Writing is often at times a lonely process.

And if you are an overthinker like me that’s not necessarily a good thing. Now there are so many different people and elements that are involved in making a good book, from Alpha and Beta Readers, Critique Partners, Editors, Proofreaders, Cover Artists, Formatters to name just a few aside from the actual author, but when it comes to writing, you are usually sitting at home by yourself writing.

For a lot of people, me included, we love this. Love not going into the office, love not dealing with office drama (unless we are writing a romance that involves office drama) love being able to set our own workload, schedule and being our own boss. Some writers I know don’t just work at home, they love to go to coffee shops and spend a couple of hours writing, but for the most part we spend our working day alone.

I’m not going to lie, I love writing, and creating stories, characters, and worlds to play with, even on the days I want to tear my hair out, I love it, but one of the biggest appeals of pursing my writing and turning it into a career was to work for myself. For a lot of these benefits, as well as having a much better work/life balance when it comes to my health, and not dealing with mood swings of management and companies and those that are essentially in charge when working for someone else.

That’s not to say the idea of working for myself full time doesn’t scare the crap out of me, it does, especially on the days when I find it hard to decide what I want to eat today which then makes me question what the hell I am thinking, if I can’t make that choice then how the hell am I going to run an author business and make choices that are going to effect everything I do right down to the money I earn, which is a whole other issue that I plan to talk about in the future.

But getting back on track to what this post is about.

Writing can be lonely. Being an author can be lonely.

Which is why we need to find our tribe.

It doesn’t matter which stage you’re at whether you are beginning your author career, have a few books under your belt, or have 60+ books out already, or have no intent of ever publishing but just love to write, I think we still need to find our people, our fellow writers and connect with them.

Now that can be through Social Media, going to author networking conferences, local or online writing groups, writing events like NaNoWriMo or other ways.

It isn’t always easy to get out of our comfort zone, however that may look to us as individuals, and I will be the first to hold up my hand and say I am a shy introvert self, and I don’t like to put myself out there. I often ignore the urge to reach out to others because I don’t want to be annoying or seen as I am only after something from that person, especially as when my health either physical or mental is on a downward spiral I retreat from everything.

Other times it feels like there is this barrier between me and other authors, that I’ve not yet published so I can’t reach out to them, or that I’m not cool enough, or popular enough, even though those I have reached out to have been nothing but warm, kind, and supportive. Again, my overthinking anxiety self is something I am working on.

Though I have joined some writing groups, and while I’m not as active as I would like to one day be, instead lurking in the shadows I have found some of my writing tribe.

A few years ago, I joined my area NaNoWriMo group, as it was during the pandemic it was online and through discord, and I am still a member today, though considering everything that has been going on with NaNoWriMo, it was decided that we separate ourselves from the event while still offering support to those who love writing in the discord group. There are weekly writing virtual events, and we have started doing monthly writing challenges. I have met my Critique partner through the group, and both of us are at the start of our publishing career.  

I also stumbled upon Heart Breathings Youtube a few years ago, and through binging on the videos there, discovered Heart Breathings writing community, both on Facebook and Discord.

Which brings me to the final group I have joined.

Last year I joined a group that had been created by one of the editors I had been following that I had marked as someone I potentially wanted to work with, her group – Write Here, Write Now Writers’ Community is not only a community but an also an opportunity to learn as well, it’s the only group I am a part of where I pay for membership, but it is worth every penny and a community that I love being a part of. I renewed for the year last month.

The members that I have interacted with and are active the most have been nothing but warm, kind, welcoming, informative, and supportive. In 12 months, I have learned so much from them and continue to as well. Not only that my confidence in myself as a writer has grown massively. There are weekly events, ranging from sprints, coffee chats, working sessions (where you work on whatever you need to, but on a zoom, call allowing you to chat to others) Masterclasses, Coffee Evenings, fun writing challenges, fun quiz nights for things like Halloween and Christmas, as well as access to Teachable which is full of valuable information.

I know I have made some author friends from this group and have found a community that I love being a part of, and I cannot recommend it enough to those who are looking for an active writing community where you can learn from others, while also grow as an author and help others grow in turn.

If you are interested in finding out more about Write Here, Write Now Writer’s Community you can find out more information here. I do want to say I am not being sponsored or have an affiliate link, or earning any money at all if you click on the link or decide to join the community.