Nine years isn't a long time in the writing game, but it's long enough. I've previously posted about my complete naivete when I began writing seriously ~ how I didn't even know how books got published ~ i.e., I didn't know there was such a thing as submitting to a literary agent. Query? What's a query? Is that something to do with math? I soon began searching out writing forums, where I could talk to others; not even to find advice, but simply to connect with others who liked writing, too.
I stumbled upon Absolute Write and was bowled over. I learned aspects of writing and publishing that I was completely clueless about. AW was my go-to for years, until either it changed or I did. Users would post their queries and get ripped to shreds, and I was offended by the meanness. I suppose, like any group that's hung around together for years, they claim to welcome newcomers, but they, in fact, abhor their presence. I wasn't much of a participant (just like in real life). I came there to learn, and after a time I gleaned all I needed.
However, having a place to hang out with other writers is a natural need. Once I stopped using AW I would use Google to find answers to specific writing or publishing questions, but those answers aren't necessarily trustworthy. Almost everyone who posts an article online has an angle. They are either deriving income from pop-up ads (I refuse to include Google AdSense on any of my blogs) or they're selling subscriptions or they have a reciprocal arrangement with someone else who's selling something. Hardly anyone is altruistic.
It wasn't until I found Reddit that I felt comfortable subscribing to a writing group again. I'm aware that I'm way older than the other members, but they don't know that and what does that matter anyway? These are real indie (or trade hopeful) authors who are neither afraid to ask "dumb" questions or too superior to offer genuine answers. Sure, snark comes into play occasionally, but who isn't sometimes snarky? I don't take offense to that. Plus, even someone like me sometimes has worthwhile advice to share. I only initially joined Reddit because I was looking for ARC readers and I learned that it has a subreddit specifically for that purpose. Yes, I joined for selfish purposes, but I soon found a few groups that sparked my interest. And there's none of that, "Are you new here? Introduce yourself." All one has to do is dive in. (Nobody really cares about some stranger's life history anyway.) If you're new and ignorant about writing and publishing, by all means create an Absolute Write account and immerse yourself in the minutia until you get a grasp of it. But then move over to Reddit, where you won't feel like an interloper.
Goodreads writing groups, on the other hand, have to be comprised of the dumbest people on earth. Most of its members haven't even bothered to learn the absolute basics of publishing. But they do love their book trailers! Yes, because having a book trailer is the surest path to riches. That's just make-work. First of all, a potential reader would have to find it. How does that work? I admit to having created one once. I admit to doing a lot of things out of boredom. I'd made scores of music videos for our band, so it was an intuitive process, but it was simply something to do. I really need to delete it, since the trailer was an ad for all my books (to date) and one of them isn't even available for purchase anymore. In fact, I should delete the account entirely. I don't think anyone has ever discovered it.
Then there's the person who keeps posting that "The outline for Chapter 101 of .... is finished!" What does that even mean? How many damn chapters is this book going to have? And who cares that you finished an outline, attention whore? Trust me, don't bother joining a Goodreads author group.
Yes, one can Google answers to writing questions, and if you're lucky, you might find something worthwhile, but a forum that presents a variety of opinions and even arguments over those opinions is a much more creative way to go. And we're creative people, after all.
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