I love having friends near me that are as into writing as I am. One of my good friends, Emmy, and I have decided to start a new “thing” for the two of us. Every week, we’re having a writing date. We just had our first one this past Friday. We basically went to Urban Coffee, a local coffee shop, got some coffee (well, I got a chai, but whatever), found a table with an outlet, and settled down to write on our laptops. It was nice, because we both had to write…we could bounce ideas off each other, hold each other accountable. We stayed there for four hours! I got about five pages written, which was VERY exciting.
When I told my mom about Emmy’s and my plan, she asked me how that would work. “Isn’t writing a personal thing?” she asked me. And, yes, while writing is a personal thing, it’s also nice to go somewhere and write with someone. I had a sounding board RIGHT THERE for those four hours. I had someone to complain to if my story started going somewhere I didn’t want it to go…Emmy had someone to complain to that she felt her story was getting repetitive. We could give each other advice, try to keep each other from getting distracted. And even better–it was a whole four hours that I had set aside JUST for writing. Because I had someone to write with, I couldn’t back out of it or change my mind.
It really does help to have a network of writers around you. That was one of the things I missed the most after I graduated university – the network of people who loved literature as passionately as I did and could give the kind of support that only writers can give writers.
I was depressed about it for ages, until I discovered my local writers guild and joined them. It’s so nice to meet up with them and read each others work, giving advice and bouncing ideas off each other.
Have fun at your writing dates! I know I do.
Best, Jai
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