One of the most important keys to building your writing confidence is finding/building your own writing community. Surrounding myself with other storytellers has played a major role in my growth as a writer and as a person in general. The community I’ve found has given me valuable feedback on my work, motivated me to keep writing, and provided me with some amazing friends.

Achieving Collective Writing Growth

One of the more valuable things I’ve gotten from my writing community is growth. At Writers of Twin Falls, each of us approaches writing differently, driven by our preferred genres, individual writing styles, and unique life experiences. Which presents us with an opportunity to bounce ideas off eachother, bring to the table our own toolboxes of ideas, experiences, and resources.

For example, I was having a difficult time trying to figure out how my main characters were going to kill a vampire in a random staircase scene. The house the story is set in was barren, so there was nothing to use as a weapon. When I explained the situation to the other writers in the group, the gave me a treasure trove of ideas. It was awesome. We help eachother with plot structure, character development, grammar errors, and dialogue structure. We even share tips on publishing. We learn and grow together as writers, which is invaluable.

Building Writing Accountability Together

I can’t be the only writer who goes days on end without writing a single word. Sometimes the day-to-day grind gets to you and you can’t think of anything better to do than to just plop down on your bed and just lay there and do absolutely nothing. No writing, no novel planning. Just you and your phone doom scrolling or watching random, 15 second videos.

The motivation to write just isn’t there and there is no one to hold you accountable but yourself. That is another reason I love being a part of a writing group. We keep eachother accountable. Not in a serious you-didn’t-write-yesterday-so-you-owe-me-a-hundred-dollars way, but in a way that it make me excited to report that I actually got some words on the fucking page this week. (Even if it was only ten.)

Finding Your Writing Community

Cue the “Awe” cards. When I moved to Twin Falls, I didn’t know a single person besides my partner. It was a hard transition. That said, I felt like venturing out and meet some new people. I looked desperately for a writing group and didn’t find an active one. So, I created my own. There were many days when this group consisted of just me writing by myself at a coffee shop until finally other writers started showing up on the regular. These other writers, like me, were looking to learn, grow, and be a part of a community. I’m thrilled to be a part of this group, and I’m excited to see how it will continue to grow.

If you are looking to find a group where you can learn from other writers, building writing accountability, and being a part of a community, search for groups in your area! And if there are none, consider starting your own. It makes all the difference.