Writing may seem to be a solitary task. You don’t normally find authors working in groups. It is hard to put words together when you have a lot of voices around you. However, even writers can benefit from having some company. In fact, you may discover that being part of a writing community can enrich your life as an author.
Whether it is receiving motivation to work through your writing block or having constant access to samples of good writing, you can gain so much from joining a writing community. These forums are filled with people who are willing to listen to other authors’ problems and ask questions. You just need to find the right forum for you.
This article seeks to provide authors with a list of ten writers’ online forums that can provide the necessary support that you need as an author. Some are best for experienced writers while others are geared to supporting authors that are just starting out. You will surely find your tribe among their groups.
AgentQuery
AgentQuery is first and foremost a free searchable database of established and reputable literary agents. Going on this database is the quickest way for any writer to find and contact an agent that can help get a book published. It also is the home of AgentQuery Connect. This social networking site allows the members to interact.
Its members are mostly composed of people in the writing industry. If you have a completed manuscript, you can submit your work here and receive feedback and critiques from experienced writers and agents. These people will tell you what to do to improve your work and get it ready to be shopped around.
The website also allows its members to review other authors’ queries so they can see how one can land a contract with an agent. If you want to learn anything and everything about the publishing industry, this is the place to connect with people.
Writing Forums
If you are a budding author and would like to receive tips on improving your writing technique, the Writing Forums is one of the online communities that you should explore. It has a considerable number of members of all writing abilities.
To date, it has over 22,000 members who actively participate in discussions about copy concepts and original ideas. To keep its members’ skills in top shape, the community often hosts contests. If you need the challenge to help motivate you to keep writing and improving your skill, these contests may be the push that you need.
What is great about Writing Forums is that the members are really open to helping each other, often offering actionable feedback to those who are willing to share their work. There are even active mentors that you can reach find through the Mentor Directory. They are there to offer assistance to authors who need some guidance.
BookRix
This website is primarily a platform for self-publishing and ebook distribution. However, BookRix also hosts a community with 500,000 registered users all around the world. If you are interested in self-publishing and would like to expose your work to a large community, this is one forum that you should look into.
The site itself offers authors help in publishing their works for free on the platform. However, it is the community itself that serves as a sounding board for authors who are looking for feedback for their written materials.
There are various groups in BookRix that can help an author address different problems. For example, if you are looking to hire an editor for your work, you can go to the Editing 101 group. You might even find a fellow member that will be willing to do the task for free. The site's other popular groups are Book Promotions and Serious Writers.
Critique Circle
For most, receiving feedback can be a negative experience. But as an author, being told what can be improved about your written work can only help you get better in your craft. This is one of the main reasons why an author should join a community. And one of the oldest communities where you can receive feedback for your work is Critique Circle.
This community is home to thousands of members who are willing to act as beta readers for your work. It has an established credit system. You earn credits by reading somebody else’s work and writing a good critique about it. Then, you can use those credits to submit your work for feedback.
To date, the members have collectively given over 700,000 critiques. That is proof of how active this community is. And they do it all for free. Well, some do it for the credit, but most do it for their desire to help out fellow writers. But take everything with a grain of salt as some have yet to learn about the art of providing actual constructive criticism.
Scribophile
If you want to make sure that a community always has members available for you to interact with, you need to choose a group that is large enough. One of the largest writing communities online is Scribophile. It is not just a place where writers can socialize with other people in the field. This community offers tutorials and workshops too.
Becoming a member of Scribohpile is free but you will need to pay certain fees to access some features. What you don’t have to pay for is getting your work posted and critiqued. For that, you will need to use your Karma. This is the community’s currency. You earn some for writing constructive criticism for other people’s submissions.
You can also use your earned Karma to join the group’s sponsored competitions. If winning prizes and bragging rights is what would motivate you to write better, then this is definitely a community worth checking out. The contests are fun and can bring out your competitive side.
But if you want a more relaxed vibe, there are also Interest groups that offer short practice sessions and advice sessions for writers in need of guidance. You can also simply hang out with writers of all skill levels. Most enjoy talking and debating about topics that interest them.
Talentville
Most writing communities are geared to helping authors of novels. However, writing a novel is so much different compared to writing a script. In screenwriting, the author relies heavily on spoken dialogues. So, if you aspire to become a good screenwriter, it is best to join a community that caters to this. And one of those is Talentville.
Storytellers of all skills level join Talentville so that they can give and receive valuable feedback for their work. If you have a concept that you want to explore and develop into a script, this is the place to share your ideas with like-minded individuals. It is also a productive place to hang out and brainstorm new concepts.
This community is also a great online venue to make connections with people in the industry. Media personalities, agents, and show producers hang out here in the hopes of finding new talents. You can get a chance to impress these professionals and land a contract by showcasing your work in the community’s script library.
NaNoWriMo Forums
NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, is a nonprofit group that promotes creative writing. Its programs include writing events that participants from all over the world can join. The group also offers laptop loaning programs and runs workshops and competitions for Wrimos or participants.
The primary hub where Wrimos get to interact and communicate with each other is called the NaNoWriMo forums. It is where the participants gather to talk about everything that involves writing. This is where they can share their novels as well as their writing experiences.
Some forums also offer games and even roleplaying events for the Wrimos to develop a stronger bond with each other. If you are a young writer and are looking for a group that can help you keep motivated and inspired, you can join any of the numerous virtual writing groups that call the forums their home.
If you are looking for ideas to make your novel more interesting, you can hang out at the Coffee House and brainstorm with other authors. The members that frequent that forum thread are mostly active and can be relied on to give good advice. Note that you have to sign up and be a member to be able to access the forums.
Chronicles
If you write in a specific genre, it is best to choose a group made up of writers that deal with the same category. You will be able to help each other out by giving helpful feedback and advice. It’s like hanging out with people with the same interests, they will understand you better because your knowledge bases are essentially similar.
Given that, if you are an author that writes fantasy or science fiction, the group that would best suit you is Chronicles. It is not as active as the other forums mentioned above but it is more likely to have writers who are interested in talking about alien life forms or mythical creatures.
10 Minute Novelists Group
Writing can be time-consuming. If you want to improve your craft and connect with your peers but have a limited amount of free time, you should check out the Facebook Community called the 10 Minute Novelists Group. It is made up of highly supportive members that post tips and discussion points to help out and inspire busy authors.
They have fun events like Buddy Day where you can find a partner beta reader or critique so you can help each other out in improving your written work. There is also the Author Happiness Chats where the members share and celebrate their successes. If you are feeling stuck and depressed about your lack of output, this is one fun community to join.
Writers Helping Writers
If you are looking for a community where you can access resources that can help you teach about writing, edit, or write, then the Writer Helping Writers is the group for you. The website offers a variety of tools that can help all types of writers from the beginners to the published and seasoned ones.
The community’s library contains marketing and writing tools, a collection of thesaurus, idea generators, story maps, and even clips webinars. If you want to learn writing the conventional way, you will really appreciate these resources. And you only have to sign up for free membership.
Besides the learning materials, the community is also made up of authors that are willing to spend time critiquing posted works. Anybody can post and give feedback, prompting healthy discussions about the posted work.
It is also a great place to network since some members are already established professionals in the field of publishing. This will make it easier for you to find an agent or an editor that can work with you. It is also a good place to keep in contact with rising authors so you can keep track of emerging trends in the publishing world.
