This project keeps making me reflect on who I am and how I got here. Maybe it’s seeing Shifting Sands through multiple perspectives? Or perhaps the focus on author identity? Either way, lately I’ve been thinking about the things that helped me grow into a writer and one of those things was an online community called Brigit’s Flame. So, if you’re interested in becoming a writer, or maybe just curious about how this particular writer got here, let’s go back in time to the days of Livejournal!
Livejournal?
Ah, Livejournal. According to its About page, Livejournal is a mash-up of blogging and social media. Users can customise their pages, engage with established communities, and make friends with people who share your interests. And, from my memories of the site, I can kind of see it. The potential for longform, blog-style content is unusual compared to today’s social media platforms. But I also remember it being more social than blogs I use now because you could link in to other communities. In my case, that meant linking with other writers, learning from their experience, and building my own. From a purely writing perspective, I actually think my time on Livejournal helped me grow more than almost anything else I’ve done.
I started Livejournal around 2010. As someone interested in becoming a writer, I knew I had to start getting my work out there, but I didn’t really want anyone I knew to read my stuff. I didn’t want another Bebo situation… And, I’m not gonna lie, I was very much in my emo phase and I’d heard that having a Livejournal was a thing. So, I started one. I found a few writing communities to casually dip into, because it really was that easy to find your place on Livejournal, but the most important of these was Brigit’s Flame. I owe so much of my writing development to that community. Especially my improved comma use! (Let’s not talk about semi-colons)
Weekly Writing Prompts
Brigit’s Flame was an online community of writers, but their whole thing was writer growth. The community wanted you to improve. Part of the way they did this was the weekly writing prompts. Each week, there would be a new prompt to respond to and you could “win” a month. I don’t remember much about how you won – I think members voted? – but if you got four weekly wins in a month, you would win that month. I “won” one month but I can’t seem to find it by rereading my old entries. But winning, for me, wasn’t the most important thing. It was the challenge. It was the feedback.
The thing I loved most about Brigit’s Flame was that the community was truly engaged. I looked back through my Livejournal last week and seeing the comments from people I only knew by their avatars was like meeting old friends again. If you entered the prompts regularly – as the monthly “win” encouraged you to do – you would start to see who were the regulars in the community and they would give you feedback because they knew you. I learned so much about story construction through those comments, particularly as someone who didn’t really write short stories until then. And, looking through my old entries, I can see myself growing into a real writer. Honestly, finding the post where the only comment about my comma use was that I had no issues with commas was a great moment.
Becoming a Better Writer
So, what can we learn from this little wander down memory lane? Well, first and foremost, I desperately miss it. There really was a great community there, full of people I could learn from and share my support with. I hope they are all doing well. But I think the carry-forward thoughts are this:
- If you want to become a better writer, find yourself a community. Twitter obviously has the writing community, but for fuller feedback you may want to try something that will give you longer form possibilities.
- Writing regularly really does help. You can see your progress and feel yourself developing a style.
- Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Try writing in a different style, different genre, different length. Just play with it and see where it takes you.
If anyone wants to do a play month at some point, where I come up with some prompts and we all write things, I am 100% up for that. Totally about becoming better writers, not just my desire to have fun, you know?
