Are You “Active” in Writing?
To be truly active in something means being active within a community
A couple of weeks ago, Ben and I were at a concert. Our friend, Abigail, was singing a couple of songs with the band that night, and during intermission she came down and said hi. It had been a few months since we’d seen her. We caught up, and then she turned to Ben and asked, ‘So are you active in music?’
Ben explained that he’d gotten a new keyboard recently and was really excited about it. He’d been playing it all the time. She tried again, ‘But are you playing with people or performing any?’ No, not really.
The conversation moved on, but that question stuck with me.
Are you active? What does it mean to be active in something?
I very quickly thought of myself and writing. I’ve walked around for years telling people I like to write. In a way, it’s a part of my identity. Reading books and writing. Those are my things. But am I active in writing?
I tried to break it down — what might being active in writing look like?
The first criterion was immediately obvious, and the second as well followed very quickly.
- Clearly, I’d have to be writing on a regular basis
- I should have goals for myself that I am actively working towards
And then, thinking of Abigail’s question, I added two additional criteria
- I should be active within a community of people — a community of writers
- I should be sharing my work
Judging myself by these standards, things weren’t looking very good.
1. Was I writing consistently? Yes-ish. I did keep a journal, but my regularity in writing varied, although lately I had made a renewed effort and had been so far staying the course in writing more frequently.
2. Did I have goals? Even here, I fell short. I suppose I had a goal of writing more. And I had big, vague goals in terms of writing — I would love to publish a book one day. But I didn’t have anything specific that I was actively working towards.
But it was in the last two criteria where things really fell apart. And it wasn’t until Abigail’s question and her implied definition of ‘active’ that I’d truly considered the aspect of sharing and community. I think you can do great work on your own. I think a lot of your best work is done on your own — whether that’s hours spent on the guitar with music or hunched over your laptop or notepad with writing. But for something to move from ‘the thing you do for fun in the evening’ to something where you’re truly active — I think that’s where engaging with others and community matters.
To be active, you have to be contributing, learning, receiving feedback, talking through ideas, and hearing new ideas. You have to be vulnerable and put yourself and your ideas out there. With writing, you should be talking to other writers — finding writers groups, going to a workshop. You should be submitting your work to journals and magazines. Heck, you and a bunch of friends could start your own publication. You could be attending conferences and readings. You can find or create online communities if there isn’t enough physical community near you…you could do any of these things or an entirely different set of things. The point I’m taking away is that there needs to be activity, and it needs to be in dialogue with others.
This second component is where I have been failing miserably. I think I’ve been aware of the importance of community and sharing. I’ve found local writers groups…but just never actually went to any meetings.
I think I’ve wanted to have the body of work that I could be proud of ready before daring to tell ‘real writers’ that I was writing too. I still have this impulse, but I’m starting to see that I’ve had this backwards. The momentum and support that can come from the right community can be what leads to the good writing.
I’ve also struggled with and still struggle with the question of how much writing actually means to me. A friend was paraphrasing from a book she’d read recently and I think she hit the nail on the head — How much are you willing to go through? What types of pain and stress and discomfort are you willing to go through? I love writing — it helps me think. I enjoy the process. I enjoy the satisfaction that comes from finishing a piece that I’m proud of. But to be truly active in writing is also hard work. And am I willing to put in the work to move from simply enjoying writing occasionally to truly being active?
Honestly, I’m not sure. Only time will tell. But I do want to make steps to being active. I’d like to try. I’ve made an agreement with a friend that I’ll post things here — something, anything — on at least a weekly basis. And then I need to do some homework on finding community.
