference was traumatic. Probably my expectations were unreasonable. Also I had never really had my work critiqued before and the teacher was pretty harsh. Thank God it didn't scare me away from conferences forever, because every writing conference I've ever attended, including that one, has given me something valuable.

Here are just a few things I gained from the amazing Philadelphia Writers Conference, which just concluded:

A new screenwriter friend, and an idea of starting a screenwriting group. One of the best educational experiences I've ever had with Mark Lapadula, legendary screenwriting teacher. Solid revision technique for my novels from Alma Katsu. Getting to chat with Judy Schachner - creator of SkippyJon Jones, some of my favorite children's books of all time. Pitching my novel to an editor of a small press who really understood my protagonist and story and really wants to see it, who told me the name of an agent who she thought would love it. Practice pitching my novel to other people, and talking about my book a lot.

I never know what I will get out of a writing conference, but I always come away energized, inspired, and with new connections. Every time. One small step at a time, over seven years, by attending workshops and talking about my writing to lots of people, I have cobbled together a writing community, and that is what has sustained me when I feel discouraged, when it seems pointless, when I want to give up or shut up.

Maybe your pastime is painting, knitting, gardening, or dancing. Whatever your interests, go find your people. Passions are so much more fun, vibrant, alive when they are shared. Trust me.

No Writer Is An Island

I am a writer. This I've known all my life. What I only recently realized is that I am also an entrepreneur.

When I’m not writing or taking care of Daniel, I work with my dad, supporting his financial services business. At our office, new financial reps start each month; some of them make it, many don’t. It’s a job that requires initiative, persistence, and belief in what you’re doing. While telling my dad about the Philadelphia Writers Conference that I attended this month, he remarked that I was like the new reps, starting a business, but without the structure and support they have. I felt that internal click of a realization: I am an entrepreneur. I hadn’t thought about writing that way before. I enjoy the art of writing, but if I want this to be my career, it behooves me to think about it like a business also.

Before the conference, I had been looking for something to help my writing, I just wasn’t sure what. As I sat in the opening session, listening to bestselling author Jonathan Maberry describe how much writers benefit from supporting each other, I almost cried, realizing how lonely I had felt in my writing life. With my dad’s observation that I was like a new rep, I realized that it made perfect sense that I needed guidance, help, training, mentoring. Any newbie would. And if I can find those things, I have a much better chance of staying in the game long enough to succeed.

Realizations are nice and all, but now I need to put some things in place. At the conference I learned about monthly networking meetings for writers, and I plan on attending those. I discovered an active local listserv, and signed up for that. Those feel like two steps in the right direction. I also loved Maberry’s suggestion of using a timer, spending 10 minutes doing social networking for every 50 minutes of writing. These were the kind of specific suggestions I took away with me.

How do you connect with people in your chosen field? Any entrepreneurs out there? What are your support systems? How do you create support, find encouragement and learn about your field? This newbie appreciates your suggestions.