Building a Professional Network

Many people join writing organizations or sign on for professional service options because they feel the need to network. I can understand it - I've joined organizations in the past and keep active on Freelance Success (not only is there community, but the best market guides I've seen at an unreasonably reasonable price). And that can do early on for meeting other writers from a large geographic area.

But as your time in the industry grows, you'll probably find yourself craving a more specific set of interactions. For example, you might want to toss ideas around with people who share a specialty, or who have an equivalent degree of experience. For that, you will need to create your own network. It doesn't mean that you forgo areas you already frequent - though you may find yourself growing apart from some, and that can be completely natural. I find myself involved with a number of different microcosms of writers: emails with one set here, a private discussion group of about a dozen writers there.

When considering your own networks, remember that you will have a few things you'll need from the collection of communities:

• There must be some writers that you can help. By teaching, you make conscious that which you know from experience, which lets you more intelligently work. This also lets you pay back some of the enormous debt we all incur through life.


• You must be able to learn from others. That means, there have to be writers with at least as much experience as you, who have digested those lessons differently from you, so they will have another set of insights that can instruct.


• You need to have an atmosphere of underlying amicability. That doesn't mean constant agreement, and it doesn't mean avoiding conflict. You can't learn or grow without some disagreements. But be sure people are willing to express their difference with you and listen to yours with them in a professional manner.


• Don't approach networking from a sense of dependency. If you're hoping that a given set of writers will be a good source of work leads, you're heading in the wrong direction. Most of what you can share with colleagues is more fundamental than specific assignments.

It's a strange balance, because on one hand, these people often won't be close friends as you're used to. However, they're not going to be mere acquaintances. I like the word colleagues; it indicates a specialized friendship where the ties go deeper than convenience.