Writing is such a solitary endeavor that sometimes we neglect connecting with our friends face-to-face. That’s bad, people! We need each other. (A friend of mine jokes about throwing introvert parties where everyone is instructed to bring a book to read. That’s totally my idea of a fun time! But writers need to socialize too.)

One pre-Covid summer, so like 2019 maybe, a writer friend of mine who is also a teacher came up with the brilliant idea for a bunch of us writers to get together for a working lunch every couple of weeks. She chose a restaurant and set a time toward the end of the lunch rush, and we’d meet, order our meals, visit while we ate, and then pull out our laptops and write for an hour and a half.

It surprised me how much I got done in that 90 minutes.

Conventional wisdom says it’s important to have a regular space to write. I do have my own private writing space. All my notes are on my desk somewhere. The books I need for reference are right there on the bookshelf.

It’s very convenient to work in my study every day. I sit down and I’m immediately in my writing mindset.

But there’s something about being with people you admire and doing something that you love together—even though each of you is working individually. Somehow, the sound of my friends’ typing makes me extra productive.

 

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Another favorite writing activity of mine is going on a writing retreat and writing outdoors, usually on a porch or patio with handy tables. (We call our portable computers laptops, but we’re not really going to balance them on our laps, are we?) There are other writers nearby, but we set some time for visiting and joint activities and devote most of the retreat to working on our individual WIPs.

You know, you don’t need a whole bunch of writers to have a writing date. You could meet with just one writing friend.

You can even have a virtual writing date via Zoom or Google Meet, something that happened a lot during the pandemic.

I often think I should try writing in my backyard, except once I get out there I’d rather sip a cold drink and read.

And once in a great while, I’ll go to the library or a park or a coffee shop to write, just to depart from my usual routine. The change in venue gives my brain permission to process thoughts differently.

Anyway, my point is that writing rules are good, but breaking writing rules is also good, as counter-intuitive as that sounds. So I encourage you to mix things up a bit. Every once in a while, call up a writer friend or two, and invite them on a writing date. It’ll be fun. What do you think about that?

 

 

Former elementary general music teacher ARHuelsenbeck blogs about the arts and the creative process at ARHtistic License. She is currently writing poems, picture books and short stories, a YA mystical fantasy and a Middle Grades novel. You can follow her onTwitter, and see some of her artwork, photography, and quilts on Instagram.