Closet Writers Unite: What is a writing collective?

• June 6, 2021
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Many writers prefer to work alone, but at some point, all writers need feedback on their writing, or at least encouragement and a chance to share ideas with other writers to find out what works and what doesn’t. It is no secret that the writer’s lifestyle resembles the life of a hermit. But as much as isolation is somewhat needed to write, connecting with our surroundings, and other writers is a must in order to be able to create stories relatable to readers and present it in a high-quality literary piece; especially if you are a closet writer!

Many writers might not have any friends or family members who understand their need to put pen to paper. In other words, you may need a support group for your writing habit and starting your own writers’ group may give you the impetus to go from hiding your writing to sharing it with others. One way to get out of the closet is to unite with other writers. Signing up for writing classes and creating or attending writing groups are excellent ways to connect with other writers only if the writers open their minds and share their knowledge and creative juices to create a writing collective. But what is a writing collective?

Collective writing is a manifestation of collective intelligence where writers collaborate with each other to improve their creative process and work within their craft. There are different ways to make sure collective writing happens when connecting with your peers.

• Create or look for a writers’ group and create with goals that include your interests.
• Find like-minded fellow writers.
• Decide how diverse you want your group to be from different writing experience levels to different genres.
• Establish sharing and criticism guidelines.

Writers need to unite and make sure collective writing happens in order to keep literature not only alive, but evolving and current. As we help others in their craft, we better our own!