Befriend a Writer Today November 2, 2006
Posted by Christine in Blogs I Like, the writer's life, writing.trackback
Having a writer friend can be just as important as having a doctor in the family or a lawyer down the road. When you have a good friend who so happens to be gifted with a keyboard and and a power-supply (or the conventional pen and paper) you will always have an “in house” editor for those important letters (protest, love, politics) you will write throughout your life. If you own a business you will also have someone to look at your marketing package and if you write a book you may get a nice blurb for the cover. I’m not suggesting writer-friends should be ‘abused’ for their knowledge (I’m a writer with and impossible schedule as well!). Instead I’m advocating having friends in many fields, that was we all benefit from some advice now and again on our taxes, marriage, business or anything penned down on paper.
As a writer, it is even more important to have friends in the same profession. I personally do not know many, but I have met writers who are very paranoid and create their own loneliness: another writer could potentially steal their next brilliant idea! Anyways, I will not even get into that. My point is that having a good writer friend will give you a fresh look on your own projects. Provided this is a good friend you can trust (AI! am I infected with the paranoia bug??). Especially if you want to get into the field it is good to have a “mentor”, someone who has gone before you. Preferably someone you are not in competition with, but not so far removed from your niche that he/she cannot give you any useful advice.
But, you can still do it alone! I certainly did. Personally I do not have a doctor in the family, a lawyer down the road and not even an accountant in my alumni class. I did not have any writer friends either when I started out. The only great friends I had, and recommend, were books. All I ever wanted to do was avoid the cubicle lifestyle of twelve hour work days, noodles for lunch, a cranky boss and mind-numbing work. In other words: I wanted to ”un-cube” myself, and make sure I stayed that way. A healthy mix of great books, good friends and an entrepreneurial spirit will help you do just that.
Speaking of “uncubing”, Michelle Goodman wrote the anti 9 to 5 guide
hey, thanks for the mention! i agree, a writer needs pals in the industry. i have a core group (in fact, we meet monthly, not to critique each other’s work, but to brainstorm ideas and help each other out). i’ve found that there’s so much work and so many publications to go around, that it’s easier to be supportive and help each other claw our way up than to be secretive and isolated. i have one extra-special writer friend i touch base with every couple days or so by phone and email. we’re pretty much one another’s “business advisor” and “writer therapist,” ha. we do write about many of the same things, but there’s still so many assignments to go around that rarely do we find ourselves wrestling over work. instead, we work with many of the same editors and help each other figure out how best to work with them. she’s kind of like my gym buddy, prodding me along…
btw, mushypants = michelle of http://www.anti9to5guide.com. wordpress wouldn’t let me log in as myself, so i created a WP account, and well, then, online nutcase that i am, a blogpage to go with this post. ha.