Today I would like to take a moment to reflect on writing organizations that have benefited me. I spent a wonderful recent weekend night having dinner with over a dozen people who welcomed our monthly speaker to town.

We had flown Heather Osborn, an editor at Samhain Publishing, to town to speak to our local chapter of Romance Writers of America, the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers. The monthly meeting was well-attended and many of us joined afterward to talk over coffee.

This morning, I spent a couple of hours with one writer as we typed furiously in a local coffee shop, her on her next book nearing its deadline and me on promotional articles for my latest release.

                                                                  

As Co-Chair of the group blog, I then spent the afternoon typing up some blog posts for the Fantasy-Futuristic and Paranormal Romance Writers.As PRO Liaison for the Celtic Heart Romance Writers chapter, I worked on a strategy to get more members motivated to finish their latest manuscript. Both these groups are on-line chapters of RWA.

Why am I bringing this up?

Simple. Writing is a lonely profession. You sit in a room or in a chair, alone, and people expect great things. I play the radio and my cat, Blaze, keeps me company, but the house is quiet (when hubby is at work). A writer needs quiet at times, but a writer needs the stimulating conversation, educational benefits, and joy-filled good times that meeting with others 'of like minds' bring.

Are you a writer? DON'T DO THIS ALONE! Ask for help, sit in on a meeting, join an on-line group, attend a writers conference, find a friend who writes. You'll be a better writer.

Nancy