The Creativity Project: Supporting Your Writer

Ways I’ve gotten support as a writer and author

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

One of the big things I’ve gotten lately is a lot of financial and mental support from my family. And it got me thinking about all of the support I have gotten and needed as a beginning writer.

Writing is a solitary endeavor. As an introvert, most of the time I don’t even notice that I’m lonely until it’s a bit too late. So I thought I’d talk about all of the things you can do to help support the writers and authors in your life.

1. Honor our writing time. Especially if we’ve communicated to you that we will be writing at a specific time. Nothing is more frustrating than finally hitting that sweet flow state only to be knocked out of it by someone who interrupts us for something trivial. While this is mostly a mental task, it is still important to us. Unless the house is on fire, don’t stop me from writing.
2. Buy us a coffee, tea, drink of choice. Having drinks or snacks on hand while writing goes a long way to keep us from getting distracted from the task of writing or getting hangry.
3. Take something off their plate if they are under a deadline. Lightening the mental or physical load makes writing easier. This doesn’t have to be an everyday thing, but if we are on a tight deadline, the last thing we need to think about is taking out the trash. When I’m off deadline, I will do a huge deep clean or whatever chores you want, but I will need help maintaining the house while I finish this book. I promise, I will return the favor later.
4. Follow our social media and engage with it. Nothing is more terrible when you start out than to be screaming into the void with no response. That’s one of the things I love about one of my friends. I know that no matter what, I will have at least one comment on my YouTube videos after he watches. It makes me feel less alone.
5. Listen to us talk about out book. Most of the time, especially if we’re stuck, we just need to talk through the problem. A sympathetic ear goes a long way, even if you can’t give me solutions. Be excited because we’re excited. I know most of the time, my friends and family don’t understand my ramblings because I don’t give full backstory, but they let me get it out. And that’s amazing.
6. Give gifts of pens, stationary, and craft books. This comes with a little caveat. Make sure you know what the writer likes. Fancy pens and notebooks are wonderful, but for me, they will sit unused and cause me anxiety. I normally used spiral bound notebooks and Pilot G2 pens, nothing fancy. But I get more excited for a pack of ink to refill those pens than I do for a new fountain pen.
7. Body double for us. Sometimes, all we need is to have someone there while we write. We’re not going to talk most of the time, but physically having someone with us is one of the best gifts. There’s a reason why there are so many write with me videos out there.

Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list, but I hope it’s a start for the writers out there to ask for the support they need and a place to open a conversation of how you can support your writer.