Welcome to Written with Williams

Writing: community and structure is key!

Find out how the Written with Williams community can help you.

How long have you been writing - have you just begun? Or, have you struggled on with writing your debut novel for over a year already?

No matter what stage you're at, the writing process can be bewildering and at Written with Williams we hope to provide resources and encouragement to help you to write something that you are proud of.

Journaling and planning your time can really help you write more

Difficulties in writing

There are many pitfalls that could stop you writing. Time is a big factor for most of us - when juggling family commitments, work, friendships and down-time, it can be almost impossible to find time to write. To combat the idea of 'not enough time' we'll look at how building a writing community and setting small goals is massively important to getting words on paper.

Building a community

While you may be lucky enough to have friends and family that are enthusiastic about your writing, you may also find that even the most attentive listeners, and the most interesting concept for a book, can become a boring topic, if spoken about for a bit too long. Think about all your friends with pets, or babies, a football team they support or perhaps a car they really love: we love hearing all about the things they're passionate about - but not for two hours non-stop.

This is where communities come in and why we have different groups of friends for different topics! The same goes for writing.

How to find your people

There are many different options out there when finding your community. There are great websites like meetup.com that allow you to find local groups in your area. You can also post on local Facebook pages!

Here on Written with Williams we hope to create an easy place to find other writers. We hold online group calls each month to connect with like minded people. Just subscribe to our mailing list to get the invitation each month (we send very few emails!)

We can also help you buddy up with another writer if you're interested in discussing your writing together - just drop us an email and we'll do the hard part!

In the near future we're planning on holding in person meet-ups in York, UK and in other places around the UK - so keep an eye out for these if you're local!

Get writing with limited time

As we know, time is a big problem for most of us when we want to get into any new habit. Running? Well, I'd have to get up too early. Reading? Well, books are longer than movies.

It's true. When we imagine going for a half hour run that seems daunting. The same when we imagine reading a whole book - so the idea of writing a whole book is a mammoth task!

When thinking about time and new habits its always best to start small. If you want to get up an hour earlier, try setting your alarm five minutes earlier for the first week., then ten... then fifteen...

You get the point.

Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. - Vincent van Gogh

When it comes to writing use the same principle. Don't wait until you have three hours of uninterrupted time. Start with five minutes, or ten. Sit down with your laptop, or just a notebook and just write whatever comes to mind. You might just find that twenty minutes pass in a flash.

Thank you!

Thank you for reading our first blog post! I'm trying to take my own (and van Gogh's) here advice and give myself a bit of time for each activity - including these posts and setting up this website! This is a small first step to reaching all of you lovely writers and thank you so much if you've read this far already. I'm looking forward to hearing from you and hopefully meeting some of you on an online or in person meet up!

Remember, small steps and keep on writing!

Sarah x

Let us know what you think of these ideas to get you writing and if you're interested in becoming part of our writing community. You can subscribe to hear about our online meet-ups in the footer, start a group in your area in the groups tab or drop us an email with any feedback!