I’ve been writing for a couple of decades now and until the last year I always saw writing as a solitary experience. And while that is the case – in the end writing is always the lone writer finally putting the words on the paper and polishing them to a high sheen – writing doesn’t always need to be lonely work. Over the past year I’ve found two different groups of women writers who have not only taken the loneliness out of writing; they’ve helped me discover new ways to improve my craft and expand my writing abilities. As a member of these two groups — LitSisters (comprised of fiction authors CL Coons, Audrey RL Wyatt, Terri Weeding and Robin Kramme) and Arizona Authors and Adventurers (comprised of travel authors Jackie Dishner and Teresa Bitler) — I have found myself collaborating on a regular basis. We meet and communicate regularly to work on joint projects; create marketing plans; critique each other’s work and pitch ideas for blogs, magazines and even books. We’re also there (in person, by phone and via email) to cheer one another on — offering much needed moral support and serving as sounding boards for everything from plot changes to dealing with the challenges of being a mom/spouse and a writer. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be where I am now – writing full-time working on my novel and writing about Arizona and the Southwest, if it wasn’t for these incredible women and the amazing support group we’ve created together.
Do you have a writers’ group that you rely on? How do you support one another?
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