I’ve been trying to write this book for over a year now. It’s been a hard journey of forced inspiration, guilt as a result of not writing, and rare feelings of elation from actually writing. I knew going into this “being a writer” thing that it was going to be hard. But I had no idea it would be such a soul-crushing venture that I just can’t give up.
Throughout the past fifteen months or so, I’ve sought a community of fellow writers. A group of people who have similar goals, struggles, and doubts. It seems like so many writers want the kind of fellowship that we hear about C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien had with the Inklings, but it’s hard to find those who are serious about putting in the work to help and be accountable to others on top of the work of doing their writing.
My Dream Group
In a perfect world, I wouldn’t need a writing group. I could just sit down at my desk and the words would just pour out of my hands while I binge-watch Daredevil. But that’s probably not going to happen any time soon. So, in lieu of that, I need a group of writers to help my writing and my writing practice get better.
In my ideal writing group, eleven other writers and I would submit our writing once a week via Google Docs and give feedback in our Discord group. We would encourage and challenge each other as well as share our failures and struggles. We would share resources like podcasts, books, YouTube videos, and courses so we’re all learning the same things and we can share what helped us the most. We would have a regular video chat just so we can connect and grow closer as a community and we would have live “write-ins” so we can motivate each other and build a regular writing habit.
Why A Christian Group?
How dare this person exclude all the non-Christians. What a hater. Did Jesus exclude the sinners and tax collectors from his writing group?
The reason I want to belong to a Christian-only group is not to exclude anyone, it’s to protect them. If someone belongs to the same writing group that I do, they’re going to have to read my Christian novel and all the scripture-based stories in it and then give thoughtful insight on it that isn’t based on their non-Christian worldview or what they think the Bible says. Nor am I interested in reading people’s writings that are directly contrary to my Biblical Christian worldview.
It’s not about hating or excluding anyone. There are plenty of non-faith-based groups out there. I just want to get my book written and possibly grow in my faith in the process.
What Now?
If this type of writing group is something you’re interested in being a part of, I have created an application for you to fill out. It’s just something for us to get to know a little bit about you so the group can decide if you seem like a good fit. Please fill out the application HERE to proceed.
