Getting an MFA isn’t the only way to buoy your craft and your excitement toward the page
Writing never happens in a vacuum. Not good writing, anyway. Not moving writing, not powerful writing, the sort of meaningful wordsmithing that we all aspire to produce for others to one day receive and read and ruminate upon. Even Henry David Thoreau, who famously lived by himself in a cabin on Walden Pond for two years, two months, and two days, was never actually completely free of social interactions: his family — and most notably, his mother — would often bring him food, and friends often dropped by for visits. In other words, writing is a communal act, even if the process of writing itself is often a solo endeavor.
As writers, inspiration can come from many places and many people; it’s unrealistic to expect any sort of output without a good amount of input. Which is why building a community to surround and bolster your work is such an important part of the creative process. What’s important to remember is that seeking out community doesn’t have to be expensive — while getting an MFA is one known way to dedicate time and energy to your craft, it isn’t the only way to connect with other writers and share resources. In fact, at the Seventh Wave, we’re big believers in a DIY approach to assemble a writing life that works for you and your practice. Below, we’ve rounded up seven ways to create a community around your writing.
Create your own syllabus
Part of the beauty of writing is that it is often — if not always — in response to, and in conversation with, other writing. Whether you’re working on a chapbook or a short story, there are undoubtedly authors whom you’ve read and loved, whose works have inspired you in countless ways. There are also likely authors whom you’ve bookmarked but whose work you don’t yet know very well.
One easy way to begin building your writing community is by seeing who your work is already in conversation with on the page. Create your own syllabus based on a particular project you’re working on (finding other books of essays about motherhood and the natural world, for instance), or based on a genre or form you’re not as familiar with (see which poets are digging into shape poems or ghazals; create a reading list comprising afro-centric climate fiction). Give yourself assigned reading and remember that this, too, is an integral part of the writing practice: understanding the landscape of work that you are sharing with other writers who are doing the hard work of meaning making alongside you.
Co-writing sessions
Sometimes just seeing other people doing something is enough of a motivation to get started. Set up regular times with your friends or writing classmates to just sit together and co-write, either in person or on Zoom. Make a point to put these dates and times in the calendar, and honor them as you would any other meeting — part of the difficulty of writing by yourself is sticking to your own writing routines when not doing so can feel inconsequential. Put a little bit of good pressure on yourself (and your co-writers) by making these times sacred spaces within the week.
You can kick off the co-writing sessions by each sharing what you’ll be working on, and then check in at the end of the pre-determined time for some necessary accountability. At the Seventh Wave, we love this kind of “parallel play” to help writers get past the initial hump of inertia and hopefully begin to structure their days with these writing sessions in mind. Plus, getting the chance to talk about your writing, or about any stuck points you encounter as part of the process, can be cathartic and remind you that you’re not writing alone.
Accountability groups
For writers who are looking to get feedback on their pieces, or who are working on a larger project, forming accountability groups with fellow writers is a great way to stay motivated, and to get outside of your own head. This can look like many things, including setting deadlines for each other to send a certain number of pages, or actually setting aside meetings at monthly or quarterly intervals to dig into each other’s work.
Different types of accountability groups can serve different purposes. Sometimes, smaller deadlines are more helpful: sending 1,000 words of writing each week can accumulate quickly and help to build daily writing habits. Sometimes, bigger-picture deadlines, like getting entire chapters or sections of a book to each other within two months’ time, can help with time management and expectation setting for the creation of a manuscript. For workshopping, be sure to set down guidelines for how you’ll be talking about each person’s work, and/or providing feedback on a piece, so that everyone is on the same page.
DIY residencies
One of the hardest things to do for most writers is finding dedicated quiet time and space to dig into their work for uninterrupted hours at a time. The wonderful aspects of life — a partner, children, beloved friends who send you funny memes on an hourly basis — are also the very things that can detract from the type of deep focus that is often necessary for a sustained writing practice. As such, one way to get into that space of concentration is to go on a writing residency. While there are many residencies and retreats that are wonderful to apply toward, there is never a guarantee whether or not you’ll be accepted to any given opportunity, as these applications can be competitive. And even if you are, sometimes the timing or pricing of said opportunity doesn’t align with your needs and resources.
So, what to do? You could enlist a few fellow writers or other creatives to come together for your own DIY retreat weekend. Figure out what everyone’s collective budgetary and time constraints are, and then find an AirBnB nearby. Logistics could include things like meal prep (each attendee can be assigned one meal to prepare for the group for a more communal feel, or everyone can be in charge of their own meals if that’s easiest for dietary needs); sleeping accommodations (depending upon how many people are joining, and how many sleeping surfaces there are); and community agreements for the weekend (no loud talking after 10 p.m., or no unloading the dishwasher before 7 a.m., for instance). The main hope, of course, is that while there are times for everyone to drop into their own creative sessions, there are also times to share work or resource share.
Open mics
Sharing our writing is a big part of the creative process that is often less talked about in favor of the rigamaroles of writing itself. But unless we are writing only for ourselves — journaling, note-taking, brainstorming — at some point, what we are working on will likely have to reach someone on the other end. Attending open mics is a great way to practice sharing our work in a vulnerable space, while also witnessing others who are doing the same. The beauty of the open mic is that the work is expected to be “unpolished,” so you don’t have to worry about having a completely perfect story to share; in fact, open mics are a great opportunity to see how certain lines or certain scenes land with an audience. Everything is information.
Most cities have some form of open mic nights at local coffee shops, bars, or cafes. Keep an eye out for flyers, or of course head toward the internet to see what events are listed there. If you’re newer to the literary scene, try attending a few open mics to get to know the crowd and the vibe — you may just meet fellow newer writers who are similarly looking for a place to start growing their community.
Literary events
Outside of open mics, there are a wealth of other kinds of literary events that can help bolster your writing practice. Readings by local or visiting writers are a great chance to learn more about the person and the process behind the book itself, and to meet other readers who are interested in similar topics. Panel discussions are also great, as they’re an opportunity to be exposed to other writers or thinkers that you may not have encountered otherwise, about a topic you’re already interested in. Sometimes book stores will also hold more informal gatherings, like a mixer or a part-open mic, part-reading event.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, too, there are a lot more literary events that are taking place online, which is great if getting to a particular reading is difficult for accessibility or scheduling reasons. Be an active participant whenever you can, whether that means sharing words of affirmation in the chat or posing questions during the Q&A portion of an event. Breaking the seal is an important part of feeling invested in the event instead of just being a passive observer, and will hopefully also help to connect you with other attendees who are looking to be active presences at these events, too.
Show up & share out
Perhaps the simplest but most impactful way to build a community around your writing practice is to be consistent in showing up and sharing out. This can look like a lot of things, including attending friends’ reading events or sharing links to their published pieces to help celebrate their achievements. This can also look like leaving reviews on Goodreads and pre-ordering books to help authors with their sales. This means recognizing that the literary landscape depends on many people to help steward it, so we have to be good literary citizens beyond just working on our own manuscripts. When we endeavor to help uplift others and their accomplishments, then they are more likely to do the same.
Social media in the past decade has made it so that it can feel like you have to shout to be heard amid all of the noise. But if you help to uplift other writers, and they, you, then everyone wins in the end. Small acts like resharing a post or forwarding along a Substack or simply witnessing someone else’s writing endeavors only makes our connection to our own work stronger and all the more poignant. So when it comes to building community, when in doubt, go back to the basics: show up for yourself and for each other.
