Brainstorming
I've been away from SheWrites for too long! When I was first considering writing for publication, SheWrites was a new platform. The groups were very active then, and I got a lot of advice and encouragement from them. I even entered a writing contest and won some critiques from agents—critiques that helped me shape and improve what would become my debut novel.
I've missed this space, but when I came back, I found that most of the groups I'd joined were inactive. I've posted new discussions in them, hoping to revive some discussions. I even went ahead and started my own group—a safe space for Pantsers (those of us who are incapable of planning a novel before we start writing it) called Pantser Support.
None of the groups looked like they were very active anymore though, which got me wondering—how do you use SheWrites? What are your favorite things? Why did you join? What are you hoping to find here? Has it become less of a community and more of a resource? Or am I just using it wrong (much like Tumblr, which I've given up trying to understand—lol)?
I'm here for the community and interaction! ^^ I've been looking for professional writing groups and I stumbled across She Writes a while back. I had some trouble with my account immediately after registering, so I left for a while, and now I've returned! I'm particularly interested in finding writers here who are as passionate about their craft as I am, with hopes of being able to have a community that is both a safe space for learning and improvement and a positive source of inspiration. (And I can definitely understand the difficulties of Tumblr - it took me a few tries to get it right myself!)
Hello Shannon
I’m just a day old user to SheWrites and I’m glad to run across your note. I’ve been interested in SheWrites but hesitant to join. A friend suggested it again and here I am. I have a memoir in flux. I’ve never published and have been told that I should be in a writing community for critique, advice and learn how the publishing world works. That’s why I’m here. I’d love to be in your Pantser group and hopefully will strike up meaningful conversation about writing novels.
I’ll see you in Pantser!
- Kathy
Hi Shannon, I'm so glad you asked this and pointed it out as it is something that is certainly in a state of flux that we haven't addressed directly on the site. We have found over the years that on-site community building isn't what it used to be. Commenting on blog posts has decreased immeasurably and the on-site group features aren't as compelling since it requires users to be on the website to use. So we're making some changes! We can't reveal everything we're working on at the moment, but some areas where our members are finding community are on social media - particularly our new Instagram account and in our education arena, She Writes University. We are working to evolve our interactions with members as the landscape of online communities changes. For now, we do hope SheWrites.com is a resource for tactical tools and inspiration. We encourage you to follow us on social media. And we are looking to create more opportunities to foster community-born communication using new tools in development. Thanks for your thoughtful comments!