A little camaraderie goes a long way

Camaraderie: a feeling of trust and friendship among a group of people who have usually known each other for a long time or gone through some kind of experience together (Collins dictionary)

Photo by Andraz Lazic on Unsplash

Camaraderie is just one of several words I feel as I walk up the staircase to the dance studio on a Monday morning. Full of twinkle toed small people in the afternoon but in the morning, home to a motley cru of middle-aged mostly women enduring HiT and Pilates with the lovely Bren.

And endure them we do. We moan and groan, Bren naming our WhatsApp group (because does the group even exist if it doesn’t have a WhatsApp group) Moaning Monday HiT.

But we keep coming back. We have somehow bonded over sweaty brows and collapsing planks. Iffy co-ordination and balance, spotty dogs and sumo squats.

It’s like a gentle cloak of camaraderie has settled over that room and whilst we walk in with hesitation – just how will the body respond this morning – we always emerge smiling. Not quite believing we’ve made it through - again - before shuffling across the road for a quick coffee at Wetherspoons (Yes, we go to ‘spoons for coffee because it’s only a few steps across the road from the studio which is all we can manage after class!).

And camaraderie has been the unexpected joy I’ve found with writing, having quickly discovered that far from being an individual sport, moving the pencil across the page is very much a team activity.

There’s the WhatsApp group from the first memoir course I did back in February 2022, always someone ready, willing and able to read a submission or first draft. Then there’s our local writing group that meets on the middle Thursday of the month in our local bookshop, sometimes more often if we have a spoken night or there’s an author book chat. Our Slack group a hive of support, encouragement and information on workshops and competitions in between meet-ups.

I started Lily Dunn’s Compelling memoir course last week because yes, all the learning and insight into memoir writing and assignments to nudge us along the way, but really, it’s the people. The introductory Zoom giving tantalising hints as to the stories lurking behind the screens.

There’s this Substack space I’m getting to know, and not forgetting my numero uno for writing camaraderie, London Writers Salon.

Seriously, so many people writing, and I love it.

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I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries — the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art.” 

Ursula Le Guin, National Book Awards speech, 2014

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So, whether you scribble idle thoughts on scraps of paper or used to love writing but got out of the habit and lost confidence. Maybe you used to journal or keep a diary, write angst ridden, earnest poetry as a teen.

Or maybe, just maybe you’d like to play around with words and find a more creative way of writing those reports and presentations and emails and Teams exchanges - seek out your kindred writing spirits and write with them. Because something truly beautiful happens when people who write come together.

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Writing courses and workshops

If you want a gentle writing nudge, want to explore a particular genre or hear how writers write, check out these places. There are loads of workshops, retreats, webinars, masterclasses and courses happening all the time but if you’re in the UK, here are a few I’ve tried out not forgetting that Substack is one massive writing community too.

• London Lit Lab: this is the course I’m doing now led by author Lily Dunn: Creative non-fiction: Compelling memoir

• Arvon: I’ve done a couple of online masterclasses and webinars, one with Colm Toibin, another with Kerry Hudson.

• London Writers Salon: my writing mothership and a global online community with daily writers hour, monthly goal-setting, podcasts and masterclasses, virtual writing rooms and all the camaraderie any writer could ask for

• Curtis Brown Creative I did this course in Feb 2022: Writing a memoir with Cathy Retzenbrink

• New Writing North I’ve only just discovered this group but went to a great webinar with Substack’s Farrah Storr last week.

• Check out your local bookshops and library

And all I’d say is that if you feel a little nervous, maybe because you don’t think of yourself as a ‘writer’ please don’t let that get in the way. I’m still getting used to the writer label, but I’ve found the writing community incredibly open and welcoming. I genuinely wouldn’t be sat here in my navy walled home office writing to you without the support of other writers.

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Memoirs on the reading pile

Memoirs are dominating my reading pile right now, so here are a few that always spring to mind when anyone says the word memoir. But please add to the list in the comments, I’m always hungry for book recommendations.

• Notes to Self by Emilie Pine

• You left early by Louisa Young

• Sins of my father by Lily Dunn

• Educated by Tara Westover

• I am, I am, I am by Maggie O’Farrell

• Bad Blood by Lorna Sage

Photo by Ioann-Mark Kuznietsov on Unsplash

Notebooks for left handers – any ideas?

My stash of Agenzio notebooks, bulk bought before Paperchase closed for good is running down and I’m in the market for a new supply. If anyone knows where I can get some more (at an ok price, not bonkers eBay prices) or a good alternative I’d love to know. The A5 size, multi-coloured covers and being able to open them fully worked perfectly for this left hander.

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Inconsistently consistent

In my mind this pops out fortnightly, sometimes I’ve managed it weekly, other times it’s been three-weekly or monthly. I’d love to tell you that there’s a magical world out there where I commit to regular schedule (and stick with it) but for the moment I’m filing it under ‘things I’m really good at helping other people do, not so good at doing myself.’

Because besides these musings and the memoir writing, I still love writing blogs and email newsletters for other people. And it’s a joy, because this sociable introvert loves being behind the scenes and helping other people to find their voice and words, sometimes I find it so much easier than putting my own words out into the world!

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Here’s to all the scribbling and thanks for reading, and let’s share any writing course, workshop, notebook reccos as well as any other thoughts in the comments below!

Harriet

PS I binned the draft Substack I wrote last week and scribbled this after HiT this morning, so please excuse any typos and stray commas. In the spirit of ‘just bloody write it Harriet’ I’m hitting post and fully expect to see a typo pop up immediately!