The Power of Community

Writing can be a lonely business. In my last post, I wrote about how one of the ways I address this, is to go out and do stuff, make stuff, and sometimes even break stuff. I get to speak to people who are passionate about their craft and knowledge, create with my hands, and it makes my writing richer.

But those trips punctuate long periods of sitting in my office, at my desk which is held together with duct tape (don’t ask…).

I’m curious, how do the solo / remote workers / freelancers among you do it?

When I was employed as an engineer — this was all pre-pandemic — I was commuting into London daily and had the energy for it. (It was also pre-child.) I did struggle when I had chores to run, at banks for example, which were only open during my working hours, but I managed.

So going from that, to forced isolation + maternity leave, to becoming self-employed on my own was quite the shock. And I felt deeply lonely on all fronts, as an engineer, writer, wife and mother.

As time went on, and things opened up again, it was difficult to ‘reintegrate’ in my new identity. I realised that community is key, and although it’s taken me years, I feel that I have found a good balance.

I am part of a science writer’s group, we try and have monthly calls to read and feedback on each other’s work. I also set up some writing hours, an online room where we write in silence, then catch up at the end.

I joined a coaching circle that meets online weekly where we talk about career and life challenges, share tips and get guidance on how to overcome them.

Some of my closest friends are now fellow writers. This is the best bit — we meet up in libraries in person and write together (and have rather long lunch breaks).

The other community is the school parents. Many of us don’t have the family ‘village’ to help with raising our kids on a daily basis, so we are now leaning on each other for support.

In a challenging world

I’ve been struggling with the news, and all the steps we seem to be taking backwards as a society. Realising that this was starting to paralyse me, I began listening to podcasts and reading advice on how to cope. The consistent theme I came across? Community. Knowing other people that shared your values, and working together to make change in your sphere of influence. Everything else is out of our control.

The community I created to pay it forward

The stuff I mentioned so far was to nurture me. But what about other people feeling similarly?

I co-founded a mentoring scheme called ScienceWrite (supported by The Royal Society) which is a programme to mentor UK-based early career science writers (both journalists and book writers) from marginalised backgrounds. Given the lack of diversity in this space, the aim is to empower these voices, to provide them with some tools needed to navigate this often opaque world. The best bit? Each cohort has around 15 writers. Community.

That’s the most valuable thing we can give others.

Tell me, what communities are you a part of, or have created?

Applications for the next ScienceWrite cohort will open this autumn, you can sign up for email updates on our website to hear more.

I will be taking a break over the summer, so will write to you next in September. Wishing you peace.