What You Can Learn From Other Writers

From Writerlife.org:

Many writers see writing as a somewhat solitary pursuit. It’s true that we might spend much of our writing time working alone. However, other writers are a genuinely vast and unending resource, and not tapping into that is foolish!

Communicating, befriending, and helping and sharing our work with our fellow writers can bring so many benefits. Many of which help improve our writing and our make our writing life better too.

So what are the great lessons you can learn by getting involved with the writing community? Here are just a few of them.

Honest feedback

Your fellow writers all know how important it is to get honest feedback for your work. It can be very disheartening receiving rejection after rejection without knowing what you are doing wrong. From cover design to synopsis to the actual content of your book, your fellow writers can help you try to figure out what the problem might be - and because they’ve been through it themselves they are more likely to do it in a helpful and sensitive way!

New ideas

Reading the work of other writers is a gold mine for new ideas. Remember that it’s practically impossible to have a truly unique idea, and therefore don’t be ashamed about being inspired by your fellow writers or being influenced by them. There, of course, is a line that no writer should cross when it comes to ‘borrowing’ other writers work, but the more you read, the more you are likely to find new ideas that you can adapt and change to make your own.

Dealing with setbacks

Every writer goes on a journey, one that might be filled with many setbacks along the way. Writers are fantastic at supporting one another and sympathising with one another, as well as offering words of encouragement and motivation when things aren’t going your way. Remember if you are feeling down, are doubting yourself or finding it hard to recover from a setback, it’s important to try and get over it as quickly as possible. Reaching out and learning from other writers can be a great way of doing so.

Useful contacts

Your fellow writers are also super helpful when it comes to finding the best in the business regarding editors, book cover designers, promoters and so on. Getting recommendations from those who have used the services before can make all the difference when it comes to finding a reputable company to help make your book the very best it can be.

Writers really can be an invaluable source of help and comfort to one another. So when you are struggling with anything from inspiration and motivation to the more practical aspects of getting your book together, remember that your fellow writers are there to help!

This is one thing I'd like to get more of, but as I've said, it's hard to find other writers nearby without driving 20 or more miles. And I too would love to be able to read other people's works.  Some of those to whom I had emailed my first draft nearly two years ago never responded. And the writers group that is said t exist in my town never seems to do anything. Why bother having it?  I've been more eager to let others see what I have written, but can't seem to find anyone to let see it. I have shown it to others who don't consider themselves writers, but I think their feedback is just as important to me. But as this article says, you can learn from other writers and is what I would like to be doing. I feel I've learned from other writers just by reading what has already been published, but reading works-in-progress would be good too. I guess you can learn from other writers wither way.