Writing as a Social Hobby

Making friends through a lonely activity.

I tend to be somewhat of a loner, which may be why I tend toward such a solitaire activity as writing. No teammates that I must cooperate with, no opponents that I must take down – it's a lone wolf's dream. That being said, the more I discover the social aspects of writing, the more I realize I may have been missing out.

My pride has always been my downfall. I struggle with requesting feedback from others – after all, if I'm happy with it, isn't that all that matters? Of course, with this attitude, I've been robbing myself of the immense value of workshopping with others. So, I decided to participate in the writing community in two ways: joining a local writing group, and interacting with the community online.

The most obvious result was an improvement of my writing; as it turns out, I do not, in fact, know everything. Other writers have had such wildly different perspectives that I never would have considered. I've found that I've enjoyed receiving their feedback and hearing their opinions.

One less expected outcome was how much I've enjoyed the social aspect. Making new friends who share my love of writing has been incredibly writing. Before, I was only pestering my non-writing friends and family with my writing ideas and updates. Now, I'm pestering people with a common interest! I never would have expected to make the friends I've made in the writing community.

I'd encourage anyone who has never tried sharing their work with a writing community to give it a try. After all, you might just love it.