Top 10 Online Writing Communities to Perfect Your Craft
Whatever type of writer you are, you could use some company. Personally, I only sit with a group of wordsmiths and get letters onto paper a couple of times during the year. In a bid to hone my craft, I’ve been participating in text conversations all over the web in online writing communities. These dedicated forums for writers enrich my content and daily life in many ways, whether it’s finding motivation to keep prose flowing, getting help to build characters, or simply improving my style.
I also found that these online writing groups are among the best places for getting ideas out there. To begin, introduce yourself in the forums, respond to comments and suggest new ideas. You’ll quickly link with people who will push your vocab, views and verbal reasoning. Most importantly of all, use discussion to escape from the mundane while making your writing exquisite.
Keep in mind that these writing forums have different target audiences. From this article, you’ll get an inkling of the main characteristics of each community. The next thing you should do is go and participate in the discussions, to see which one is right for you.
So, stick with me as I narrate you through the top online writing communities for authors of all levels, genres and styles:
Writing Forums
Mythic Scribes
She Writes
NaNoWriMo
Wattpad
Writing about Writing
Commaful
Writing Prompts
Writers Anonymous
Critique Circle
Bonus: Start your own writing community
01. Writing Forums
Best for: Writers who want to improve their skills.
This is one of the best places to connect with other writers. 22,551 (and counting) literati of all abilities exchange tips and engage in discussions about writing techniques. If you’re in the mood for a natter, simply jump into the various topics up for debate, suggest your original ideas and respond to copy concepts. If you’re more of the emulous type, you’ll find it exciting to join contests that motivate and build your skill levels.
But the most glorious aspect of Writing Forums really is the palpable sense of solidarity. Swapping reviews is popular practice between members. You’ll get lots of actionable feedback from word-loving comrades. What’s more, this community is supported by mentors who have an important responsibility in the social hierarchy. To see who your own private group of helpers could be, check out the people in the Mentor Directory - a golden resource for finding the right person to appraise your words.
02. Mythic Scribes
Best for: Fantasy authors and rambling Game of Thrones fans.
Ready to bring folkloric elements to your writing life? If you’re a fantasy author, or remotely interested in anything magical, I strongly recommend joining the Mythic Scribes forum. You’ll get to discuss all aspects of building your legendary world, from the intricacies of ergot mixed with mead, to the detailed origins of dragons. There’s an open-minded forum atmosphere, where people freely roam imaginary realms and discuss historical research.
On signup, you’re prompted to create five posts - an engagement trick that worked well for me, because moderators quickly replied to my initial messages and got me talking. The mods are working hard to make writing easier and more enjoyable. Seriously, you’ll be improving your writing every time you post. As an added bonus, the website has a fairly quiet chat room, meaning you can have a coherent chin-wag, without getting swamped with a bombardment of banter or annoying notifications.
03. She Writes
Best for: Self-published female authors looking for business tips.
Joining She Writes is an indispensable career move for female authors who want to develop a professional network or get advice. Even though the organisation’s aim is to support women writers, you don’t have to be a lady to sign up. In fact, anyone can make the most of the science shared within the chats.
To get deeper into discussions about different writing styles, start joining the groups. You’ll find that disseminating practical writing knowledge is this community’s strength. Perhaps you need some pointers on how to get an agent? Tips regarding marketing your work? Or guidance whilst writing a memoir? This is the place to ask your questions and link up with successful fictionistas, inspired poetesses and freelancing ghostwriters. Take a look at the site members for a who’s who and you will see a clan of women who can help you along your writing journey.
04. NaNoWriMo
Best for: Procrastinating novelists needing a bit of motivation.
This community is based around the annual challenge of writing a 50,000 word novel during the month of November - hence NaNoWriMo, which is not the name of a waggish Star Wars droid, but the abbreviation of “National Novel Writing Month”. However, chats in this forum are not limited to one month. All year round, you can plan your next novel and make notes, with help from other members. It became so popular that many of the other writing communities have multiple threads devoted to NaNoWriMo.
When November arrives and you start to pour out a novel, just keep writing and don’t give up! If you feel like you’re slacking at any time, you can get a surge of literary productivity from your digital mates. On completing the challenge, you’ll finally have the first version of a book you can go on to edit and improve.
05. Wattpad
Best for: Chick-lit fans who love using emojis.
As an online self-publishing platform, with a booming forum to go with it, this site embodies the digital reformation of the writing industry. Netflix’s hit movie The Kissing Booth is based on a story published via Wattpad that got super famous, demonstrating that, in the 2020s, it’s all about getting your drafts out into the universe.
Half of the Wattpad site is devoted to digital books, the other half to the bustling forum community. The forum functions for readers to hang out, discuss characters and their daily lives too. It’s also the place for authors to create some hype and interact with their audience. If you publish a story on Wattpad, follow up by generating social buzz in the community. To quote Ken Blanchard, “feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Be brave enough to ask for opinions. It’s scary at first, but it’s a great way to boost your confidence as a writer.
Best for: Humorous writers whose phones are extensions of their arms.
This group is the place to go when you should be writing but you’re on social media instead. (Writing comments on Facebook counts, right?) Apparently loving a good meme, the page admin posts conversation starters and is thoroughly fluent in the language of sarcasm.
This community is less about posting written work and more about what’s going on in the replies. Sometimes crude yet often refreshing points of view are strewn in amongst the pun madness, alongside sprinklings of useful links. Keep in mind that you might need to learn a few new words to understand the punchlines of the community’s wordplay jokes. And, if you’re not attuned to the participants’ humor, it’s possible to think some people in this digital-ecosystem are a bit grumpy.
This Facebook page deserves a humongous shout-out for being proactive regarding accessibility. It’s glorious that all text in pictures is transcribed, so software can read it out loud.
07. Commaful
Best for: Snapchatters in tune with their feelings.
The format of the Commaful community’s super short stories is what makes this site unique. Thriving on succinct multimedia writing, members are doing more than just using written words to communicate. They illustrate their stories, chunked line by line, with pictures, resulting in interactive digital picture books. Because there’s less text on a screen at one time, it makes reading more manageable. Instead of leafing through pages of a book, the interactive tapping is equally as tactile.
Commaful is home to a community of nicely spoken, emerging writers who enjoy inspiring and sensitive poetry. They use writing as catharsis, so you can sense emotions running high. Holistically a great space for creative expression and therapeutic writing.
Best for: Newsfeed scrollers looking for inspiration.
Encompassing a gigantic amount of activity, it may be hard to initially find your feet in the Reddit social sphere because of the intense multi-layered landscape. But if you invest enough time to surf through Reddit, you’ll find the right spot to write. Writing Prompts is a good place to start. With over 14.2 million promptians signed up, it’s one of the most visited online meeting places for scribes on the net right now.
Kickstart your writing by creating short stories inspired by any of the prompts. Be warned though, the Reddit community does not hold back in their reviews. Just try not to blub. You’ll get a thicker skin and you’ll become a tougher writer. You could even discover someone to collab’ with.
Best for: Technologically savvy creative writers.
Writers Anonymous is good for meshing with people from many backgrounds, with different mindsets, who can read your work with fresh eyes. Consequently, this makes writing even more inspiring for you. As usual, share cool links, but avoid major self-promotion. There’s definitely more opportunity to use chatspeak compared to forementioned communities.
Getting used to the Discord platform initially takes lots of clicking around, because of its hashtag-based user interface. The platform was initially created for gamers to chat via their microphone headsets, so it’s the perfect setting for role-play writing. No wonder the stylish dark-mode interface is silky sleek, as gamers are some of the most tech-trendy peeps I know. Check out Disboard, an index for all the Discord subcommunities and search for writing keywords that take your fancy.
10. Critique Circle
Best for: Writers searching for beta readers.
Fab’ for scouting beta readers, it’s no wonder Critique Circle is one of the Internet’s most popular writing forums. Running on a credit system, you “pay” credits to submit your story and score credits for writing a critique on someone else's stuff. The amount you earn depends on the word count of the story and the review. Note that the quality of critiques can vary and some critters may not pay attention to your overarching plotline. You don’t have to write for critiques though. Just write because you enjoy it, in a similar fashion to the heaps of passionate writers that congregate there.
The sign up and browsing experience is easy-going. You can bookmark interesting reads for later and even personalize your front page. As an added bonus, you can access all sorts of statistical information about the members. According to the figures, most users are 26-30 years old who prefer to post critiques on Wednesdays! There’s awesome word association amusements and it’s a great place to chat about the books that you’ve been reading.
11. Bonus: Start your own writing community
Hopefully, this article has inspired you to join one of these digi-communities. Alternatively, it’s completely possible to build your very own writers’ community today. Ready to start? Then create your forum with Wix. It’s literally as straightforward as writing a couple of posts and inviting members to join the conversation. If you’re an author, you’ll find that bringing together the right contacts to chat about writing on your very own individual website will set you apart from the rest of the crowd. Or, simply create some excellent written content and be confident enough to share it with the world.
Looking to create a blog? Wix has got your covered with thousands of design features, built-in SEO and marketing tools, that will allow you to scale your content, your brand and your business.
Ffion Quick, UX Writer at Wix
Eat, sleep, write, repeat.
