As I write this, I’m preparing to head off to a writer’s
conference/retreat. As it is posted, I’ll be nearing the end of said
conference. Six days of community with college-aged writers. A chance to be
with friends old and new, to exchange ideas and critiques and passions.
I can’t wait.
All of us need that sort of thing: a group who understands
us, who knows who we are and what we love and loves it with us.
Among those people will be a few of my beta readers for Agram Awakens, including the only person
who’s ever gotten to read the whole thing. These are the people who understand
my love for writing and they are passionate with me.
This sort of community is so vital and wonderful that I
thought I’d take this time – my first post of the new year – to explore the ins
and outs of finding and communing with one’s own people.
Searching Alone
It is possible to
be a writer alone. It’s possible to be many things alone: perhaps it’s even
possible to be everything alone.
In fact, we rarely start out with a huge group of people
just like us, if we start with a group at all. Instead, we’re alone. I started
my writing venture alone: scribbling stories into notebooks at the desk in my
room. I started my engineering venture with only one or two mentors in my life
who knew a thing about it.
When we find our
passions, we’re exploring them alone. Discovery of individual passions is
rarely a group project. Instead, we find them on our own, and then slowly reach
out to others with the same passion.
We start our search
alone, but we shouldn’t continue that way. Humans have a communal nature.
People like other people. More specifically, we like people who are like us.
This is a thing that can create rifts and divides, but also strong fellowship
and friendship. When you find your
passion, you should also find people who share that passion. Being alone is
no fun, when it comes to passions. Sure, being alone can be quite handy and
peaceful (trust me, I know… I’m currently alone in my room writing a blog post…
and it’s great), but it can also get… well… lonely.
Finding Your People
Sure, maybe it’s a good thing to have people who share your
passion. But how the heck do you find
them? It’s hard to find other people. It requires hard work, interaction,
and persistence.
For me, my writing people were found first through online
forums and then through writer’s groups and workshops and conferences and even
through college. I’ve found highschoolers and college students and adults with
passions for creative writing who are invested in my work and in whose work I
can invest in myself.
For my engineering, it was simply choosing to pursue it as a
degree. I was able to meet dozens of peers and many professors who cared that I
was there and shared similar passions and dreams.
What about you? Finding your people may involve more work,
or less. Perhaps you’ve already got your people. If so, invest in them. Your people are only your people if you embrace
them as your own. They’ll invest in you at the rate you invest in them.
Community is important. People to lean on are important.
Investing in your passions and in the passions of others is important. It allows you to be creative and to create
art in your own life and in the lives of others.
Yes, much. While almost everything can be started alone, I don't think anything can be finished alone. (Take cloning for example. :P )
ReplyDeleteIf not for the people around me I wouldn't even be a writer any more.
And yes, once you've found your writing people, you have to invest into them. Whatever you invest into someone else, you can plan to reap ten fold. That's just how it works. Thanks for posting!
mmmm cloning :P
DeleteBut yes, I totally agree. The investment goes both ways, for sure.