Getting Involved in the Literary Community

In this episode of Too Lit To Quit Terri Linn Davis  goes into ideas for how you can feel like you’re a part of the literary community. 

Transcript

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Hi, and welcome to Tula to Quit, the podcast for literary writers. Tula to Quit is an educational podcast documenting and commiserating on all things literary and writerly. I am your host, Terry Lynn Davis. So in this episode, I go into ideas for how you can feel like you're a part of the literary community. All right. And here we go. So today's episode is going to be a little bit about networking and then also a little bit about ways that you can feel a part of the literary community. So networking, to me feels like a really insincere act. And I've had to network multiple times throughout my life. It feels like unnatural to me, and I don't want to bother people, and it seems so insincere. If you come to meet me, I don't want to outwardly know that you're trying to get something from me. I would prefer those intentions to be, like veiled, and I don't want to hand out business cards or anything. It's weird. It's a very strange act. I will tell you how far I'm willing to go to network. It's not too far. I won't go too far to network. So I just want to give you a tiny bit more background about my experience with networking, because all of our writing and English and kind of teaching are a big part of my life now. But at any point in my life, I have thought nothing about writing or reading or English. And I mentioned in my first episode that I've been a massage therapist for oh, my God, I guess it's like almost ten years now. And I've started two businesses as a massage therapist, and I am introverted. I'm a superintroverted person. I can definitely be shy, but I've kind of conditioned myself to be more extroverted when there is a call to be extroverted. The first one, I had a great business partner that was extroverted and amazing. And she got went out and got all of these people. And I did the website and I did all the paperwork, and I was friendly enough and capable when they came in, but I wasn't going to go and find people myself. But when I moved to Connecticut, then I started my own business up, and I realized that I actually had the network again. So I did what many people do when they start a business. And I joined the Chamber of Commerce. So the Chamber of Commerce is like, just if you don't know what the Chamber of Commerce is, the Chamber of Commerce is just a bunch of people that have businesses in a local area and they network with each other and they try to help each other get business. They held little events and workshops and meetings where you would just, like mill around a bar or a restaurant or some sort of place and you would pass out business cards. I never got far into the Chamber of Commerce. They might be really good friends, but that was not my experience. My experience was, like being an outsider, awkwardly standing around. Like, here's my business card. I'm a massage therapist. What do you do? Like, oh, you're a pilot. Okay, that's cool. I'll take your business card, and maybe I don't know what we will do for each other, but that's kind of how it was. It didn't feel true. It didn't feel like I was making any real connections with people, and I actually kind of hated it. The weirdest networking experience I've had was probably when the Chamber of commerce sent out an email. This great event is being held by the Chamber of commerce, and it'll teach you how to network. It's like networking 101. Oh, yeah, that's perfect. I need that. I need to network 101. I am a beginner, and then I'll be able to meet really cool people in the area. It'll be great. So I get all dressed up, I've got my little name tag on, and all I have is the address for this event. And I pull up, and the Chamber of commerce had decided to host this marketing event at a funeral home. And I'm like, wow, this is surreal. This is, like, in the middle of the day, too.

This is at, like, 10: 5:15

00 A.m. On a Tuesday.

So 10: 5:18

00 A.m. On a Tuesday, I'm in a funeral home. The Chamber of commerce has decided to host this, like, a 20 minutes lecture on networking. So I'm sitting in these chairs in this large room where they hold wakes, and there's no casket, but there's lots of pamphlets around. And it was uncomfortable, more uncomfortable than usual. And where they may have had a casket, they now had, like, a podium for the person to speak to lecture us on networking. I could not concentrate, and I just felt like I was looking around like, no one really cares. No one seems to really notice how strange this is. But the person that gave this lecture said, it's helpful to take out the word networking and replace it with connecting. And I'm like, okay, connections I can do because connections feel genuine. All I want to do is build relationships with people. And I take that networking or this idea of connecting with other, likeminded, people to where I'm at right now with writing and teaching. I feel like networking is a word. I mean, we're all writers here. We know the power of words, the shades of meaning, the connotations that come from certain words. And networking, to me, feels like a dirty word. And connecting I like, because that's how I kind of feel about what I really want to do. What I really want to do is connect with other people, especially with writers and with literary magazines. And I just want to make connections with other people, because I feel like if you make connections with other people that are interested in what you're doing, especially as a writer, you feel like you're a part of the writing community and you're more likely to stay in it. And a lot of writers feel like they can't say that they're a writer. So that's probably one of the first steps is to acknowledge that you're a writer, to accept this identity, that you're a writer, a poet, whatever. Once you accept it and you take that identity on as your own, how do you keep that feeling? So for me, it was really hard after my undergraduate degree. When I graduated, I was like, I've no writing classes anymore. I don't know anyone who is a writer. How am I going to even continue this? So that was a huge worry of mine. How do I get involved in literary community? How do I keep writing? How do I make the space for it when everything in my life is kind of fighting against me? So what I'll share with you now are ways that I've kept myself involved in the literary community so that I felt like a part of it. So I graduated my undergrad in 2018. So I've been doing this for sorry, I had to count. It's been like four years. So I've found ways to keep myself involved in writing for like four years now. And I really feel like now that I feel like I'm a part of this community and I feel like I am a writer, I just don't have that trepidation anymore. And I just had this fear that I would never write again and it would just get dropped off because I think that does happen to a lot of people. And the writing professors may tell you they're like, workshop is a special kind of place, and writing programs are a special kind of place. You will never get this attention to your work ever again. I was told that, and I was like, oh, my God, this is my only shot. This is my only shot of being a writer. And if I don't, like, make, I don't like, I don't have a shot. And I might as well just like, stop now. So I worked through that fear, and I'll share ways that I've kind of prevented myself from stopping because my mind was really convinced that once school was over, it was just not going to happen for me anymore. So Twitter has been a godsend for keeping me involved in writing. I started getting actually involved in 2019. So before that, I really wasn't involved at all on Twitter. So that made a huge difference for me. On Twitter, I follow other literary writers. I follow literary magazines, journals. I follow organizations that are involved in writing. Just schools, for instance. That's all I have on Twitter right now. So when I go on Twitter, I am just inundated with all of this information about writing. And if you went on my Twitter, by the way, my Twitter handle life is Terry Lynn Davis. So you can follow me on there. And a lot of the times I'll tweet things about my children, mostly I retweet opportunities, sub calls. I'll retweet great writing. Sometimes I'll tweet my own writing. I'm a slow publisher and a slow writer, so I don't have a lot of publications out at any given time. And I think that's what's great about Twitter and connecting on Twitter is I think you will be successful on Twitter if you think of this Twitter more as a way to connect yourself to literary community. I think a mistake people make is only sharing their own writing or attempting just to follow people to get follows back. I think people in the literary community really see the false behind that, and they're looking for genuine connections. They're not looking for high follower accounts. So find people that you like that you respect their work, you share their work, share other work you find, share retweet writing opportunities and subcalls. So we can do another episode on Twitter. And I think that would definitely be a full episode length on ways that Twitter can really work for you as a writer. But Twitter has been essential for me to feeling like I actually am a writer. I think Facebook probably is pretty good too. I think I've found a lot of good stuff on Facebook. There are groups and events. I don't really go on Facebook anymore, but I know that that's kind of a similar experience that you could find on Facebook. Another thing that I've done is that if you do a web search, there are probably something called arts councils in your area. And your state may have an arts Council, and your city or town may have an art Council. Arts Council may have information on grants, they have information on events going on. I follow those people on Twitter. I sign up for their newsletters. That's been really great. Every city has a library. Check out the libraries. First off, check out some great books. But they generally have a lot of events for writers. They have writing groups, they have author talks. Another thing that you may not have thought of is follow local colleges, universities, and MFA programs in your area. I live in Connecticut and there are just like a ton of colleges around me. And if you follow them on Facebook or on Twitter, or if you go to the English Department and look at the events happening there, they're often open to the public. They may host readings. They often have open mics. If they're open to the public, then I think that you should make use of them because I've organized events for universities and we love people signing up for these. So you can meet writers at the events, you can practice open mics. I think it's a great way to feel connected to, like the local writing community too, because Twitter. I have found people in Connecticut and there are a lot of cool people in Connecticut that I've found recently. But Twitter is more kind of like you're spread out throughout the entire world. So far, I've said, Twitter or Facebook are great arts councils. If you Google, like your state, your city arts councils, you'll probably find something there. Look at libraries in the surrounding area, look at their events, sign up for their newsletters, follow local MFA programs and English departments for universities that are near you, and then also really like web search, like Google it. You might write something like writing groups in your town or open mic night in your city. So, for example, when I've searched writing, like open mics in my city, I found like cafes and restaurants and other places that you never would have thought or bars that have open mic nights and that you would never have known about before that search. So there's a ton of things that are happening around your area that are super great. And one thing Covet has done for us is that it's made literary world a lot easier to access from your house. A ton of events around the world are on Zoom now. So Twitter is where I find a lot of these events. I'm a member of a lot of websites and I've signed up for a lot of newsletters that keep me updated on events like around the world that you can just kind of access from Zoom. I think I'll do another episode on websites that I've signed up for that have a ton of opportunities for subs calls, contests. One thing I'll say is that if you like the website and if you like the event, sign up for the newsletter and just get their information because you will probably forget. But it's nice to know how much is around. There's so many free events that happen all the time, and that could be writing events, readings, like writings, like short craft talks. If you sign up for these events, then you may feel not only will you maybe feel like writing, but you also maybe meet some people. So I've done online writing workshops that are weeks long and you get pretty close with the people that you write with. I've signed up for courses on creative nonfiction and for poetry over the course of these weeks that you workshop, you get prompts and you write things and you workshop other people's writing and you kind of get close with them. You build a rapport, and that's kind of the connections that you want to be happy. You want to meet other people that do and love the same things you do. Because if you do that, then you'll feel like you're really a writer. You really do this and you'll probably continue to write. Another huge thing that I've done, probably the biggest thing that has kept me feeling like a writer is volunteering for a Lip Mag. I started out as a poetry reader for five south you can always find magazines looking for readers or Editors for lit Mags. So I started out as a poetry reader for Five South, and so I've only read for one Journal outside the MFA program, so I can't speak for all experiences. But for me, Five South has been just amazing. I put an application to be a poetry reader July 2021, and I started reading that same month. And Five South is a relatively new Journal they started in 2020. Kristen, the editor of Five South, brings people in and teaches them the business. I mean, I know how to use so many different apps and websites that literary journals use. She kind of goes behind the scenes, but she really mentors readers and Editors on how the lipmeg runs and works through Five South. I got to have experience as a poetry reader reading poetry, seeing what gets picked and why, see how many amazing poems we have to reject because there's just not room. And just seeing kind of how subjective the process is has really changed my view on how kind of the literary world works and publishing works. I've read amazing poems that we had to just kind of pass on because it didn't fit with the journals, like aesthetic. And that's just how it is. I've got to the masthead at Five South talk all the time. I've got to know them quite a bit. And, I mean, I love our editorial meetings and it just feels like and we kind of all talk shop. It's just really nice. I know about their lives, but I also support each other, and I think that's what you need. You need to make connections. Like, that the biggest ways that I've helped myself stay a writer, because I am someone that will let other things just completely get in the way. Like, I have three children, I have lots of other stuff going on that feels like too much. So the things that have helped me absolutely the most are staying connected on Twitter and being a reader, volunteer reader for a literary magazine. Have you like a lot of suggestions on how I stay connected in the literary world? If I was giving you the too long, didn't read pitch to this episode. I'd say the three biggest things that have made me feel like a writer, and they have made me feel like I'm involved in the lit world is that one, Twitter sign up, stay connected, be genuine. Don't just push your own work. And two, read for a lip Mag. Get involved in a literary magazine so they can go behind the scenes and read great work. See how subjective things are, like see how the process works. I want to say reading for a literary magazine is like being in The Wizard of Oz and looking behind the curtain and seeing what the wizard actually looks like. That's kind of what reading for a lip Mag is, especially one that a litmg that lets you get as involved as five south of a Journal. Like five south. I feel like I'm mentored and I feel like I have a voice and I know exactly what's going on with the process. And then third is writing. I didn't really talk about that that much in this episode, but for me, just seeing just writing, Even if it's slowly Because I am a very slow writer. So if you have Twitter, if you read for a lit Mag And volunteer for a lip Mag, and if you write despite all odds, Eventually I think you'll feel like a real writer. You're actually doing this and it becomes a part of you. And if you're like me, it has kind of become an identity. So those are ways that I've kind of maintained and asserted myself as a writer. So the thing that has been the most important for me is to stay involved because, again, my anxiety after College was, oh, my God, I am no longer surrounded by writing or writers. I'm just never going to write again Because a lot of people don't A lot of people just stop writing. So I was really worried about that. So I found that if you feel like you're part of the literary community, when you feel like you belong and it really becomes a part of your identity and you've accepted it as your identity, You've accepted that you're a writer Even when you're not writing, Even when you're resting, Even when there's a period of time where you're not actively writing and you've accepted yourself as a writer and you've surrounded yourself with other people that write genuine connections with other writers, Then I think then you'll feel like you'll belong. You'll keep at it and you'll keep writing. And that's how I've stayed involved at four years in I'm finally doing this podcast that I wanted to do. I'm meeting people locally that are writers. I'm building connections with people globally Because I'm just interested in them, trying to just build community. You don't have to use the word networking. Let's reframe it. We're building connections because real human connections is all I care about. And I think if you consider yourself a writer and if you're like me, you'll keep at it Because you have no other choice. You're too late to quit. That concludes this week of too late to quit. If you like what you heard and you want to hear more, Be sure to subscribe rate the podcast and share with your friends. As always, I'm your host, Terry Lynn Davis, and we'll see you next time.