By Jennie Goloboy
Writing is a solitary pursuit, and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up spending all day unshowered and shirtless in a pair of sweat pants(and thank God I don’t have the webcam on right now). Here are some ideas to make your writing life more social:
1. Go somewhere else to write.
My local library is open-plan and full of shrieking toddlers, and no place for a writer to work. Paradoxically, the coffee houses are at just the right volume. It turns out the Twin Cities even has at least one Secret Coffeehouse full of Writers: Nina’s in St. Paul. Could your town have something similar?
The Twin Cities is also home to a lot of office-sharing. I’m a member of a local organization that rents out desks by the day, at about the cost of going to a coffee house: the Intermedia Arts ArtsHub. Look for arts organizations that are interested in building community to find something similar.
2. Organize a writers’ get-together
Check Meetup– there may be one that already exists. What better place to vent about how hard it is to put words on the page? Consider opening your group to others in the publishing industry- that’s how we do it in the Twin Cities! (i.e. the MN Publishing Tweet Up) And remember to invite non-fiction writers in addition to novelists.
By the way, the Oatmeal is right; inspiration is like a river.
