Writing is generally a solitary activity. Right now, I’m alone in my room (save for my cat and dog) writing this blog. In fact, most of the time I prefer to write alone. However, I’ve also discovered some fantastic benefits of getting together with friends to write. And I’m not even referring to critique groups or co-writing projects (which can also be beneficial), but simply to agree to meet with people, basically to ignore them while you write. I’ve started doing this a few times a month, usually at a coffee shop, and here’s why it’s great.
You are accountable to set aside time to write. Sometimes it’s easy to push my ‘writing time’ aside when I get busy with my job, friends, family, housework… but when I have agreed to meet people at a certain time, I feel responsible for showing up and writing. I’m usually good about writing on my own, but every now and again it helps to be credible to other people.
There are people to bounce ideas off. While most of the time is spent writing, the beginning of these meetings are often spent catching up with my writer friends and discussing projects. These people can be super helpful to help bounce ideas off of if I’m struggling with an issue in my story. Likewise, I’m happy to discuss whatever problems they might be having with their stories.
It’s good to be social. I might spend days of my free time locked in my room writing. It can be useful and productive, but it can also get lonely. It’s important to see friends, and friends with similar interest in writing makes me feel like I’m part of a community and supported in my writing endeavors.
Bonus: you get to drink better coffee. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t make peppermint mochas or pumpkin spice lattes at home. And five dollars for a coffee feels totally justified when it’s for writing.
Do you meet with friends to write? Do you think you might want to?
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