Guest Post: Virginia McClain

5. Commiseration – Folk with whom you can discuss the ups and downs of writing. Writing is the BEST, let’s celebrate how awesome it is when the story practically writes itself! Also, 20 minutes later, writing is the WORST! Let’s sob together into our cake about how our characters have completely derailed our carefully laid plans and how that secondary character who was supposed to have three lines and get murdered in scene three JUST TOOK OVER THE ENTIRE SHOW. 

Pretty straight forward. And not really wrong. Those are all things one can get from a writing community. They were most of the things I was expecting, or at least hoping to get out of a writing community, when I first ventured into communal writing spaces. Over the years I’ve been on the periphery of a number of writing communities, though I have rarely felt like I was truly a part of any of them. However, in 2019 that changed thanks to a competition that I entered Blade’s Edge into.

I will freely admit that I did not particularly expect to find a writing community when I submitted Blade’s Edge to the 2019 SPFBO. I figured, at best, Blade’s Edge might gain a few new readers and I might find a few new books to read, and maybe, if things went really well, Blade’s Edge might make it to the semi-finals.

Whoops.

Blade’s Edge wound up making it all the way to the finals, and I made nine new besties, and dozens of other friends and acquaintances along the way. And, look, I’m not saying that this is what anyone should expect when they go in search of a writing community. The fact that the nine other finalists were legit friend material is… well, that’s astounding to be honest. I don’t have that many close friends in general. Adding nine more to that number was a coup. But no matter where you find your writing community, or how you bond with that community, there are a few additional benefits to these communities that you may not have anticipated that we should probably talk about.

So, without further ado, the top 5 SURPRISE BONUSES of a writer community.

1. Recommendations – From which books to read, to where to find the best cover designers and editors, to what you should binge next on Netflix, there is no shortage of excellent recommendations to be had from the writing community. 

2. Events – I have found out about ALL of my favorite conventions from other people in the writing community and, as most events switch to digital formats for the foreseeable future, events are easier to participate in than ever! Self-Published Fantasy Month is an excellent example, but there have been dozens of online conventions since March, and there are lots of opportunities to talk about fantasy books and fandom with all kinds of cool people. If you’re looking for more events to join in on, keep an eye on the blogs participating in SPFM and be sure to check out their twitter feeds. There are more events than a single person can keep track of easily!

3. Cheer leaders – You may worry that other authors will consider you their competition, but it has been my experience that even when other authors are your LITERAL competition (like your books are entered in the same competition and only one book can win) they are way more interested in supporting you than trying to tear you down. The truth is, there are millions of readers in the world, and most of those readers read way more than one book in any period of time and… well, there really is enough to go around in this business. The challenges we face we generally face together and no one knows how hard it is better than other authors. So, the writing community, the ones worth being a part of anyway, will always cheer your successes and offer hugs during the low points.

4. Emotional support – Beyond the ups and downs of writing, your writing community is full of… well, people. People who have kids, people who don’t, people who have day jobs, people who write full time, people who are going through hard times, people who are celebrating life’s joys. People. Just like you. And in my experience writers have a lot of empathy. If you’re going through a rough patch, they’re a pretty good lot to talk to. I was certainly surprised to find that the community I joined in 2019 was always willing to listen when life was rough. 

5. Solidarity – 2020 has been unprecedented in many ways. It seems like years ago now, but we started this year with insane wild fires in Australia. More than one of the writing communities I am part of responded to those fires by auctioning off book bundles to raise money for charities. In the months since then, those same communities have come together to raise money for individuals in need, for covid research, to fund Black Lives Matter and the ACLU, and more. On a personal note, when both of my parents passed away (in the strangest coincidence of my life–on the same day and within 7 hours of each other) one amazing blogger from the SPFBO community took it upon herself to post about it on reddit, FB, and Twitter, and suggest that everyone should try to cheer me up by buying my books, and the community joined in so enthusiastically it led to my second best day of sales ever (just behind the one BookBub featured deal I’ve gotten). Of course, even a record sales day can’t combat the pain of losing both your parents at once, but it sure as heck felt like a warm hug from the community, and it kinda took the edge off. That kind of generosity, that level of support… I’ve only ever experienced that from close, IRL friends before. But that kind of thing isn’t even unprecedented in the writing community here. 

The truth is, when times get tough, any community gets tested. The good ones pull together to get everyone through as best they can. At the start of 2020, I was still under the impression that, while I’d gotten nine new author buddies out of SPFBO, I wasn’t part of any greater community. But the worse 2020 got, the closer the community became, and suddenly the nine “author buddies” I’d made became my rocks, and the type of friends I would cross oceans to visit (covid permitting of course), while the dozens of “friendly acquaintances” I’d made in the periphery of SFPBO became friends and colleagues–people who I would absolutely hope to have a beer with if we were ever in the same town. 

Of course, every person’s experience with any community is going to be a bit different, no community is perfect, and no two communities are the same. But my experience with the writing community, the SPFBO community in particular and the fantasy writing community at large, has been incredibly positive. And I have been both surprised and also pleasantly reassured by how supportive and kind the community has been in a year so full of hardship for so many people all over the world. Every day the news destroys my faith in humanity a little bit, but every day the community of authors, bloggers, and readers that I have found a home with in the past year helps restore it just a tiny bit more.