Tag Archives: community

Dont strand yourself-Connect to others-Find a tribe

island
island

Its possible you have heard some of these:

In order to be a writer you must struggle ALONE in obscurity.

There is no way you can write while surrounded by other writers or artists.

Writing forces you to be disconnected and its better that way.

A writer can only truly depend on themselves, no ones knows you like you.

I’m sure there are countless others and I’m here to tell you that its false. Actually I believed this and worse for a long time while I wrote and struggled to identify as a writer. Then I realized, if I am going through this other writers must be going through the same thing. It wasn’t an epiphany, but it was close. So I started to look around and found groups of writers who band together to write or offer support.

There are teachers who will share  their experiences( Julia Cameron comes to mind with  one of my favorite writing book:

The Right to Write http://juliacameronlive.com/books-by-julia/the-right-to-write/

as does Stephen King’s On Writing
http://www.stephenking.com/library/nonfiction/on_writing:_a_memoir_of_the_craft.html)

If you haven’t picked up these books please do. They will motivate you and give you a glimpse of what it means to write.

Another great source I have found recently ( OK I’m slow to this) are blogs. There are countless writing blogs in existence but I have found quite a few excellent ones, here are some:

http://terribleminds.com/ -Blogged by Chuck Wendig who is an excellent writer with a very unique sense of humor. On occasion he has guest writers which make for great reading and plenty of useful information.

http://goinswriter.com/– Blogged by Jeff Goins. A very good blog filled with down to earth inspiration and motivation.

He also wrote(among others):
The Writers Manifesto
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Writers-Manifesto-Jeff-Goins-ebook/dp/B00595KCBI)

Its a fast read, but a very profound call to action. If you haven’t embraced your calling as a writer this book will spur you to answer that call. Look up Jeff he has some great books that will transform  your view on writing..

I also recently joined an online writers group you can find them here:

http://www.rockyourwriting.com/

This site is run by Cathy Yardley and she has great resources for writers.

There are many more that I will share with you over time, but ideally the key is to go out and connect with others, writers, readers, bloggers, agents, publishers-Basically anyone who loves using words to express themselves. Go find them. Stop thinking you need to be alone to be a writer- I thought that for a long time and its not true. Join a writers club. Find a place where writes converge, online and off.
In NY we have a few writing cafes that are excellent places to meet fellow writers. Find the one that suits you or create one.
The key is not to be alone in this adventure we call writing.

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Author Interviews- Alice J. Black

The Doors Alice J.Black
The Doors Alice J.Black

In the spirit of giving back and connecting with my writing tribe I have scheduled monthly author interviews to showcase authors you may or may not have heard of. They will be a combination of indie and traditional with the focus being to give an insight on the writing life.

Alice, who is an online friend graciously asked me to be part of her interview group. I thought it only fitting that she be the first author in my monthly Author Interviews.

Please pick up her book and follow her blog.

Her social media links are provided, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (where she has some great pics!) drop by and kindly give her a hello!  Please leave a comment on what you thought. If you know or are an author and would like to be highlighted in the monthly interview drop me a line or leave me a comment below.

Enjoy the interview!

 

Name: Alice J. Black

Age: 28

Where are you from? The North East of England.

Tell us a little about yourself ie. education Family life etc. I grew up and have spent my life in the North East of England. Ever since I can remember I have always loved reading and writing and though at times it hasn’t always been a priority in my life, I have always come back to it. More recently when I got my first role in my career I have gone back to writing which I love doing. I try to write every day!

When and why did you begin writing? I have always loved writing. From a young age I liked to write stories and I was always encouraged to do this by my family. I still have some of my really old scribblings now and it’s great to look back on. I can’t say why I started writing other than I really enjoyed creating a different world. Continue reading Author Interviews- Alice J. Black