There’s an old saying that it takes a village to raise a child. In a lot of ways, this is true of writers as well. More on that in a moment.

It’s that time of year again…colleges and schools everywhere are starting back up. It’s time to get back to studying, or getting your kids ready for school, or simply enjoying the fact that you are no longer bound to being in classes anymore. The village–the folks here at WritAnon, the parents, the bus drivers, the teachers, the coaches, and, of course, the other students–is ready to help students (and writers!) grow through another school year.

After a summer of rest (or working jobs, depending on your stage of life), hundreds of thousands of students are back at class. While some may see this as a time of dread, this is really an opportunity for a new beginning. You can build your own community to help improve your writing…and you can also join ours if you’re not already a member.

Back To School by busymommy

College campuses and high schools are full of people who enjoy writing, so if you are in either of these places, please feel free to pass along a link to WritAnon to people you think might be interested. If your school has bulletin boards up to spread information among students (most colleges do), please consider posting up a flyer.

Back to the title of this blog entry, why do I say that it takes a village to raise a writer? Most feel that writing is a solitary endeavor…and in many ways, it is. However, many writers will find value in having several trusted people to:

• help critique a work
• point out what is done well
• notice when a writer’s style has improved
• give suggestions for improvement when opportunities arise.

This is exactly the type of community that we have built here at WritAnon.

All of us here at WritAnon share at least one goal–to continuously become better writers. This isn’t a single destination point, but is instead a journey. As many writers will agree, the destination isn’t what’s important…it’s the journey on how to get there.

This time of year brings plenty of opportunities for observant writers to advance their skill–going back to school is the perfect time to share some of your favorite stories with friends, and to write down some of the humorous things that happened to you or your friends.

Writers may also find this a good time to write about the feelings experienced during a life change (and going to school counts, especially if you’ve been out of the school environment for a while).  Some of these emotions may be:  stress, nervousness, excitement, and joy (to see old friends again).

Writing opportunities:

All of these emotions are ripe opportunities for exploring through your writing.  Take a few moments to try to capture some of the emotions you feel about going back to school. Are you returning after living in the “real world” for a long while? Are you looking forward to seeing friends that you haven’t seen all summer? What excites you about returning to school?

Not going back to school?  That’s fine, we have some activities for you too.  What’s your favorite story about going back to school?  Do you have kids?  What about the emotions you go through as a parent?

Feel free to write up a response and post it in the forums. You may be surprised at what feedback you get!