Goal of the day: 110 words. Written: 408.
Why people who play sport, have children, are interested in politics or entrepreneurial people have meetings and exchange ideas... But not writers?
Explain to me. Because I don't understand.
Despite the fact that writing seems to be a closed activity, where you spend your evenings quietly tapping away at your keyboard and pouring out your thoughts, I believe that writing is not closed.
Because as writers:
- Getting ideas? Ideas?
- Finding other writers who write in a similar style or on similar themes?
- Find out if their draft is worth revising?
- Do you miss it?
- Does it find faithful listeners to its words?
...You should have already guessed what that answer is.
As writers, we do not live in isolation from the world and our work is not born out of thin air. After all, nothing is original and all our creativity is theft. We have several choices:
- To live in the forest for 50 years in isolation from all civilised society and slowly go mad, or to write the same thing over the same thing;
- Interacting with all kinds of people, some of whom are smart and some of whom are ... not so smart;
- Interacting with others like ourselves (or not) and collecting ideas from those who generate them, not just use them. For example, with writers.
What is the best choice?
In the first case, our creative goals are not met. In the second, they are partly fulfilled if we meet people with useful experience. And only in the third way, I believe, do writers find everything they need to write.
Ideas. Actionable advice. Support. Understanding. Genuinely honest, objective, critical and useful evaluations, not just "Wow! Super! You're so unique".
We writers need other writers.
And we are not alone.
No matter what corner of Lithuania you live in, chances are there is another writer living somewhere nearby. Starting, finishing or on the road to writing. Because there are many writers. And there are more of them than you might think.
From time to time I organise in Kaunas Meetings for emerging writers.
We are not an organisation. We are a circle of writers who meet and talk about writing and putting thoughts into letters. I believe that you can create such a circle too. In your city.
Do you know at least one writer? Writing? Aspiring to become one? Write to them and meet them. For coffee, tea, cupcakes or waffles.
Don't know anyone? Then ask on Facebook and Facebook groups.
There are certainly more of us writers than meets the eye.
And we can make connections.
Just as history's greatest writers and artists have done. After all, between the wars, Hemingway, Satre, Dali and Picasso even lived in the same city - Paris - for a while, and met often enough at the home of Gertrude Stein.
We can do it too.
To write. Talk about writing. Share ideas. Advice. Support. Help. Create together. Because one army, to quote King Robert Barathian from Game of Thrones, is stronger than five.
Today I invite you: Find a budding writer you know or don't know yet. And meet them.
Let's build communities.
Creating together,
Daniel