Active and Helpful Support Groups for Writers
No, this is not a list of 12-step groups to help you kick the writing habit. It’s a list of places to go to find help, encouragement, and the occasional competition to keep you smiling through the ups and downs of your writing addiction.
Search results for “writing community” provide pages of results. Most seem to place more focus, or all focus, on publishing and marketing platforms instead of on communication between working authors. Of the sites I’ve found that are dedicated to providing a community for writers, very few appear active. If you are seeking a living writers’ community to provide some conversation, advice, and support to brighten your solitary path of writing, I recommend checking out the following:
“Forward Motion’s core purpose is to help writers become professionally published. We welcome serious writing hobbyists as well, but our purpose and goals are geared toward professional careers. We do not allow fanfiction posts and we don’t promote self-publishing.”
As a new member with basic access, I see 84 message boards, with thousands of topics and hundreds of thousands of messages. If you write, there’s something for you here.
“WEbook’s community of writers is here to have fun, share feedback, improve their writing – and in the process, transform the publishing world. WEbook understands that there are as many paths to publication as there are writers, and WE provide tools to make the journey easier for everyone.”
While publishing and marketing definitely play a role on this super hub for writers kind of site, the forum section alone will make someone wanting to connect with like minds very happy. Immediately upon registering, you receive an automated welcome message that familiarizes you with the different area of the site. It’s very handy, so scan it over if you decide to try WEbook out.
Writers Dock Party (on Facebook)
“We’re building our own on-line “Cheers”; an exclusive writer haven where everyone understands your production experiences and where everyone knows your name. A place where glasses are never empty and inspiration and conversation flows tax free! Join now. Spar, encourage, exchange, brag, and celebrate! Our writers’ shack is open for Faces.”
Writers’ Dock Party is a fairly new group with almost 3,000 members. It is a less static resource and more flowing conversation. Between the wall and discussion areas, someone is always sticking their head in to stir up some conversation.
#amwriting on Twitter
This hashtag provides access to an all day, every day, on-going chat between working writers on Twitter. See my article on helpful writer hashtags for more information about them and how they work. See website of chat sponsor, @johannaharness for more information about #amwriting
That’s all I’ve really found for active and community focused writer groups. I’ll keep up my search and, as I find others I will add them.
If you are part of an online writer’s community that you would like to share, please do so!
