While writing itself is a solitary task, no writer should be alone. Writers thrive best when they have a strong community encompassing a range of supporters, each suited to a unique role. Every writer’s community takes its own shape, but when a writer has built a strong community, certain roles show up consistently. In this blog post, I’ll break down each role and discuss a few ways writers can go about building this community for themselves.
The Cheerleader
Every writer needs at least one cheerleader in their lives—someone who believes completely in them. Whether it’s your mom, your best friend, your partner, an English teacher, a librarian, or a writing buddy, find a cheerleader who will encourage you when discouragement hits, commiserate with you when rejections come, and celebrate when success brightens your world.
Keep in mind that cheerleaders don’t always need to read all or even some of your work to play their part well. In fact, expecting your cheerleader to commit a significant amount of time reading your novel can potentially push them away. And, if they commit to read your work but don’t follow through, it can push you away from them and negatively impact your relationship. When you share your work with a cheerleader, you also risk the possibility that they won’t like your work, and this is also a hard thing for a cheerleading relationship to come back from.
It might take some trial and error before you find a reliable cheerleader to add to your writing community. When you ask someone to support your writing career in this way, they might not always come through, even if they initially agree, and that can hurt. As you’re feeling people out, you’ll inevitably find those who don’t understand what you’re doing, who disagree with your choices, or who flat out don’t believe you can ever “make it” as a writer. They might not voice those opinions to your face; instead, they might seem to be supportive initially and then go radio silent on the matter, or they might become withdrawn or uncomfortable whenever you bring it up. I’ve personally experienced this, and it sucks.
Think of a cheerleader as someone who can offer you the same kind of unconditional emotional support that a good parent offers: someone who will root for you no matter what, who will openly encourage you no matter what. When you find people who are genuinely, actively willing to support you, hold tight and don’t let go.
The Critique Partner
The critique partner (also commonly called an alpha reader) is your first objective pair of eyes on your manuscript’s earliest drafts. Critique partners are important because they represent your first opportunity to improve your work in ways you haven’t thought of yet. Because it’s difficult (or perhaps impossible) to view your own work objectively, critique partners can show you where you’ve gone off track and offer suggestions about how to get back on it.
Critique partners are writers, ideally working within or adjacent to your genre, who offer their perspective on how things are going with your work-in-progress. This feedback is typically given on an exchange basis, allowing you to exercise your own analytical skills on their work as they do the same with yours.
Working with critique partners (ideally, you’ll have more than one) also prepares you to receive deeper-level feedback in higher-stakes situations later in the writing process. Often, critique partners will focus on the strengths of your work as much as the weaknesses, providing you a nicely-cushioned way to get used to receiving critical feedback. You’ll also get used to sorting through and figuring out how to incorporate feedback. When it’s time to start working with editors or pitching to agents or publishers, you’ll be well-prepared to accept and handle their critical feedback in a professional manner.
Like cheerleaders, it can be difficult to find a solid group of critique partners. In some instances, finding people you click with is the hardest hurdle. In others, keeping a group together and active may be the most difficult challenge. Your roster of critique partners may fluctuate or rotate frequently, but don’t let that stop you from seeking them out and working with them. The direction and encouragement they provide make them an indispensable member of a writer's community.
To learn more about critique partners, including where to find them, click here.
The Beta Reader
Beta readers also read your manuscript with a critical eye, but they do so from a reader’s point of view rather than a writer’s. And while critique partners often review your work one section at a time, beta readers read through your entire manuscript after it’s been polished as much as you possibly can on your own. Beta readers are often writers themselves, but it’s more important that they are within your target audience. They shouldn’t approach your manuscript with the same type of perspective as a critique partner. Rather, they should provide feedback on what they liked and didn’t like, what took them out of the story and what kept them turning pages, what they emotionally connected with and what pushed them away. This important perspective will inform your choices as you work through future drafts.
Like critique partners, beta reading relationships are often entered into on a reciprocal basis, with writers exchanging full manuscripts with each other. However, you can also seek beta readers from somewhat-distant family or friends who are also members of your target audience. Either way, the greatest difficulty with beta readers is finding people who will follow through on their commitment to read your manuscript. It’s not unusual for people to initially commit and then realize they overestimated the time and energy they would have for your book. Mutual exchanges go a long way to prevent this. I also recommend finding more beta readers than you think you’ll need to compensate for the people who will inevitably fall through.
To learn more about beta readers, click here.
The Editor
There is no one correct approach to hiring and working with editors, which means it’s crucial for every author to educate themselves on the different services editors offer (there are many) and consider what will benefit their work most. The more you know, the more strategically you can make your choices. This article covers many of the services editors typically offer, and this article covers what it’s like to work with an editor.
Working with a professional editor is very different from working with an alpha reader or a critique partner. While all three types of people will offer valuable feedback on your manuscript, editors know how to provide professional, in-depth, intensely-focused, and consistent feedback that specifically meets your needs. What’s more, they’ll know how to communicate their feedback, ideas, and knowledge to you in a clear, tailored way. They’ll listen to your concerns and recommend ways to best address them. They can advise and educate you about navigating the publishing industry and tell you how to make your manuscript more marketable or appealing to your audience.
A good editor can also provide a cheerleader-type encouragement that comes from a place of pure empathy—no one understands better than a good editor how hard it is to write a good book and then navigate through the right gates to get it into the hands of the readers who need it.
The Mentor
A mentor is often a combination of all the roles listed above with one important addition: in some way, they have been in your place once, and they learned enough and worked hard enough to progress beyond it. They have a unique insight into the writing path that only comes from walking it, and they are willing to share their hard-won expertise and their sincere encouragement to help you walk that path, too. They might even lead you to connections and opportunities you might not be able to find or access on your own.
This is perhaps the most fluid figure in a writer’s community, and it might be the hardest to find because in some ways it requires a deeper, more personal commitment than the others. A mentor can materialize in the shape of a deeply-invested critique partner or editor. They can materialize in the shape of a hired book coach. They can materialize in the shape of an established author you meet at a workshop or writing conference who takes a liking to your work. They might come into your life when you need them and then fade away, or they can be a constant guiding influence.
Wrapping Up
It’s not easy to build a writer’s community, and it’s often hard to keep each role filled perfectly all the time. But by putting in the time and effort to build your network by participating in the writing community, you will be able to find the people you need when the time is right.
What has been your experience with these five community members? Who have been the hardest for you to find? Who has been the most instrumental in the development of your writing career?
Happy writing!