How To Find Writer Friends

While writing can be a solitary challenge at times, building a network of writer friends can be invaluable. Making connections and forming relationships with fellow authors can provide you with vast amounts of support, advice, and camaraderie.

Of course, reaching out to your fellow writes can seem daunting, especially if you are new to the process, or you are feeling less than confident about your work. You might worry about what you can offer in such circles or imagine being scorned or rejected or that you'll be uncovered as the 'imposter' you are.

Making a group of writer friends does take time and effort, but by integrating yourself as part of the writing community, everything from your confidence to your competence can benefit.

So how do you start to reach out?

Join a Facebook group

There are tonnes of great Facebook groups out there that are aimed at connecting writers together and sharing knowledge tips and advice. These groups are generally friendly and welcome writers from all walks of life and at all stages in their writing career. You can also find groups of ones specific to your genre. Each group has it's own 'rules', and usually blatant self-promotion isn't allowed, but you can ask advice, share funny stories, get support and generally connect and communicate with likeminded people.

Do some gentle stalking

The beauty of the internet means there are countless ways to connect with fellow writers. If there is a particular author you would like to meet or know more about, then you can usually find their website or connect with them on social media. By linking and sharing their work and commenting thoughtfully on their posts, you can slowly build a relationship with them, and hopefully, they will start to reciprocate.

Take a writing class

A writing class can help hone and improve your writing skills, will ensure that you write regularly and will allow you to meet writers who are likely to be at the same sort of level and stage as you.

Join a writing group

A writing group, be that virtual or local, could be a great way to help boost your writing confidence, get feedback on your work, and share ideas and inspiration for future projects. Writing groups are usually welcoming, friendly spaces where writers have rules about how to critique one another's work and are mostly hugely supportive and encouraging - though will offer constructive and impartial feedback when asked!

Go to a writing conference

While writing conference can be exhausting as it's a lot of networking with a lot of people, they are a fantastic way to make connections with all sorts of people from the writing world. So if you need some advice on your manuscript, are looking for an agent or publisher or want to learn some top trade secrets, a writing conference would be the place to go!

Go on a writing retreat

A writing retreat may be an expensive way to make writing buddies, but it can help you to form deep connections with your fellow writers, as well as really make some progress on your latest project, all usually in beautiful surroundings with great food, drink, and company!

So if you are feeling a little lonely, or just want to benefit from forming a network of writer friends, try the above and reap the benefits and positives that having writer friends can bring!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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