This week, Rob Brezsny touches on a topic I’ve hit a few times in the past year: giving back by paying it forward, with no expectation for a return on your investment. “Find the sweet spot where you love bestowing blessings for no other reason except this one: You are expressing your gratitude for the miraculous life you have been given,” he writes.
I’m not as connected to the community as I’d like, but I still pitch in where I’m able. In the last few months, I’ve given critiques at an in-person writing group and spent an evening sharing publishing information with a writer moving forward with self-publishing her novella.
I hope to do more of this in the next year. I’m in a good writing groove with my novel in progress and should have time to write more about craft issues and open discussions in various places. I’d like to have an intimate writing circle, but we’ll see. I haven’t yet cracked the code for putting one together and it might be more of a time commitment than I can handle.
I genuinely enjoy mentoring and cheerleading, especially for other writers. If I had my druthers (and the time and money), I’d have a formal process for engaging and encouraging. I hate to think that’s something that will have to wait until I’m retired, but there you go.
The great thing about writers – most of us – is our generosity. The community crabs are well outnumbered by writers who will freely share whatever they know – craft tips, paying markets, technical advice, marketing know-how, publishing practices, and more. We’re good eggs.
If you can help another writer, I hope you will. I think you’ll find the emotional rewards well worth your investment of time.