Young Writers Society

So I've been a writer for a long time, but I've been alive for a little more than that [but not too much more than that], and what I'm saying is that I've spent an awful lot of time being a kid thinking it would be super fun and cool to write a book someday, and now that someday is here, I'm sort of bummed out because it's like, well, what now?

The thing is writing is so lonely, you know? My art friends can all get together and do art-friend things and talk about art contests and art galleries and art things. My sports friends can do sportsy things and scrimmage and stuff, my music friends can all do music things and start bands and make some cool music, my theater friends and I can all do theater-ey things like plays and festivals, and this is all awesome and I like when people can come together and make things and support the things of their friends and other people. But for me, writing has always been solitary. This is half a good thing, and my friends might say "that idea is so fun omg so fun wow so great" but the trouble is they're my friends, they're not writers, and they love everything I do because, well, they're my friends. I love them, and, you know, pat on the back for them, but in the classic words of U2, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

And I'm an English major, so I should have English-ey friends that are like "Oh yeah, that T.S. Eliot man, he's a great guy," and stuff but most of them are like "Well, I'm pretty sure that the plums are symbolic for Jesus and we should sympathize with him because the wheelbarrow is red and red is anger and there are chickens and chickens represent Jesus." Or something.

And then I read about the modernists, and truth is, I'm a sucker for modernists, and they all moved to Paris and became BFFs with Ezra Pound and they just talked about Gatsby and punctuation and the old man and the sea, and even Picasso hung around for a bit, and it's just cool that these writers could sit around a talk like the artists they were and they could support each other and give feedback and help one another get published. [Seriously, Ezra Pound got EVERYONE published. I mean, this guy...]

Thing is, I like it here at YWS, but I often feel I'm on the older side of the site's population, and I just have weird syntax, which I think freaks people out...

TL;DRI guess what I mean is I'm not sure how I'm supposed to find my contemporaries, you know? Writing can be hard on your own, we know this, that's why we're here, but I'm not really looking for someone to critique my grammar or structure but to listen and to discuss ideas, not just my own, but theirs. I think seeing other people succeed with their art is the best inspiration, but I've just never had "writer friends."

Hmph. :B

Well, Spinelli, you've come to the right place! I've been on this site off and on for the past...5 years? And the community is amazing and you'll find what you're looking for here. I can already tell from this and from the review that you gave on my piece that you're going to be an asset here. And as for being older, there are users like StellaThomas and Beckiw who are in college and in their twenties and Snoink who's about to get married. And countless others who have been here since they were teenagers and just keep coming back to help others. So, you won't be alone!

I hope your stay here is a good one; and if you every need anything you can ask just about anyone (including me).

~peanut~

personally I don't think it's that writers lack a sense of community any more than other artists. it's just that the nature of our craft requires a certain lifestyle that doesn't really appeal to more sociable people. I've met a lot of writers both on and off line and I can say with all honesty that perhaps the only thing every writer has in common is that we all enjoy our solitude. while people outside the writing community, your thespians and painters and whathaveyou, would see writers as being isolated, other writers understand the value of privacy, the need to be able to shut the door and be alone for a couple hours. this I believe is one of the key differences between a writer and a "person who writes."

Thanks, peanut19. I did love that script. And this site has given me some peace, though sometimes I read very dense reviews and it makes me sad.

To BadNarrator, I don't think writer's lack community, it's that I can't find it. And that aforementioned perception might be the problem right there, that writers are supposed to be these internal, introverted, isolated creatures. The thing is I'm a writer, but I do theater, I make music. And while those latter things are all in my blood, they aren't in my bones, as literature is. That's what distinguishes me from my friends even disregarding our artistic pursuits. I can't talk to them about certain things because of the way I describe things, or perceive things. I require certain bits of time in my own brain to retreat and to think, which makes it difficult when half of my friends are impulsive, non-contemplative. That being said, I can still match the sociability of these people. At least, I should be able to find other writers that like to write, or talk about writing, or talk about literature.

I've spent 11 years being a writer on my own. I could certainly proceed with this, but after so long inside the rut does a person need to climb out.

Hello Spinelli, awile ago I saw afue ladies get together for the same reasons. It started with one simple thread, not unlike this one here. The girl who posted it wanted writers 13 to 17, they described what kind of writer they were, then PM each other and most likely traded Email addresses. I'm pretty sure they also said something about Skyp ( hope that's how it's spelt ). My point is, you could do something the same. If you wanted, and probably get loads of feed back, as well as friends.

Just post: HELP WANTED, writing buddies needed. Or something, and list your expectations.

Anyway, see ya around!

I think that the introverted isolated creatures bit is an unfortunate stereotype. like I said, solitude is important to writers, but that doesn't necessarily mean we are isolated. I've found that most writers I meet, especially the 20, 30, 40 year plus veterans, have very rich social lives (except, maybe old-school science fiction writers). it's just that we don't always associate with fellow writers. and in all honesty, why would you want to? it's always refreshing to meet with someone who understands the oddities floating around in our brains. but at the same time we seek out people who are different, sometimes completely alien to ourselves, so that we have a deep well of experience to draw from in our work.

as far as finding other writers to mingle with, it's not as difficult as you might think. like anything else just start visiting places where writers are known to congregate. I don't know what school you go to, but most colleges with an English or writing program host poetry and fiction readings. if you live in near a major city you're likely to find a bar or a cafe that hosts spoken word poetry. in fact just bars and cafes in general would be a good place to start. another stereotype about writers that unfortunately has some basis in reality, is that most of us don't have very much money. for that reason you'll probably have better luck meeting other writers if you start buying your books in used or second hand bookstores rather than Barnes and Noble.

Yes, you are on the site's "older" spectrum, but you are by far not alone. I'm turning 21 this year and most of my friends are over 18. Also my syntax has been odd since I was a kid, and yes it does throw some people off, but other people love it.

What I find interesting is I disagree with your perception. Glance at the "acknowledgement" section of most books and you'll find at least a handful of names. Authors require editors and friends and supporters, sometimes pre-editors and even sometimes publicists. They know other writers because they attend events, read other books, talk to people. They know other artists because they either meet with them by chance or work with them. For example, Neil Gaiman knows quite a few of DC's illustrators and other freelance artists, because he writers for DC. He also knows quite a few actors and producers, because he writers for television.

Any art is only as solitary as you make it. National Novel Writing Month often has sit ins, where everybody writes in the same space, bounces ideas off each other, and hangs out. There are groups on YWS that have formed exclusively out of betaing others' novels; heck, I've made most of my good friends by either talking about my novel or betaing their's.

Find writing clubs and festivals, then attend them. Post your work up for critique and talk to those who give you a particularly good review. Request reviews from people who look interesting. Enter chat and see who perks up at your work. Join storybooks and write a story collaboratively, then see who your characters had the most chemistry with. Roleplay through text.

Writers of old put themselves out there to receive any sort of companionship in writing. They had to if they wanted to make a living out of it. Showing your work to the world can be difficult, and you'll get a lot of false starts, but it isn't impossible. Like almost everything, it's what you make of it.

I certainly agree with the lot of you on basically everything. I think what most of us are doing is saying essentially the same thing in different ways and agreeing with one another without the awareness of it. Bahaha

I know how it all works, I mean, I know how to make friends. I beta read, I critique on different websites, I've tried out NaNoWriMo, and other obscure things, but I'm just in a funk as of late, and I'd like to take the initiative and do something about it instead of just being like "BE MY FRAND" [though that's sort of what this post is, except significantly more sneaky, GOTCHA].

Maybe you need a break. You might have tried a lot, and if you still can't get to that right writing mood with the right writing idea in your mind, then maybe your pushing yourself too much. I'm experiencing the same thing, too (including the major part, because I am an English major and everyone's gaga about poor symbolism). I don't know where to begin. Should I write? Should I make more writer friends? Just rest, don't fill yourself up with negative thoughts! Take a pause. Don't rest from writing, but from thinking about all those novlelling stuff!

Oh, and lonely? Not at all? Writers write books and books get read by people. People then come to know the author. Great, right? In a not so metaphoric way, writing is really not to be done alone. People like agents, beta readers and friends will always be at your side.

Well since your friends do drama write plays for them if you can and help the musicians write songs . If you're good at poetry the music should be a piece of cake

Well I have written a play. I hope to direct it in the spring for my directing class, but we'll see. And I do write music, but no one I know really has the same ideas to make music

The concept of finding your writing contemporaries is the same as the concept of finding true love. You can spend a lot of time trying to seek them out, but you're better off just being you.

Write with all the authority that you can muster, do what you love, and hang around people you love. It's only natural that when you feel at your best, others who are like-minded will appreciate that in you and will want to feed off that energy, but if you're in a slump worrying about the negative -- the opposite is true, no? Like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Don't get me wrong, this happens to everyone and I feel like this on many occasions, where doubt will creep in from one direction or another and I want to re-think this whole writing thing, but it's the love of it that keeps me forward, and we all need reminders sometimes.

Imagine the scenario where you have written something that you put your all in -- that you are truly proud of, and you've worked hard at it-- that is going to be what will draw your Ezra Pound to you. You just have to do you. The rest will follow, I promise.

Crying brb <3