You may have heard the saying, Paying it Forward. Similar sayings include… to pass it on, sharing kindness, or repaying in-kind. This means that when someone does something nice, instead of paying it back directly to the person who performed this kindness, you do something kind for someone else.
In the writing world, Paying it Forward is a core component
of the writing community. It can include things like volunteering on a committee, organizing meetings for a writing group, planning writing retreats, beta reading, participating in critique groups, writing book reviews, making book recommendations, attending book launches, supporting other writer’s online messages, or BUYING THEIR BOOK. Many of these actions are the foundation of how the writing world thrives and survives.
These thoughts are forefront in my heart and mind as I join a pitching event with the Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing my thoughts as I read over other writer’s 75-word pitches. It is one of the ways I can give back to my writing community, by sharing what others have taught me.
The writing community is unique in that this career can be learned in small steps and stages, at your own set pace. Eventually, over the years, with writing courses, networking, and thousands of written words, you could eventually find yourself to be the resident writing expert in some gatherings. Tiny increments and hurdles will have given you the knowledge base to share your wisdoms with other writers.
Remember back when other writers critiqued your work and brought things to your attention… like tense shifts, head hopping and passive voice? Well, now that you’ve honed your craft, it’s time for you to offer to read the pages of newer writers and to cheer them on, while sharing what could be improved.
A fellow writer recently shared the horrors of being in a writing group with a terrible writing partner. My writer friend shared anonymous snippets of this other writer’s comments, given, unfortunately to newer writers. They were devastatingly critical and unkind. This is the opposite of what the writing community needs. We need mentors who inspire, encourage, and teach in kind ways. We need to lift each other up, not cripple the creativity of others.
Connection and sharing with others, can also be seen as a form of Paying if Forward. Many of us writers have full-time non-writing careers, and expansive family lives separate from our writing lives. Amazingly, many writers cultivate this whole other writing community, apart from their regular day routines.
I love reading social media posts from nurses or lawyers, hiding in their hospital or board room, to write fiction on their break. Joining the patients in the quiet gardens to scarf down a quick lunch as they edit a chapter. These intimacies connect me to the writing world, which is a form of Paying it Forward.
Sharing how we find the time is helpful and can normalize the odd and quirky things we writers do. I’ve been known to skip social events to write and I know I’m not the only one. I also know of several locations in my small town that offer shade, under a large tree, where I can pull out my lunch, jostle the driver’s seat back, and open my computer over the steering wheel to write. Hearing from other writers, doing the same thing, helps me to feel normal and gives me permission to carve out the time to write.
Let’s keep sharing! Share what you hope others can avoid and celebrate your successes. This helps all writers to adapt, to join events, and to see where we can go.
