I always tell writers to find their people and to build a community they trust. Writing can be a solitary endeavor: It’s just you and your notebook, or sheath of paper, or laptop, or phone. Only you will be able to hold yourself accountable for finishing your project. But knowing there is a community behind you to cheer you on, to workshop with you, and to read your work is so important. And it’s equally important to your own work to read widely too—to read in your community, to support folks when they need encouragement, to even vent with each other when the process becomes frustrating.
Hopefully, you’ll have a book published. It is that same community you have already fostered who will come to your book readings, blurb your books, and share your work widely. And how wonderful is it to be able to do the same for others? To champion their hard work, to immerse yourself in a world that has only been theirs for so long?
—Vivian Lee, senior editor, Little, Brown
Photo credit: Brian Braganza