In 2010 I joined www.shewrites.com, an online community of female writers from all over the world, which began in 2009. It has now grown to be the largest online community and content site for women writers. In 2012, the publishing arm of She Writes was founded, called She Writes Press. To date, She Writes Press has signed more than 200 authors and is the most award-winning hybrid publisher in the industry. Yowzer.
In 2010, when I first joined, She Writes ran a competition called the “Six Word Memoir Contest“. Writers had to explain why they write in only six words. Although the competition was over by the time I joined they were still accepting submissions for fun. I didn’t put much time into this, given there was no incentive (ugly competitive side makes a rare appearance haha) but I liked the prompt. Why do I write? Trying to answer this in a meagre six words was tough and this is the lame Not-Shakespeare I came up with: “Written Words Express What Mouth Cannot.” I warned you it was lame.
The winner of the competition came up with a beautiful answer: “Write it Down Set it Free” (by Amy Hartl Sherman). Ah, I love that. It’s perfect. I think every writer can identify with that. Writing is a liberation, a vent and it sets emotions, ideas, thoughts and the inner workings all free.
If you are a writer looking for resources and support, join the She Writes community. Even amateur writers are welcome, the site supports writers at every stage of growth. Join here: www.shewrites.com
Amy Hartl Sherman by the way is a comedian as well as writer and she is very good at being both. Read some of her far more interesting blogposts here: WITFACED by Amy Sherman
The London Author