Every writer needs camaraderie. And every would-be author needs encouragement. There aren’t many of us who can seclude ourselves hermit-like in a shack-in-the-woods only to re-emerge weeks later with the draft of the next NY Times Bestseller. However, if you’re like me the shack-in-the-woods approach to writing sounds pretty nice sometimes because of a job, family responsibilities, church responsibilities, friends, etc. etc. etc. and all the other good things in life that can keep us from writing. But I submit to you, if you were to actually do that alone for a few weeks your writing would peter out. Your ideas would fail and you’d be out in a shack-in-the-woods making coffee by yourself and staring at a blank page.

Writers need other writers to keep going. It’s that simple. Remember, even C.S. Lewis had J.R.R. Tolkien, and Mary Shelley had Percey Shelley and Lord Byron. We can get kick-started by encouragement, and we can thrive with camaraderie. It’s one of the reasons I love the Breathe Conference; because once a year in west Michigan writers get together and push each other towards their writing goals. There are no “shacks-in-the-woods” at Breathe, and the coffee is shared by everyone.

A good friend and novelist started a new blog called “Part Time Novel” in which he intends to write about the experience of writing a novel amid all the busyness of life. After reading the first post I was immediately encouraged; “someone else out there understands!” I thought. I felt a sense of camaraderie. Here’s an excerpt:

The intention of this blog is to share  what I have learned with those who work full time, have children, are otherwise engaged, but still have the wild dream of publishing a novel someday…

For those beginning their work, you may be under the unfortunate impression that writing is something that comes easy and it sometimes does but…It is more in the line of a job. For some it is a horrible job and you might soon discover it is not for you, having thought you could make a quick buck. For others it is a job occasionally but, more than that, a vocation, something we feel compelled to do. The enjoyment of words and the thrill of finishing a new chapter is something that cannot be subdued in our beings. We write, simple as that.

For a long time I struggled with the notion of calling myself a writer. I have not published anything (at least not in something that is still in circulation). I was not embarrassed of it, I just wanted to avoid the impending question that follows…

Whether you are a published author already or not, if you intend to keep writing well you’ll need encouragement, you’ll need camaraderie, you’ll need others around you that reaffirm “Yes, you are a writer.” One of the ways to find that will be at Breathe this year. Another is through great blogs like this one.

Write strong!

- Andrew

Andrew Rogers is a marketing manager at Zondervan, Breathe Conference planner, and freelance writer. His time is spent working, chasing his son around the house, and falling asleep at night with a book. You can follow his tweets for Zondervan at @EngagingChurch