Standing Back-to-Back: New Writers Need Community

By Ashley Worrell

Does your ignorance ever get the better of you? Mine gets me all the time. As a new writer I have made many decisions based on whether something sounds fun. This mentality has sometimes worked out well, sometimes not. This blog, for instance, sounded like a fun way to help me meet fellow writers, so I signed up to write a few. Last month, as I sat down to write my first blog entry it dawned on me… I don’t know that much about writing yet, so composing a blog about writing for an audience of authors, agents, and editors when you’re still a newbie might not be a great idea (I hope you’re chuckling. That’s ok—I’m up for the challenge).

Sometimes this has worked out for me in a big way, as it did by joining my local chapter of the ACFW. Last August, after beginning my first novel I decided to try out a local meeting in hopes that I would make a few friends. You see, after beginning a journey toward sobriety, and leaving my HR career, I didn’t have any. So, I brought my steno notebook, a pen, and showed up to the basement of Cross Roads Baptist Church in Greer, SC, to attend the ACFW Upstate SC Chapter.

As I walked in, I was sick with nerves. I’m an introvert. Worse, I’m an introvert with a past. But I felt God give me a shove in the heart and tell me to go for it. In under five seconds I was greeted, hugged, shown around, and found myself joking with our chapter’s president, Christine Boatwright. Not only did Christine make me feel incredibly welcome, but to my amazement she had her newborn in her arms, having just given birth (she’s supermom in her spare time), and she still wanted to help me.

At that meeting I got to hear my first real author (Misty Beller) give a presentation, sat through my first critique group, and met new writers just like me, and some seasoned ones. My takeaway at the end of this meeting were two things — 1) I didn’t know very much about how to get published, and 2) I just made 20 new friends who all wanted to help.

At ACFW Upstate SC I’ve met so many amazing women (and even a few men) who want to do everything they can to equip you to serve God, and to equip you to bring light to a very dark world through your writing. Thanks to my local chapter I’ve learned what the deal is with adverbs, what a query letter is, many kinds of story structure, what an agent is looking for, and also…how do you
keep going and not lose hope?As a new writer, do you ever feel overwhelmed? One new writer shares why community is important. #AshleyWorrell #writingcommunity #fellowship #ACFW Click To Tweet

Being a writer can be a lonely career, but thanks to my local chapter I’ve never felt alone. Not for a moment. My friend Karen Tyner led our devo at the start of our meeting last month and shared this passage from Ecclesiastes: “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in
real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”

Let me encourage you, new writer, that we’re all here to help you! We want you to succeed. Check out your local chapter, who knows— maybe you’ll find your cord.

Ashley Worrell is a repentant HR professional, thankful to be writing adventure stories instead of disciplinary notices. Since leaving the HR world in 2021, she has become a full-time writer and 2023 ACFW Genesis Contest Semi-Finalist. Connect with Ashley on Instagram @byashleyworrell