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Writing is a Community Effort

So I’ve been working on the Acknowledgments section for my novel. It’s a little more difficult than you might imagine. You see, the longer you think about people who have helped you get to where you are, the bigger the list will grow.

This is interesting for one simple reason: Writing is typically portrayed as a solitary endeavor. Indeed, solitude is a necessary component of the writing life. But it is also one of its greatest hazards. We create in isolation. The problem is, if we remain in isolation, creating itself can become a problem.

It is not a coincidence that some of the greatest words ever written were written on a mountaintop. I’m talking about the Ten Commandments. Of course, Moses had some Assistance. But if he’d stayed in his air-conditioned tent with Mom and the kids, it’s doubtful that the Ten Commandments would have ever been penned.

In a similar way, writerly inspiration is often reserved for those who are willing to scale the mountain, leave the behind the crowd, the distractions of life, and seek a place of creative solace. For most of us, our best work is done behind closed doors. We bring our laptop to the mountaintop, for it’s there that, on occasion, the heavens open. Seldom do the muses compete with the TV or iPod. Jessamyn West put it this way:

Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.

But writing has two sides. While we create in isolation, we advance in community. Good writing communicates, which is the least solitary of endeavors. To communicate is to commune, to interact with other intellects. A writer has not really succeeded until she has readers, someone who will “commune” with her material. Without the eyes and ears of others, our work is incomplete.

These two sides of writing — the alone-ness and the together-ness — are equally important, and I think, becoming a good writer means cultivating both halves. We need a quiet place to develop our skills and sift ideas, but we also need people who will read what we have written, pray for us, encourage, correct, affirm, and ultimately propel us back to our quarters with renewed vision and vigor.

Yes, as writers we must be “slightly savage” in seeking and defending our time alone. We must be equally savage in seeking and defending our time together. Which is why it surprises me how many writers avoid the writing community, eschew critique, and become islands unto themselves.

This weekend is the ACFW Conference. I’ve spent much time over the last few months contemplating attending. My agent will be there, several close writer friends, some cyber-friends I’d love to meet, along with a professional cast of established authors. I had such a great time at the 2006 ACFW Conference in Dallas, meeting folks like Gina Holmes, Jeanne Damoff, Brandalyn Collins, Dave Long, Janet Grant, Rebecca Miller, Michael Snyder, Mark Bertrand, Mary Demuth, Ane Mulligan, Michelle Pendergrass, Meg Mosely, Suzan Robertson, and others. For several reasons, I’ve decided not to attend this year’s event. Nevertheless, I am a growing believer in the need for writers to live in community.

Which is what I’m trying to do.

Last year, I was invited by a local author to visit their small writing group. I was at a low point in my writing life, having suffered several big rejections as well as parting ways with my first agent. The group met at a coffee shop, and I immediately felt at home. Our stories were remarkably similar. There was a lot of laughter, encouragement, and wisdom. We’ve met maybe a dozen times since then. That group has become SO important to me. You see, I can find inspiration on the mountaintop. But I cannot get a hug there. And sometimes, whether you care to admit it or not, that’s what we writers need… a word of encouragement, a steely-eyed exhortation, a high-five, or a listening ear.

Which is why in my Acknowledgments you will find these words, “Becky, Merrie, and Rachel… you have saved my writing life.”

{ 9 comments… add one }
  • Johne Cook September 16, 2010, 6:43 AM

    For years, I have shamelessly borrowed an expression from John Gardner by referring to myself as a writer as a gregarious loner. It fits. I need times of social interaction and people-watching and rubbing shoulders with my fellow Man, and I also need time where I am utterly alone with my thoughts (headphones are critical for this).

    It is a good day when I can accomplish both, first interacting publicly and then musing (and writing) privately.

  • Meg Moseley September 16, 2010, 7:09 AM

    I’m not as far along as you are, Mike, so I haven’t started compiling my list of people to acknowledge, but it should be huge. None of us can do this job alone, no matter how much we need our alone-time.

    I remember meeting you and a bunch of other great people at the ACFW conference in Dallas. I’m missing this year’s conference, but I hope to see everybody next year.

    By the way, I like your cover art. It makes me want to see what’s inside.

  • Mike Dellosso September 16, 2010, 9:02 AM

    Mike, there are so many facets to a writer’s life, and so many people who helped chisel those facets there. We impact so many lives and vice versa, so many have impacted our life. The act of writing is solitary, just the author and his computer. The story is crafted in the enclosure of his skull. But what makes up the writer, where he gets his ideas, his inspiration, his motivation, his support . . . that’s a different story, that’s community. My only suggestion, make your acknowledgments personal, give them character and personality. This is your chance to say thank you.

  • Rebecca LuElla Miller September 16, 2010, 11:55 AM

    Wow, Mike, wow! Thank you. (You could just as easily have said Merrie and Rachel saved your writing life even as Becky was trying to strangle your physical life right out of your body. 😆 )

    Your post here gives such a perfect picture of the writer’s life. I like Johne’s borrowed term “gregarious loner.”

    Becky

  • Nicole September 16, 2010, 3:15 PM

    Amen, Mike. Well said.

  • Mindsinger September 16, 2010, 5:10 PM

    Dear Mike,
    Just found your site and am enjoying it. I’ve put a link to your page on my website and hope we can generate some good traffic back and forth. My writing has, of necessity been done mostly in isolation. A farm wife doesn’t have a lot of time for intellectual stimulation but books and now the web are always there. Don’t we live in interesting times!!
    Blessings,
    Donna S.

  • Merrie Destefano September 16, 2010, 5:22 PM

    Mike,
    You’re making me cry. It’s been such a blessing to be in that group with you and Rachel and Becky. I am SO glad that you hung in there. You are an incredibly talented writer, and I can’t WAIT for The Resurrection to come out. 🙂

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