Believe It or Not, I Like Talking to Other Writers

Back when I started writing fiction, there was only one writer's forum that got any traffic at all, so I glommed onto it and stayed....for far too long. My experience started out fine. There was a wealth of knowledge to be gleaned from the thousands of posts, particularly about querying agents, which I was foolishly into at the time. 

But then the site took a turn. Every response was churlish and dismissive. They weren't responses to me, because I was mostly a reader, but nevertheless, I saw no need for the meanness. Sometimes I wonder about that; what caused the change? Maybe it began when the site started a politics sub-forum and the inherent nastiness of political disagreements drifted over to discussions about writing.   

It was a combination of over-emphasizing political content and the site's disdain of self-publishing that made me leave and never go back. Since then, I never sought out other forums. Does Reddit count? Reddit's self-pub is more about how to market a book than it is about writing. There is a separate writing sub, but it's inhabited by people just starting to write, not by those who have experiences to share.

Well, surprise! Substack's social media section is great! Due to my account's focus, 99% of the notes I see are from other writers. (I like other topics, too, but I wouldn't know how to get them to populate my timeline.)

As you know, I'm the quintessential introvert, but give me a subject I'm interested in and have experience with, and I can gab, too! Especially with like-minded people. When I first realized Substack's timeline existed, I scanned it half-heartedly, just getting the lay of the land, but once I stopped to read others' notes, it was really interesting. And, believe it or not, there are authors in similar circumstances as me (non-selling, perceived losers, you get the drift). Talking only to myself all this time via this blog, I assumed I was the only loser in the big wide universe of writers. 

No, I'm not going to get hooked on it the way I'm hooked on X, but it's an enjoyable daily stroll. I don't have to constantly self-promote. I can just read and reply now and again. 

I can't believe how much this discovery has lifted my mood.