Why Writers Need their Tribe: How to Find Your Perfect Writing Community
I think we all know that writing is a solitary exercise and most writers are used to writing alone. It was Virginia Wolf who said, “a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” And it’s true, when we write, particularly if we’re working on creative work, we need peace and quiet so we can sink into our imagination.
Chaotic work spaces, being surrounded by other people, even our own children playing in the background can be disruptive to the writing life. Writers need silence and solitude for long stretches of time. We need to be alone to converse with the muse in our mind and keep our ears open to the voices of our characters. We need time to try to wrestle the perfect images in our heads into something approximate on the page.
But writers are human too. And that means we are social beings. We crave connections. We need our tribe. But not just any tribe, we writers need fellow writers who understand the nuances of a literary life and will help us stay committed to our craft.
This week’s episode of the Reed, Write & Create podcast is all about why writers need writing communities. Feel free to have a listen to the show, or continue reading to learn why having a writing tribe is critical for a successful writing life.
The Sisterhood: The Prototype for a Successful Writing Group
While having the time and space to write is critical for a writer, belonging to a group of your writing peers is fundamental to having a balanced and successful writing career. Even Virginia Woolf, was part of a famous writing group, known as The Bloomsbury Group. Because we write alone, often without an editor or a boss telling us what to write or how to write, the writing group or writing community becomes the stand in for that source of feedback. But it can also be more.
Consider the famous writers group known as the Sisterhood. Their origin story begins like this:
“One Sunday afternoon in February 1977, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Ntozake Shange, and several other Black women writers met at June Jordan’s Brooklyn apartment to eat gumbo, drink champagne, and talk about their work. Calling themselves “The Sisterhood,” the group—which also came to include Audre Lorde, Paule Marshall, Margo Jefferson, and others—would get together once a month over the next two years, creating a vital space for Black women to discuss literature and liberation.”
That is from the jacket copy of a new book coming out from Columbia University Press called, The Sisterhood: How a Network of Black Women Writers Changed American Culture. Remember, these literary luminaries weren’t famous when they started to gather for gumbo and champagne in 1977. They were simply Black women who yearned to tell stories and write poetry and get their words out into the world. And somehow they knew, even with their oversized talents, that by gathering together they had a better chance at success.
Author and magazine editor, Kaitlyn Greenidge wrote a story about the Sisterhood in Harpars Bazaar magazine and she described what these women did for one another as part of the group: “what these women were to one another: a listening ear, a second reader who understood the totality of spirit and personhood and history and empire these women were writing against and about and who had the respect to give those brilliant ideas an honest edit.”
It goes without saying that the Sisterhood was an effective tool in the lives of these women writers because almost every one of them went on to achieve literary success, not to mention long-lasting personal and professional relationships. Would Toni Morrison have risen to the heights of her career without The Sisterhood? Would The Color Purple ever have been written? We’ll never know for sure, but undoubtedly the Sisterhood played a significant role in the careers of the members of this influential writing group.
Why Do You Need a Writing Group?
Writing Groups do three things that are critical in a writer’s life.
Provide accountability. As I mentioned above, writers work in solitude and often without strict deadlines for their work, so it’s very easy to fall off the writing wagon. Writing group members can keep one accountable to the projects they want to complete.
Provide editorial feedback. There’s nothing worse than finishing a piece of writing only to have nobody to read it. Whether one is writing for publication or for their grandmother’s funeral program, it is imperative to receive feedback on the work itself. Having a writing group is like having built in BETA readers that can provide that necessary feedback all writers need before submission.
Provide the social aspect that is missing from solitary work. Mark Twain is famous for imploring writers to live in the world so they have something to write about. Writers who don’t interact with other humans often find that there’s something missing from their work. Having a writing community means having people to bounce ideas off of or gain inspiration from. Reading and editing other people’s work is also a great way to improve one’s own writing. And sometimes, we writers just need to be able to whine and cry about some specific aspect of living a literary life that only other writers would understand.
How to Create Your Own Writing Group
When I moved from New York City to Philadelphia, I started a writing group simply by walking up to random people in my neighborhood coffee shop, and asking them if they were a writer, and if so, did they want to join my new group.
Find Your People
Of course, you don’t have to go up to strangers to start a writing group, but you don’t have to know a whole bunch of writers either. You can search for like-minded writers using Meet-Up or Facebook. You can check at your local college or university to see if they have a writers group. Or you can take a class at a local writing school and see if any of your fellow classmates would like to start a group once the class ends. Writing groups can be held in person or online. The key is to determine how often the group will meet and stick to that consistency.
Define the Group’s Purpose
In addition to meeting consistently, you have to decide what the purpose of your writing group will be. Will it be a critique group? A support group? A professional development group? A combination of all of the above? Make sure you set rules and boundaries so that everyone is getting what they need from the group. If it’s a critique group for example, make sure everyone has a turn to share their work on a regular basis. If accountability is what you’re going after, make sure there are procedures in place so people have to stay accountable or face some kind of consequence. Based on what the purpose of the group will be, consider keeping the number of members small so that feedback, support and accountability can be adequately provided.
And while it’s not entirely necessary, I still think it’s a good idea to come up with a name for your writing group. A name is always important and makes you feel more connected and committed to the group’s mission. Plus, it’s an excuse to buy group t-shirts or tote bags!
Why BIPOC Writers Need Writing Groups of their Own
BIPOC writers need their tribe!
I’ve really been thinking about community a lot for writers, particularly for BIPOC writers whose experiences in the publishing world and the regular world are unique. I am really enjoying building up the Read, Write and Create platform, the blog, the podcast, the retreat, but my next big goal is to focus on creating a true Read, Write and Create community. A tribe of BIPOC writers who have something to say. I want Reed, Write & Create to be able to provide you with the accountability, editorial feedback and the human connection that you need to truly enjoy your literary life. So, stay tuned to this blog, the podcast, and the newsletter to see how the Reed, Write, & Create community will grow. I’m already planting seeds.
If you have any suggestions for the Reed, Write & Create community, leave them below in the comments section.