by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
If you’re a new writer or have recently decided to spend more time writing, you might be looking for other writers online.
Plugging into the online writing community can be very helpful for writers. Finding support and encouragement is probably the main reason, with accessing resources a close second.
I’ve recently been asked by a few newer writers where to find other writers online. There’s not one main watering hole. Here are some of the places writers hang out online:
Twitter: There are tons of writers on Twitter. If you put #amwriting or #writetips or #writechat into the search box on your home page, you’ll find writers. Or go to my followers. Almost all of them are writers.
Blogs: Blogs are great places to connect with other writers (find active blogs to follow, then branch out and follow folks in their blog rolls.) There are plenty of writing blogs in my sidebar to get you started.
Forums: Absolute Write , Writers Net, and Writing Forums, among others, connect writers with each other and with resources and information.
There are also Yahoo Groups that operate on an email loop (or you can choose to visit the group’s board). Just go to http://groups.yahoo.com/ and search for “writing” or the genre of your choice.
Facebook: Writers are all over Facebook. What I’d recommend is finding a blogging writer who has a Facebook account, friend them, then go to their followers’ list. You’re sure to find other writers there to friend….then repeat the process.
National organizations (USA): The Authors Guild is the oldest of the organizations for published authors. There are also many groups that are genre-specific: SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), RWA (Romance Writers of America), MWA (Mystery Writers of America), ITW (International Thriller Writers), HWA (Horror Writers Association), Sisters in Crime, etc. There are also local writing organizations. Some writers find it very rewarding to connect with other writers in person and exchange ideas about writing, publishing, and marketing. If you’re looking for an in-person group, it’s worth the few minutes to pop over to Meetup.com and type in ‘critique group’ and your location to see if there are groups in your area. Writers conferences are a good, if frequently costly, way to meet other writers. Or you can participate in a free online writing conference like The Muse Online or challenges like the annual National Novel Writing Month and make writing friends there.
There are probably gobs of other places that I’m not mentioning here. Where are some of your favorite places to hang out with writers?