5 Author Communities I Love
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group aka The IWSG has been going strong for over a decade of monthly blog hops and expanded to have a website, a newsletter, and several social media pages. We even have a Goodreads Book Club. The website and newsletter include pro tips from editors, agents, authors, and other professionals in the writing industry. The blog hop includes some of the same, along with a great deal of encouragement.
The Greater Gig Harbor Literary Society started a little over a year ago, on the shoulders of D. Larry Fowler, a local author who has led local authors in putting together community driven events.
Creative Colloquy is a local literary arts organization for the South Sound. Based in Tacoma, Creative Colloquy hosts open mic nights, publishes local authors on their website and in a print publication, and hosts classes by writing coaches and teachers, along with being a presence at many events in the area.
Realm Makers is a community for Christian Speculative Fiction writers and fans, hosting online workshops, online forums, and a yearly conference.
The Writers’ Group I meet with every other Thursday evening is a small group of five women (me included) who write in different genres. We encourage each other and read each other’s work.
Honorable Mentions: SCBWI (which I have a tendency to add more letters to when I’m tired, but it is the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), the PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association), and the NCWA (Northwest Christian Writers’ Association), Norwescon, and Write in the Harbor. All of these are great organizations or events which I’ve had the opportunity to take part in or will have the opportunity to take part in this year.
5 Writing Prompts
Write about growth… any kind…
Write a story/essay/poem about community…
Write a story/essay/poem about a bad community…
Write a story/essay/poem about a good community
Write a story about community rules…
Note: I am an only child who prefers large portions of solitude, and I was bullied as a small child and teen on a daily basis, but yet I still seek out encouraging communities. If I like a community, it is usually an encouraging one. However, if you go to any of these communities I mention and don’t find encouragement, please do not give up. Find a different one, found a different one. Keep seeking out the good ones, the beauty, the lovely people, the kindly people. They do exist, and yes, most of us are fallible and make mistakes, but really, there are some decent humans out there.
Note #2: Remember, also, we all only have so much energy. I love these communities above, but I can’t be a big part of all of them. I can only give so much time and so much energy to each. I recommend taking it slow when you enter into a community space, look around, and see how much time and energy you can give.