Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
#29 Popping Bubble Wrap
I love advent calendars. When I was a child, opening one day made me smile.
This year, my husband made advent calendars for the family. We woke up to three big blankets of bubble wrap with a grid of numbers drawn on it. Popping those bubbles in the square each day brought a smile to my face and brought a little the fun back into my holiday.
One of the hardest parts of writing was being alone all of the time. Even the most die-hard introverts needs a close friend with a like mind to bounce creative ideas back and forth. But reaching out to a bunch of strangers about the process of my writing raked down my spine from the word “reach.” What could I do? Where could I go?
I went to coffee houses and hung out at the mall nonchalantly listening to the noise. I had accomplished finding the live energy to feed from while I created words on the page. Unfortunately, I missed the writer to writer exchange in both situations.
The banter. The unique humor. The feeling of normality among the eccentric.
Then I checked out a few local writing groups. The meetings were awkward, to say the least. The devil within surfaced and told me I’d never be able to have everything wanted as long as I continued to write. I felt at a loss. I could’t give up writing without chopping off my hand and I couldn’t give up my human needs for interaction.
Someone mentioned Twitch.tv’s creative channel. The self doubts were real, don’t get me wrong. Live streaming my writing process? Letting tens and hundreds of viewers intimately witness my chaotic thoughts seemed like answering spam texts on my phone. That’s just crazy talk!
Feeling like an outcast in my own skin, I had nothing to lose.
I launched my first broadcast in August 2015 writing my Cyberpunk Robin Hood science fiction novel. That first stream was lonely. I didn’t quite understand how it all worked and I was a little uncomfortable. After a couple of more streams, my community started building. I had my first ten: Casei Magnus, KittyFlow, Kovo, Ineythedark, Ninjbackhater, Bonozo Apps, Foobork, Final Boss Editing, Freddy the Awesome and Silent Willow! These streamers made me smile with each broadcast. They were endearing, supportive, and interested in writing. Some of them are writers! The others are talents on a different branch. Since then, I’ve gotten a few other notable followers and I’ve grown to become a better writer because of it.
Grab a cup of coffee, follow me, then check out what is happening live on Twitch.tv’s creative #streamwriting! Follow me there or on twitter for live broadcast notifications.
Watch live video from JudyDawn on www.twitch.tv