Writing Doesn’t have to be Lonely

I’ve always enjoyed writing, but in my early twenties, I struggled. Magazines led me to believe that writing is a lonely pastime, which takes place in a confined room while tapping on a typewriter, or a computer keyboard if you were lucky.

Maybe that’s why I was put off and reached the point in my life where I only wrote on occasion, until I was in my early thirties and did some Creative Writing modules with The Open University. This was my first taste of communicating regularly with other writers. Most of the modules were online, but the students formed Facebook groups. They helped me whenever I had a strange question. I had a lot of strange questions, but nobody seemed to mind. Once I needed to know how realistic it would be for someone (a werewolf) to tear through a man’s chest and rips out his heart. There are certain things you probably shouldn’t Google I received some detailed replies which helped me write a scene in my story. Other times, I received advice about non-explicit sex scenes and my childbirth scene.

It’s less than three years ago when a friend (now my partner) dragged me to a spoken word night. I listened to the poets in the first half, then after a short break I read my own poems in the second half. One of the poets advised me to speak clearly and take my time. I think that helped people to understand what I was saying. I felt nervous though…