Writing Friends

It’s ironic that a solitary path like writing involves so many companions along the way. The act of stringing words into paragraphs (or poems) may involve only one brain and set of hands, but writers need–and acquire–friends along the way.

We have our regular friends, wonderful and supportive. And we develop friends in the industry: other writers, editors etc. Some of them are local, but many are scattered around the world.

We encourage one another. Share information. Critique, challenge and cross-promote. We may write alone, but we’re not alone.

It’s a special treat to meet a writing friend face to face after a long-distance friendship. Yesterday I had the chance to meet a fairly new writing friend, suspense author and blogger R.A. Giggie. We’ve traded Tweets and Facebook messages, but now we’ve heard each other’s voices and seen the full person instead of a Facebook avatar.

A thoroughly organized blogger would, at this point, insert the photo of Renee-Ann and me (myself?) that I should have asked her husband to take. I did think of it ahead of time, honest! I just forgot. If my husband or sons read this post, they won’t think this is at all unusual.

Instead, here’s a random photo of another meeting:

Marmalade cat meets a stuffed sheep

Mr. Whiskers meets Wilhelm

And here’s where the aforementioned blogger uses this seemingly random photo as a bridge from one writing-friends story to another:

Two weeks from now I’ll be at Write Canada amid old and new writing friends. When I last attended, in 2012, the little sheep Wilhelm came along for the ride. (Not professional, I know, and not recommended, but it happened. Come back next Friday for the rest of the story.) For the conference, I stayed with another writing friend, blogger Mary Waind, and her housemate, Mr. Whiskers.

Face-to-face friends are best, but online friends are great too. If you’re a new writer, it’s easier than ever to find others of like mind online, through Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Groups etc. Do yourself a favour and make some writing friends.

My favourite writing groups: The Word Guild, InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship, American Christian Fiction Writers (yes, they let international members join too!). And if you want to virtually “meet” some of my friends, R.A. Giggie’s blog is There’s Just Something About Writing and Mary Waind’s blog is Beech Croft Tales.  If you’re curious about R.A. Giggie’s suspense novel, I’ve reviewed it here: Stella’s Plea.

4 thoughts on “Writing Friends

  1. Renee-Ann

    Aww…. how nice of you to do this! Thank you, Janet. It was awesome to finally meet you face to face as well.

    But about the picture, I’m surprised my husband didn’t offer to take our picture. Why in the world didn’t I think of it? I am a picture freak, snapping more than I’ll ever get printed.

    I agree with you. Meeting other writers is an integral part of a writer’s journey. I met many of them at conferences, book signing, and writing groups. For me, they became my compass and guided me along the way. Thanks for being there as well. 😀

    Blessings! Renee-Ann <

    Reply
    1. Janet Sketchley Post author

      I love the compass analogy! And about the photos, we even talked about your photos from Mount Hermon… ah, well, we have the cat and the sheep instead 🙂

      Reply
      1. Renee-Ann

        Just this morning, a friend asked me about the setting. It’s indescribable. I call it a “writer’s oasis” as there are no other words to describe Mount Hermon. It’s that beautiful.

        Reply

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