How to Become a Better Member of the Writing Community ✍️✨

my thoughts on support, participation, & reciprocation - welcome to the Slush Pile!

As the dawn of a new year breaks, I’m excited to chat about community with y’all in Issue 28 of The Slush Pile! This month, I’ve been thinking a lot about my role as a writer on social media and the purpose of the online writing community as a whole. Before the pandemic, I was in college and only met and mingled with writers in person, rarely following people on social media that I didn’t know. But now we’re in a space where the pandemic continues to rage and virtual interactions, if limited, are at least safer than in-person ones. While that is slowly changing, the truth remains that the digital footprint we leave behind on social media and how we show up for one another is often just as important as our own accomplishments and the words we write as part of our creative practice.

As a result, I wanted to put together a guide for all of us (myself included) about how we can all become better members of the writing community and foster a space where everyone feels active and supportive and in turn, seen, supported, and welcomed. I’ve written on this topic a few times before, albeit in different contexts, and I hope this can be useful as we continue into the new year and support one another in everything that we write and share and do.

via inc.com

Before we can go any further, we need to talk about why building and maintaining a community is important in the first place. As many of you may have seen in recent weeks, there’s been a lot of discourse and drama on Twitter within the writing community on the platform. The book review bombing scandal of December 2023 was the tip of the iceberg; if you look back further, you’ll find plagiarism claims, sexual harassment allegations, accusations of racism and ableism, people advocating for copy-pasting your writing into ChatGPT, and just about everything in between.

While we love a good scandal and the perpetrators often deserve the backlash they get, I see discourse like this and get frustrated because, honestly, most of these problems could be solved if everyone just acted like decent human beings. Despite what capitalism may have us believe, the community doesn’t exist for us to compete with each other, to one-up each other, to abuse each other, to disrespect each other, to point fingers and blame. If we are to reclaim any sense of community, we have to start by taking responsibility for one another’s well-being and our own actions, moving with grace, and interacting with one another to foster a sense of support across genres, publishers, audiences, and anything else in this industry that is supposed to separate us. It’s a simple concept but one that, as we enter a new era, bears repeating.

Be an active (and responsible) social media citizen

Not everyone is on social media (which is honestly valid) but one of the easiest things you can do as a member of the writing community if you’re active on platforms like Instagram or Twitter is to interact with people’s posts. Sending a like is great, but especially if it’s a book announcement, publishing news, link to a new publication, or another exciting accomplishment, reposting it to your story or leaving a comment is also a great way to show how much you care and want to celebrate too! I can’t tell you how great I feel whenever I uplift my friend's accomplishments by letting them know in the comments or sending them a private message if that’s more comfortable for you. It sounds small and it often doesn’t take much time to say something like “Congrats!” or “Way to go!” or “Loved this!” or share their post to your story. But I can tell you from personal experience that it makes the person receiving your words feel seen, heard, and loved.

And honestly, it doesn’t even have to be about a personal or professional accomplishment for it to be worth responding to. If you feel compelled to, you can also interact with their selfies, their casual thoughts, their photo dumps. Spend as much time as you’d like throughout the day scrolling through your feed and leaving your mark because I promise, it’s worth it and people notice and reciprocate that energy back. For myself, I just want to show off how cool my friends are to my audience and that drives everything that I do and how I interact with others online.

Pre-order and request books

Non-writers don’t always know this but when you release a book out in the world, writing is half the battle. The other half is asking people to read it. Something you can do as a writing community member is to take on that work for books you’re excited for and really care about. You can make a big difference by pre-ordering books if you’re financially able to, especially those by marginalized creators and preferably from indie bookstores. It shows publishers and bookstores that books are in demand and projected to be successful. If you’re not able to, that’s okay too! Another great thing you can do is offer to blurb or write a review (of course, it helps if you know the author personally), not only because you get early exclusive access to the book but also because your quotes could potentially be printed on the book and used in marketing materials. Other authors could see that and make mental note to ask you to blurb their book as well, creating a positive domino effect for the community. Just please make sure you actually follow through and that you have enough time and energy to read the book, write about it, and send it back to the author.

You can also return to the last tip by reposting and sharing the author’s book announcement and link to your channels or, just as effectively, by requesting it at your local library. However you choose to do it, supporting books by people you love before they even hit shelves is incredibly important and contributes to a community where we celebrate each other’s wins and successes.

Read other people’s work

Read widely and deeply! This goes for any kind of publication including books, outlets, and literary magazines. Like I said earlier, showing up for other writers can take many forms, and reading work by contemporary and up-and-coming writers is a major way you can be an active part of the community. Let’s be honest: books and lit mag issues can be expensive. Even articles can be hidden behind a paywall. But there are plenty of resources out there to help you stay up-to-date and involved with what’s being published today. Visit your local library, borrow copies from friends, find low-cost or free e-books and PDFs, and keep an eye out for sales (which publishers and authors will often advertise on their channels). Being a reader is just as important as being a writer, not only because you’re supporting your peers but who knows - you may just get inspired to write something new!

Let people know you love their work

Some of my best days have started out that way because I got a message from a peer telling me how much my work meant to them or because I sent out such a message to someone else. Be part of the cycle of love! It might be nerve-wracking, especially if it’s someone you don’t personally know. But as someone with intense imposter syndrome and insecurity, I can concur that people telling me they love my work, that they connected to it and that they’re inspired by it, keeps me going. It makes the work worth it and me feel less alone. The important part here is to do it in a way that feels authentic and comfortable to you. It doesn’t have to be on a public platform. Instead, you can send something to their email (if you don’t know them personally, authors usually have a contact form on their website) or message them on social media. The point here is not to cross boundaries but to be respectfully enthusiastic and supportive of their work. Because let’s be real, y’all - writers love hearing about themselves!

Advocate for books and writing you love

This is somewhat a continuation of earlier tips but here we’re assuming that the books and writing have already been published, and there are lots of ways to support them after publication. Write a book review! Ask for an interview! Share a link to purchase or read with your networks! Create a social media post with a quote you loved and tag the author! If you still can’t find a book at a library, request it again. Push for books and authors you love to be seen. I’d also recommend going to virtual and in-person readings. Especially if it’s not for a high-profile author, these can have low attendance so it’s important to show up if you can and you’re available.

The best part? These action items don’t have to cost you a lot of time or money, if any. The point is to do what you can to support other writers within your abilities and build towards a more healthy and robust writing community.

Organize a writing group

What’s great about the era we’re living in is that we can create our own writing communities within the larger collective! Send invites to a few writers you know personally and whose work you love. Then, choose if you want it to be virtual or in-person (think about logistics and safety with this option), decide what kind of writing group it will be (generative, accountability, feedback, revision), set a consistent date and timeframe to meet, and stick with it! Of course, there are always going to be life circumstances outside our control so treat yourself and others with grace if meetings are missed or canceled. The goal here is to share space together, keep each other inspired and accountable, and support one another in your writing journeys, no matter where you’re at in your careers.

Write

Finally, the most important thing you can do as a member of the community is write! Make time within your busy schedule to dedicate yourself to your craft and project. Whether you’re just getting started in your career journey or have lots of work under your belt, we want to read your words. We want to celebrate you. We want to show you off. For all of its flaws, the community is good at doing that and I promise that however you choose to show up, however active you are, you’re always welcome here. Let’s celebrate one another!

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notes from the writer’s desk ✍️

• my favorite recently pub’d pieces:

  • Hollywood awards are performative symbols of progress, The Daily Orange

  • ‘Frog and Toad’ is the Ultimate Queer Comfort Show, LatinaMedia.Co

  • 12 Stationery Items from Latina-owned Brands to Organize Your Life in 2024, HipLatina

• updates:

  • I started grad school this week! For those of you who don’t know, I was recently accepted into Syracuse’s Library and Information Science online program and had my first class on Thursday. I’m already learning so much and am excited to use my newfound knowledge in my personal and professional lives. I’d love to write an essay about my experience someday!

  • I’m a weekly columnist, y'all! This past weekend, my first column for Syracuse’s student newspaper The Daily Orange went live (also linked above) and discussed last week’s Golden Globes in the context of much-needed structural changes in the industry. Be sure to follow me on social media to keep up with my weekly essays, which will focus on pop culture and media.

  • Thanks to college student Katalina Silva, my two poetry chapbooks STREAMING SERVICE: golden shovels made for TV and STREAMING SERVICE: season two were recently purchased by Smith College in Northampton, MA to be included their Special Collections in Neilson Library, which houses “original work like Sylvia Plath's first drafts of her poems” and “is a place for Smith students and the community of Northampton to access valuable material for research and educational purposes.” I’m beyond honored and thankful to Katalina for her advocacy of self-published Latina poets in academic libraries!!! <3

  • I’m so excited to announce the upcoming publication of my debut children’s book!! The book will spotlight past and present queer heroes from Latin America and the U.S. and is forthcoming from Jessica Kingsley Publishers. More info and details to come soon! In the meantime, please read this thread I wrote about the project.

• resources:

  • Looking for book recommendations? Check out my Bookstagram and TikTok to keep up with what I’m reading and loving right now! On TikTok, you’ll also get more snippets of my everyday writing life and lifestyle/fashion content. See you there!

other stories i’m loving 📖

• currently reading:

  • Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

• currently watching:

  • The Curious Case of Natalia Grace

• currently listening to:

  • “Lies You Tell” by Emotional oranges

all my love,

sofía xx