Meryl.net Home About Blog Clients Services Contact

Meryl's Notes Blog

Things wordy, geeky, and webby

What the Writing Community Teaches

Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 AM Category: Blogging, Links, Meryl's Notes Blog, Writing 7 comments

Photo credit: ilco

I love hanging around the online writing community. Where else can you meet a diverse crew in terms of expertise, location and writing styles? No matter how similar or different we are, I relish mingling with them all whether it’s here, their blogs, Twitter or other social networks.

We help each other become better writers. Believe it or not, you won’t find a dash of competition anywhere (unless it’s an actual competition like NaNoWriMo).

Writing can be a lonely job, but not when you have a community like ours.

Joanna Young more than does her part in keeping the writing community going strong. Her March group writing project’s topic is writing lessons from the community.

Gosh, I’ve learned much over the blogging years from the community. Whatever I pick up from the community becomes a regular part of my writer’s being. So the best I can do is share what I’ve learned recently.

Tune in to positive feedback from Joanna: Make the most of the feedback you receive. G-d knows I am way too hard on myself. Thus, I value feedback from others. I urge people to provide feedback. How else can I improve my writing?
How two people can read the same thing in a different way from Karen: Though this has happened to me, the post reminds me to talk things through when something doesn’t turn out as I expected.
How to deal with rejection from Jamie: He shares a big time rejection story and does what a writer should… keep going and plan to do better next time by asking for professional critique.
Why consultants make fabulous clients from Brad: Consultants sometimes get a bad rap. Shake off every negative thing you’ve heard and absorb what Brad shares.
Take a damn vacation from James: I’m bad about vacations for a lot of reasons. For one thing, being a home office worker means I need to take care of things that break around here whether it’s sick kids, appointments and other work interruptions. Oh, my dear husband is an involved dad, but I have more flexibility than he does.
How you can make money writing about shit from Cath: Seriously. This post shows how to take one specific topic and turn it into a money maker. Sometimes I forget I know stuff that others want to know. It’s a matter of figuring out what that crap could be.
It’s OK to do word vomit from LorettaJo: You can’t catch bulimia doing this. Instead, you get ahead with your writing.
Discover powerful short books from twitternation and the community: I’ve got a lot of reading to do thanks to the great feedback from everyone!

If you’re not mentioned, please don’t feel upset. That’s why I’m not crazy about these sorts of posts. It’d take days to make sure I include everyone. I’m sure I’ll get ya another time. OK?

Tags: community

Subscribe to this here blog: RSS or E-mail

7 comments

Posted by Brad Shorr / @bradshorr on March 23rd, 2009, 7:29 AM
Hi Meryl, You’ve got an interesting collection of posts here – thanks for including mine. Consultants do get a bad rap, which is why some of them don’t even like to be called consultants. (I’m posting about that problem on Wednesday.)

Brad Shorr´s last blog post… Spiritual Renewal Monday
Posted by Joanna Young on March 23rd, 2009, 7:53 AM
Meryl, thanks for taking part and sharing some great links as you went! I could tell from the way you were writing it that it was just an illustration of the things you learned, and not meant as an exhaustive list. There’s so much great stuff out there you’d be exhausted yourself if you tried to capture it all!

Joanna Young´s last blog post… Your Social Media Neighbourhood: Are You Keeping Good Company?
Posted by Tumblemoose / @GeorgeAngus on March 23rd, 2009, 8:17 AM
Hehe. I’m so sorry but I just can’t resist:

I think we all could take a damned vacation from James.

lol. Dude! Ya know I’m kidding!

Seriously, these are good. I had been to one or two anyway and I think they are worth having a peek.

Cheers,

George

Tumblemoose´s last blog post… Your writing is killing your writing
Posted by Karen Swim / @karenswim on March 24th, 2009, 11:52 AM
Bummer my comment got eaten by a page load error, so trying again but I can’t promise it will be as brilliant. Meryl, I have learned so much from you about communicating from the heart. Like you I treasure the wonderful community of writers who are funny, insightful, colorful and such a gracious group. I am not only a better writer because of this community but a better person!

Karen Swim´s last blog post… The Enemy of Creativity
Posted by Karen putz / @DeafMom on March 25th, 2009, 7:13 AM
A great collection of writers with a lot of wisdom to share. Can you tell that I’ve been so out of commission with blogs lately? I really miss it!

Karen putz´s last blog post… Yes, It Is Time for Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids
Posted by Meryl / @merylkevans on March 25th, 2009, 12:43 PM
@Brad, I’ve worked with both good and bad consultants. I’ve also worked with good and bad employees. You’ll find good and bad in every career.

@Joanna, my pleasure. Thanks for giving me something to write about. Yes, it would be impossible to do a complete list.

@George, James hasn’t come hunting you down here … yet!

@Karen S, thanks for the kind words. I’m lucky to have found this great community.

@Karen P, we miss you, too. A full-time job will do that. I go up and down… sometimes I’m everywhere and others barely a blip.
Posted by Writing Lessons from the Confident Writing Community | Confident Writing on April 3rd, 2009, 2:43 AM
[...] What the Writing Community Teaches by Meryl K Evans We help each other become better writers. Believe it or not, you won’t find a dash of competition anywhere (unless it’s an actual competition like NaNoWriMo). [...]