Who shares your writer's journey?

I talk about writing on these forums, but I very rarely say anything more than the barest details about my writing. I talk about my writing with Carrie, and my wife, both of whom probably wish I would go back to just griping about my lost tea.

Occasionally, my best mate will hear about it, and that's fun too. He's got a powerfully good imagination, but it gears him toward making video games rather than writing. Which is fine, and we do that too.

I have belonged to to a writers' group for a few years and I talk to the members about my writing. I talk here too and to an artist friend who really understands as well. And I talk to my husband and children and sister about it but I rarely even mention it to anybody else.

On here I talk about how to write and also use this forum to get ideas and helpful insights into buildings/situations etc that I've not experienced before.

But when it comes to talking about what I write and discussing plot lines etc I actually find talking to my partners really helpful as they are able to bring the readers point of view into it and point out things that don't work for them. One of my partners is realy a writter at heart and is really into fantasy so he's always happy to sit and just discuss plot lines and writing in general. Although I know a lot of times non-writers don't get writing (sort of a well if its not easy why do it mindset I think) i'm lucky to have two of my partners be really into writing and so although they don't write themselves I can talk to them about it all.

However saying that I would love to join a writers group face to face as I have found this site so much more helpful then I thought I was actually going to.

I give my mom occasional updates on new/current projects I'm working on, but I don't discuss any major details or anything.

I do discuss a lot of my writing with a close friend of mine. He too is a writer and we like to bounce ideas off each other, brainstorm and critique, that kind of thing. No one else knows more about my writing than he does. Besides me, of course. I find it's a lot more fun to have a writing buddy. ^^

~DragonHeart~

I like to talk to my husband about it. He's a great help. I talk to family and friends about it, but only when they ask, which is usually not more than once each.

I have a couple of friends back home (WA state) with whom I communicate regularly and discuss our books. None of us are published (YET!), but we use each other as sounding boards, discuss frustrations, etc. I guess you could say we're each other's beta readers too.

I have two good friends who are also writers -- and we live close enough that I can get together with them often It's a real blessing (in fact, I'm getting together with one of them tomorrow, and the other on Sunday)!

Every now and then I brainstorm with DH (who's nice and logical); my mom is one of my best readers (she sees all the inconsistencies); and I have another good friend who lives in another state -- we e-mail and talk on the phone about our writing. I'm really fortunate, I think

I tend not to talk about what I write unless someone asks, and even then I try to change the subject.

I only let my guard down when I've got a new idea I'm starting to flesh out. If I mention it to my partner, and don't get a bored, disinterested look, I know I'm onto something.

Friends and family ask me about my writing pretty frequently and I give them some details of where I'm at with submitting and searching for a publisher or agent but never about what exactly I write. When asked I usually just give them a quick answer like "a romance novel". They're usually content with that.

My husband never supported my writing, so I got used to not talking about it. He simply wanted to know when I would make some money and that was it. I also work full-time so it's not like I quit my job leaving us poor so I could follow my dream of writing. But that's just another reason we got divorced.

I've read the threads here about dumb things non-writers say and fortunately, I've never run into such people. Everyone always seems impressed and a bit awed that I wrote a book...even if it's not published.

Just here and with my partner and the odd family member. My partner hasn't read a novel for about thirty years, but he does write for a living, so he understands why I'm sometimes just a wee bit testy after a day at the computer.

My mother is trying to get a nonfiction book published at the moment so she's also great to talk to about the writing process.

Hrm. I talk to my nonwriting friends, giving them updates every once in a while, but that's about it. Most of them are fantasy fans, which is what I write, so occasionally I ask a question or two.

I talk to my grandma, too. My grandfather did a lot of writing and published a few books before he died, and she always edited his work. She writes too, so it works out.

Other writers really - it's more like a support group for written word addicts. Hi, my name is <insert name>. I'm an addict.

I talk to my girlfriend and she takes it all in, usually without a single negative word. Other than that I don't like discussing my ideas with people, I get the feeling that they aren't really interested.

Noone.

My landlord is facinated with my tales and sits with me for hours trying to help me formulate plots and storylines. He comes up with some fantastic ideas and advice--truly helps and is extremely supportive of the process. I guess he's my biggest fan and never tires of discussing my present work, and goes out of his way to hunt me down and discuss the next scene and chapter. I love bouncing ideas off him and have never regretted our chats and full-length discussions. I think he's enamored with the whole inner-workings of the story structure itself, since he's such a huge movie buff. He's interested in the techniques and devices used in story making, which makes him such an avid fan. I'm the first writer he's known, so I guess I'm quite the enigma to him.

Now...if he were only a girl...

Tri

No

one.

caw

My girlfriend and that's more or less it. Family and friends occasionally ask how it's going or if I've heard anything from agents but as they never follow that with: "Can I read one of your books?" I rarely get too detailed with them.

Ms.Write said:

Just wondering who you TALK to about your writing, apart from this forum and possibly other writers' forums?

Click to expand...

Nobody.

Talk

No one, if you mean anyting I'm actually working on. It always seemed to me that you could either write, or talk about writing.

I never discuss my story before it's written, but I do discuss the writing process. With IRL writers (my 2 crit groups, plus the members of a writers' society I belong to) I love to talk about whether they outline, how they edit, how many rewrites, how much research, and other aspects of a writing life.

It's nice to connect with other people who have a common interest. It just lets you know you're not alone in your peculiarities and frustrations. No one likes to feel alone.

I have not found anyone interested in my writing--or writing in general--except those in writers groups, both in real life and on line. A couple of beta readers, one from work and one from church, occasionally ask me how my writing goes, and if I'm any closer to publication. Even my brother and sister, when I sent them the three poems I wrote that dealt with our mother's death when we were teenagers, said nothing back to me without prompting.

The writing life is indeed a lonely life.

NDG

When it comes to what I am working on I do talk about it here, mostly because it's stuff I am proud of that I want to share because it's finished, the disability awareness my stories' themes all focus on overcoming challenges. See I nearly died in 87' and I have since written about it in a memoir, so I am proud of that too. But because of that I found myself drawn to writing more then anything else so I decided to get serious about it.

One thing I have, which many of you may as well, is an old hardback copy of the 1984 writer's market. You might ask why and you'd be right in asking since it wasn't until I got serious about writing that I even knew this book was in my family. It was my mother's. She liked to write short stories and did so nicely IMO, and she'd been published in a few magazines before, women's magazines. So writing paraphernailia was everyone, she also did Caligraphy as well as minature art.

So as you might imagine I have her read my stuff and her telling me mine is good makes me feel really good because she has been where I am, only instead of waiting on the mailman, I wait on email. It's really quite interesting to think about to me anyway. How the business of writing has changed, I think even if Mom hadn't been into writing I would have still been drawn to do it. But having her into it has only helped me.

We both suffered after my accident and I've written the books I needed to about that, my novel and memoirs are all I needed to move on. I have a lot of stories to tell and many won't happen this year, but I hope that quite a few others will. We've lived that and now it's time to live on, I hope that the stories I've written will help motivate the people who read them. I'm sure many of you feel that way, right? Want to help people through your writing?

Now for things I am working on that aren't finished I don't like to talk about here, because I need to finish them you know? I am not proud of them yet as they are only 3/4 of the way done. I have two novels in this state. This year they will get finished. I have great hope that much will happen this year. And finding AW was just the first of many for me I believe, of good things happening to encourage my writing.

Nobody in the "real" world. I even tried to hide the fact from my wife until she busted me when she snuck up on me (probably thinking I was writing love letters, there's no end to women's curiosity). In the cyber world, you good folks about technical aspects and one scene over at http://critiquecircle.com/default.asp are it. I am surprised at how much I'm enjoying reading the thoughts you folks share. Since writers are generally introverts, the anonymity of this site makes it a perfect place to share.