A.L. Heard

When I was in high school, I joined a local writer’s group of teen authors. It was great to get support and see what other people were working on, to learn that process of giving/receiving feedback. And then I went years without writing, didn’t get back into it until maybe a decade later.

When I did start writing again, I didn’t have much of a community. I did a lot of fanfiction writing for years since that’s a great place for authors to find support — fandom has a lot of readers and you can connect with other authors. It’s one of the easiest places for a writer to get feedback and interaction, and I found that in both the Mass Effect and Supernatural fandoms. I wrote a lot, participated in writing challenges, found alpha and beta readers, made friends… It was a great experience all around.

As I started transitioning into original work more and more, I also dipped my toes back into in-person writing groups. I found one at my local library (seriously! very local — I can walk there!) and have found some great writers there who have not only encouraged me in projects but have also helped me improve my writing through their feedback. Keep an eye out for an anthology we’re putting together!

I also found another group that’s actually run by a friend. I had no idea he wrote until he started this group! And they focus more on chatting with other authors and encouraging each other to keep writing, while the other has more critiques and workshops. I’ve found both really valuable, and between the two groups and my erratic schedule (cough youth sports cough), I’m able to talk with other authors once a month. After years of writing feeling very solitary and not connected to real life, it’s great to have that face-to- face time!

You can also find those fandom-ish spaces for original work if you look carefully. There are online writing groups, and there are Discord servers and of course communities on BlueSky and Instagram. I mostly just advocate finding a group that works for you, that can offer motivation and support when you need it.