I’m a big fan of setting up a regular writing ritual -- one so pleasurable you are drawn back to it every week. And most of the time, this is alone time. It is a universal truth that no one can write your book but you.

And yet.

I’m really not a fan of writing completely alone. 

Writing in Community

It’s a bit like having a personal trainer or a workout buddy. You might have difficulty showing up for a 6am sweat session all by your lonesome, but if you know someone is there waiting for you, the odds are high you won’t stand them up.

Building a writing community has been critical for me. Over the years, this one thing more than anything else has kept me writing when I might have put the pen down or shut the laptop.

There are different ways of writing in community. The key to knowing which option is the best one for you right now is to get clear on what you are looking for:

1. Do you need personalized critique on a piece of writing, to know if it’s...