From the day of She Writes' launch--June 29th, 2009--Lori A. May has been here. She was one of the first people to join who I didn't already know personally, and it has been such a pleasure to get to know her here and in our correspondence since then. (She is the founder of the Poetry Social group if you want to connect with her there.) Lori, who is generous, thoughtful, and a gifted poet, too, instantly understood the power and potential of a community like She Writes. And now, five years later, she's written a book, The Write Crowd: Literary Citizenship and the Writing Life, that I think every writer, new or old, should own.

This line, from the introduction, says it all:

"When we offer more to others than what we ask of them in return, good things happen. When we work to benefit the greater good of our literary circles, everyone benefits." 

For new writers especially, I can't imagine better advice, but these are words writers at any stage of their careers should remember as they ask themselves, "What did I do for my literary community today?" It doesn't have to be hours of volunteering, or planning an event, though those things are critical contributions. It can be something that takes just a few minutes, from commenting on a fellow writer's blog to reviewing a book on Amazon, writing a fan letter, or attending a reading in your town. We are all busy--overcome by our own obligations and often overwhelmed by the chaotic pressures of e-mail, social media, and the like--but these acts of generosity are critical not only because of the good karma they create when we need others to support us, but because they nurture our own creative lives as well. "By being exposed to a wider diversity of peers," Lori writes, "I continually enhance my knowledge and practice of craft." Hear, hear.

Lori is also right about the energy and solace writers can get from their fellow travelers. "The art of writing is a solitary act," she writes, "but it is in the support of others, in the encouragement shared by writing peers and community members, that much of our anxiety about the creative work may be placated." I have felt that so many times when I have written about my creative struggles here. Thank you to all who have taken the time to leave me a comment, a bit of encouragement, or a piece of advice. We need one another! Lori also emphasizes the importance of finding and participating in one's local literary community, something she did as the new poet in town when she moved from Ontario to Detroit, Michigan. In her first weeks there, she attended a poetry reading with strangers, and those strangers later became colleagues and friends.

With chapters like, "Community (re)Defined," "Book Reviewing: Write (about) What You Read," "In Print and Online: Working with Presses and Journals," and "In and Outside of Academia," Lori has, through research and hours of interviews, compiled a guidebook and resource invaluable in this ever-changing literary landscape. 

I was honored to have a small part in this project, as one of the literary community founders Lori interviewed. But as she quotes the author and writing coach Dinty W. Moore saying of her own career: "My success, such as it is, is partly hard work and dedication, but also an accumulation of one thousand moments of generosity from other writers and editors, and the more of us in the literary world who recognize this, who act accordingly, the better the writing world is for everyone."

Amen. If generosity is the new currency, this book is the bank.