Guest Post: The Importance of Finding a Writing Community by Amy S. Cutler

When Annabelle flees her abusive husband and moves into an 1860s farmhouse, she soon learns that she is not alone; she shares her home with Christian, the ghost of a poet who killed himself in 1917. Christian, wanting nothing but solitude, tries to scare Annabelle away, but once they come together while she is dreaming, they fall in love. The clock is ticking for Christian. Moments after his hanging, his fiancée magically cursed his spirit to be stuck on earth for one hundred years, and his time is almost up. With Annabelle's ex threatening her and the spirit she has fallen in love with on the verge of disappearing, Annabelle becomes obsessed with staying with Christian, and will do anything to be with him. Being in love with a ghost is bad enough, but for Annabelle, discovering that her true love will be crossing over at any moment pushes her over the edge of reckless behavior.

 

 The Importance of Finding a Writing Community

To be honest, part of the pull of being a writer was the aloneness of it. Writing is not a group activity, and therefore it fits my persona pretty well. Of course, I am not a full-time writer. I work with the public for many months of the year, which is probably why I daydream about being alone with my thoughts, computer, and nature.

It wasn’t until I went to graduate school for my MFA in creative writing that I learned the importance of having a writing community. For the first time ever, I felt like I had found my people. Total strangers, many of us were introverts, some of us not, but we had one major thing in common: we all saw the world a little bit differently, and we all wanted to write about it.

After I graduated, I was lucky enough to be invited by a writer that had graduated a semester before me to join a speculative fiction writing group. We meet virtually, and not only is each member an excellent writer, but they are kind and constructive, as well. They keep me writing during times where I may have paused. Even a well-timed writing prompt can pull one out of their thoughts and get words on a page. I do not know how the world sees me, which role I fill to the people around me. But to this group of people, I am a writer. They push me to be better, and for that I am eternally grateful.

I cannot stress enough how much finding a writing community has helped me. Just being with and talking to other writers gets ideas flowing. Feedback on a work in progress can be invaluable. More than that, talking to other writers gives you insight as to what is out there that you may not know about, what anthologies or journals are opening for submission, what are the big contest winners doing to be noticed. Craft talks, book clubs, writing nights – they are all imperative so that we can keep each other moving forward. I have never felt in competition with any writer that I know, and I am always so happy and proud when someone I know is published.

While I used to think that writers were separate from one another, I now know that the opposite is also true. Writers need to bond together, for that is how we get better, and these are the people we celebrate the wins with. Living behind a computer screen or inside a notebook was great, but once I learned that it was safe to peek out and interact, I learned that I was not alone. I am part of a large community of amazing and talented people, and I am proud to call a few of those people my friends.

About the Author: Amy S Cutler, author of A Shadow of Love earned her master’s degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College. Most recently she was published in Slut Vomit: An Anthology of Sex Work and featured in the Tales to Terrify Podcast, among others. Her writing focus is suspense, horror, science fiction, and ghost stories. She can be contacted through AmysHippieHut.com. You can also follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.