That said, you cannot write in a vacuum. In order to write content that is worthy of publication, you have to interact with other people. A community of writers is essential if you are looking to beat writer’s block, get inspired, and obtain a fresh perspective on things.

That’s where writer communities come in handy. You do not even have to leave the comfort of your home. Thanks to the internet, you can now benefit from the sense of community that comes with sharing ideas with other writers. All you have to do is find online writing community sites, become a member, and get started.

Below are 4 online writer communities that are worth exploring:

1. WritersCafe.Org

WritersCafe.org is a very active online community for writers. As a member of the site, you will be able to post your work for reviews, obtain advice on member forum, join different writer groups depending on the kind of writer you are and review other people’s work.

You can also participate in hundreds of writing contents that are free to enter, subscribe to writing courses to improve your writing, and search for literary agents, literary magazines, and publishers.

The types of written works you can share or read via the writerscafe.org site vary. You will be able to submit poetry, scripts, screenplays, novels and short stories.

If you are looking for a sense of community, as well as honest feedback to help you grow as a writer, seriously consider joining WritersCafe.

2. Scribophile

Scribophile is another site that you should explore if you are on the lookout for an online community of writers. The site also has online writing workshops.

As a member of Scribophile, you will be able to submit content in multiple forms. The site is particularly great for any novels that you have in mind. You can share your works of this nature for a chance to get honest feedback from other writers who read them. In return, you will have a chance to critique other people’s works in order to help them improve their writing.

You will have the right to protect your copyright on Scribophile. Only members of the community will get the chance to see what you are capable of doing.

You will also have the chance to compete against all the other members of Scribophile community in free contests.  Cash and other prizes will be offered to the winners of those contests. That money can come in handy when you are a struggling writer, don’t you think?

Another benefit of becoming a community member of Scribophile is getting access to the writing academy resource. Through the academy, you will learn more on better ways to write articles, works of fiction and even poetry.

The academy also provides learning materials on publishing. All the information you garner from industry professionals will go a long way towards increasing your chances of becoming a published author.

While there is a premium package for those willing to pay for advanced Scribophile services, the basic account is free and very useful. All you have to do is sign up!

3. LitHive

If you are looking to interact with your target audience, get inspiration for new works, and sell your existing books to a larger audience, then LitHive it is.

LitHive is where people go to read books. But it also happens to be an online community that allows writers like you to assemble, market, and sell your books more conveniently. The site will provide your target readers with a way to find your books and connect with others interested in your product.

As a member, you will then have a chance to start a group (known as a hive) that revolves around your books, interact with your readers, and build a relationship with them. This will make your readers more amenable to buying new books from you in the future.

LitHive accepts works belonging to different genres and of different types. You could promote your anthologies or novel. Inspirational books, romance or science fiction will also find a home on the site. As long as your book is good, people will consider reading it.

Through LitHive, you can create and post content, collaborate with other content creators and editors, make book sales in form of subscriptions and one-time sales, interact with your readers and allow them to create fan pages and still get to manage your royalties.

You can also join the global community on the site. That’s the group section where all writers get the chance to discuss writers’ marketplaces, writing ideas, and publishing challenges. This kind of discussion will foster a sense of community while helping you and every writer on LitHive learn what you don’t know.

All you have to do in order to enjoy the benefits of LitHive is to sign up!

4. Writers-Network

Writers-Network is another writing community that you should definitely consider exploring if you are looking to connect with other writers and share your content.

All manner of creative writing will find a home on the site. So submit your non-fiction articles, fictional works as well as poetry. The work you post will then be critiqued and you will receive advice and constructive criticism as feedback from other members. You can also do the same for a chance to earn points.

All the content you submit will go a long way in helping you build your writer’s portfolio, so submit your best works.

It’s also worth noting that the Writers-Network community site accepts multiple genres. You will have a chance to share content under non-fiction genres such as abuse and money and finance, poetry genres like haiku and free verse, and fictional genres like adult fiction, romance, thrillers, and westerns. Really, the choices are quite many.

Through the writing community site, you will also be able to challenge yourself by participating in contests. If your work is good, you may end up receiving a prize.

For those days when you are stuck and looking for inspiration, Writers-Network won’t disappoint. The site offers writing prompts that you could use to get started on your writing again.

Another wonderful feature of the online writing community is the forum section of the site. If you are looking to have discussions on different books like poetry classics for a fresh perspective, you will find what you are looking for in the forums.

Discussions on all matters poetry, writing-related advice, and opportunities to advertise your new works for free can also be found in forum section. Just be sure to use all the writing tools at your disposal.

As you can see, you do not need to leave the comfort of your home in order to connect with other writers. Just take advantage of the above-named writer communities and any others you come across to get inspired, challenged, and to market yourself as a writer. You will be amazed at how connecting with other writers can improve your work.

Bio: Ellie Matama is a Kenyan-based freelance writer. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, watching cooking shows, and fantasizing about global travels. you can reach her via LinkedIn.

Blaze is a new print and electronic publisher focusing on publishing fiction books for young adults and middle grade readers. They seek to publish books in a wide variety of genres including fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as long as that book has heart. They want readers to finish their books feeling happy and uplifted.

Because they are new, they do not have much of a track record, but what they do have is mostly good.  The first book they published, Asleep, has sold well. All the covers they have released so far are excellent. The website is focused on selling books in a concrete way. All of these are good signs.

They have also continued to publish books on the schedule they set for themselves and they have clear marketing strategies, such as Goodreads giveaways for forthcoming book.

There is a warning sign, that successful first book is written by the editor of Blaze. Also, they are very new.  This is just their second full year of being in business. But so far they seem to be doing well.

Blaze publishes manuscripts between 55,000 and 120,000 words in lengths. All submissions should be made via email. Submit a query letter, the first three chapters of the manuscript, a couple of sentences describing the message your book contains, a short author bio, and contact information. They do not open attachments so all of this should be pasted into the body of the email.

They will consider work that has been previously self-published but they prefer work that is previously unpublished. They try to respond to all submissions within eight weeks.

Learn more at their website here.

These three anthologies all have very different focuses but they are all seeking submissions. One is looking for poems relating to Bob Dylan, one is looking for essays using readymade forms, and one is looking for work by queer writers about the natural world.

First do some arm stretches to get your blood flowing. This is important, because the blood flow actually helps you think better. It might not seem obvious at first, but getting your blood flowing will make your brain work that much better because of the extra blood flow reaching your thought-producing brain cells.

After stretching, write down a title on the top of your page. It should not be very long. Often my titles are very cliché and obvious, like The Dark Island, or The Wishing Well.

Next you should set a timer for three minutes. Then you should write as fast as you can until the timer runs out. Don’t try to make sense, don’t try to match the title, just try to write as fast as you can without even thinking about it. If you are writing as fast as you can you will end up writing about unusual things. Things you would otherwise never write about.

After the timer is up, your writing might be hard to read, it might not make sense in places, but you will have created something new and interesting. You also will have warmed up your writing muscles, and will be prepared to work on more serious writing.

If you enjoy this exercise, I recommend doing it daily, keeping close track of your progress. After each session, record the number of words you can write in a minute. If you do this exercise often enough, your writing will get faster and faster. When I started I could only write about 120 words in three minutes, and after about a month, I could write 165 words in three minutes. Not only that, my writing got more polished, even as it got faster.