Episode 2: You Don't Have to Write Alone

You can find me on Substack here

Follow me on IG here

Transcript

Stephanie: 0:00

Hello fiction writers. I'm Stephanie Oswald, your fiction book coach and podcast host. Welcome to the Love is Brewing podcast. This podcast is your weekly bit of fiction book coaching for the writer who enjoys a good love story in any genre and is ready to write the book they've always dreamed of getting in the hands of readers. On this podcast, you'll get down to earth, talk about what it takes to write your book as I take you from messy first drafts. To marketing launches. We'll walk through the doubt, the detours, and the big dreams. Each week, we'll explore all different avenues to help you write your book and keep going no matter where you are in the process. This is a podcast for authors who write romance, but really it can be for any genre because a good love story is often at the heart of every great book. This is a place where I'll be sharing tips suggesting tech tools. Throwing in a little pop culture now and again, and writing insights will be offered, but at the end of the day, it's up to you to take what you need and leave the rest. You have everything you need to be a writer, but it helps to have support and guidance along the way. I, so I hope you'll join me every week here at The Love Is Brewing Podcast. Hello, my fellow writers. Welcome back to another episode of The Love Is Brewing podcast. I'm so excited you're here with me today where I'll be talking about the importance of community as a writer. Again, I just wanna share how excited I am to be a part of your writing journey So I'm really excited that you're here with me today, and I wanna talk about something that is near and dear to my heart in that as a writer. You do not have to do your work alone. There is so much value to having community as a writer, and I just wanna remind you of finding a place for yourself, finding an accountability buddy, finding a writing group, wherever that might be, whether it's online or in your local community. Attending workshops, going to conferences, going to online workshops. There are so many opportunities out there and not all of them have to be paid. There are definitely free opportunities for you to find community for yourself because I want to remind you that you don't have to do this alone. I know there's this great myth out there of the writer who sits in their home office at their desk and writes and is all by themselves pulling their hair out, you know, getting stressed about a deadline or what's going on, and I. It doesn't have to be that way you can find your community, whatever that looks like for you. And I know that a lot of us as writers are introverts. We don't always wanna be in the spotlight. We don't always wanna be in the crowds. But it's really important for your writing heart and for yourself to nurture yourself to find that community of people who will support you along the way. And I wanna tell you, it doesn't have to be someone who's writing in the same genre as you, because the writing experience, the more you're in it, the more you're doing it. You realize how universal it is across all genres. So while it's great if you find someone who is writing in the same genre as you, that's awesome because then that could also turn into a critique partner, someone you can exchange your work with and get feedback and help each other along the way. But it doesn't have to be that way. Finding a community of writers doesn't mean that you have to find a critique group. It doesn't mean that you have to find people who are gonna read your work and edit it and give you feedback all the time. It's simply to find. People or a space or a place where you can consistently get your writing done. Because consistency above all else is what is going to get you to your goal. And that looks so different for everybody, even if it's 10 minutes a day that you can fit in. I know a lot of us were, you might be a mom and you're busy, and I know I'm a mom and I. Often have a lot of things to accomplish and it can sometimes be hard to fit in. The writing time between all responsibilities or all the different hats you're wearing throughout the day. But if you schedule it into your calendar and you find that time, just like I said, that, you know, I often find the time to do coworking and it involves, you know, a text with someone else saying, Hey, are you around? Can you write today? Let's hop on Zoom. Let's get this writing done, and it can feel so energizing to get that bit of writing done, the bit of writing that maybe you've been putting off, or maybe life has happened and has taken you on a ride way off your path and you need to find your way back. Having a community is the easiest way to find your way back to your writing because you have people who are there who are going to hold you up, and I'm gonna tell you that if you are not in a community of people who applaud your every step and applaud you along the way, then. I really would encourage you to find a different space because you should feel joy in your heart to show up for your writing because you've chosen to be a writer for a particular reason. There's a reason that the book that you wanna write, that you're working on it, there's a reason you wanna show up to the page, even when you're having a day where you're feeling like, oh, I just don't have an idea. That's one of the other great things about having a community is you can often say, Hey, I'm really stuck. Can you help me with this idea? That happened to me recently. I was really stuck with a particular aspect of my plot and I said Hey. Can you help me with this? You know, I'm really stuck. What do you think? And we talked it through and we bounced ideas back and forth, and I solved the plot problem that I had, and it was so nice to have that other person to talk to. And yes, I know some of you might be thinking, you know, I could have gone to, you know, AI or chat GPT to help me brainstorm, and I know that that's really tempting to do and I. I really encourage you to find another person, find a human being who you can bounce ideas off of who you can write with, because it's that human connection that is so important for all of us. And while it can be really valuable to hop on, you know, and use AI and do some brainstorming, that's great. But at the end of the day. It's the human connection. It's your voice. It's your ideas that are gonna matter for your book, and that's why having a community will just help you feel so grounded in your writing practice and in my position as. A book coach, and here as the podcast host for this podcast. You know, I wanna be your cheerleader along the way. I wanna be part of your community. I'd love to work with you and have the opportunity to help you get to the finish line. I know that's not a choice for everyone. But I want you to let you know that if you're interested, you can connect with me. The, there are links in the show notes to my Substack, to my Instagram dm me to connect and chat so that you know, if you want support from someone like me, a book coach, who can help you along the way, that's a great opportunity as well. To put in on your team as a writer. So again, my fellow writers, I encourage you to find community, find space where you can get your writing done, because the world does need your story. And again, if I can be of help to you, I encourage you to reach out because I'd love to support you on your journey. Happy writing.