Unveiling the Hidden Secrets of a Discord [Writing] Channel. Should You Join One?
Hesitating? Got you.
Discord channel.
Slack group.
Hive.
Are you planning to join one? Did you dawdle? Held back?
I’ll be honest. I did.
Then, I didn’t know what was in there.
Years passed since I joined one. I have a better idea today. The short answer is…
Yes, you should.
Here’s why.
A giant marketplace awaits
Want to reach out to that sassy writer you secretly admire?
Yup. You are at the right place.
Chances are… your favorite writers are in that Discord/Slack/Hive channel. Of course, you [just] need to find the right one to join.
I assume you did.
Well. Not only will you find your favorite, sassy, kick-ass writer on the channel. Many others are there, too. Your fans. Your followers. Your commentators. Your who’s who.
You will realize, as I did, that the writer’s world is smaller than you think.
You will also notice,
- Your favorite writers learn from their favorite writers.
- Top Writers with different writing styles… are mentored by the same granddaddy.
- Publication editors and owners speak among themselves in a restricted access channel.
In short, the idea of a solo Top Writer is a fantasy.
Everyone is connected to someone, is connected to someone, is connected to someone… in a complicated network web.
Chances are, people know you, too.
And the skeletons in your open closet.
Think that you can escape unscathed with your plagiarized pieces? Or AI-generated work? Wondered why your reading stats and claps plunged?
That is because you are one unknown competing against multiple, giant, Discord groups.
One against many.
The odds are stacked against you.
Everyone in the Discord channel has their objective(s)
The anchor reason is obvious.
We want people to read our words. Really. That is it. What else is there? Amuse me.
And this is the thing.
Some folks are spider-patient.
They reach out, engage, and talk to you about your family, your writer’s goals, your top pieces and why, your sh!tty pieces and why, and they focus their attention on you.
They bid their time by spinning their cobwebs s-l-o-w-l-y.
Once they moved beyond simple connection, they,
- Distribute their work to you and ask you for your opinion,
- Actively asking you questions for writing inspiration,
- Consult you on how they can improve.
Now, I am not judging or criticizing.
[I think] These are all great. The best writers learn from the best writers. Nothing wrong, nothing surprising.
You want to learn from the best writers, too.
And-DD-
Genuine friendships can emerge from such reciprocity. More on that later.
Then, of course, there are the impatient ones.
You will bump into them quickly enough.
Those who,
- Openly complain that their work got rejected by editors in that Discord channel,
- Harassing editors on the status of their drafts-in-queue,
- Spamming their article links to [all] available channels.
Yup. Such folks do exist.
Again, I am not judging. I am just saying this.
Such behaviors are [to be] expected if you decide to join one. It’s a distraction. Look away.
Where is the gold mine?
Behind the smoke lies a gold mine.
Go snuff out the smoke.
I encourage you to do this, especially if the Discord channel has hundreds or thousands of people [in it]. You won’t like everyone, and not everyone will like you.
So, I say this.
Find your boat.
Yes, you hit the jackpot when you find your boat.
A small group of 4 to 5 like-minded people in your boat is all you need to,
- Ignite writing inspiration,
- Test headlines,
- Get feedback.
Yes. 5 like-minded writers trump 500 cold individuals.
Go seek your 5.
Here’s why.
The best writer support group I had… did not [actually] come from a Discord channel. It originated from fellow writers expressing mutual admiration for our work.
I read their words. They read mine. I’m impressed. I hope they are.
And then, I reached out. Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi.
They got on a Zoom call with me.
The rest is history.
We did not form an elaborate Discord channel. Simple does it. I collected their contact numbers and hopped into What’s App.
There, we,
- Spoke about the latest platform updates,
- Cross-verified the impact of the latest updates on our earnings,
- Solicited opinions on the best publications to send our work to,
- Compared notes on Boosted versus non-Boosted articles,
- Answered random or burning questions from within,
- Analyzed why our work got rejected,
- Shared how we can write better.
Together, we form a tide elevating all 4 of us to the next level.
What’s not to like?
Oh. We meet for lunch too.
We open our idea box more when we meet face-to-face. In fact, the last time I met Matt | Financial Imagineer,
- He spoke about his winning articles and why,
- I spoke about building rhythm into writing and how,
- We went back and forth on the current financial market conditions.
The entire conversation over lunch was [itself] a gold mine of writing ideas.
I experienced the same when speaking to Denis Gorbunov and Sarina Chiu.
All it takes… is one good conversation.
And this is my recommendation.
- Don’t speak to everyone.
- Speak to someone.
It works better.
You can do [exactly] what I did within a giant Discord channel. Find your birds, build a flock, soar, and fly away.
The close
So-
Should you join a Discord channel?
Why not?
You get to meet fellow writers and those you admire. It’s cool to have unfettered access to them, too. And, oh, your publication editors are there for you as well.
That is, cough cough, if you can get their time and attention. Good luck~
That said, do remember this.
No one is obliged to attend to you. You are one of the many in that giant pond. Don’t jump over the cliff when you have zero responses.
The best bet is this.
Fish for like-minded writers hidden within the Discord channel and then break away.
You benefit more from a smaller group of tightly knitted beings… than from one giant pool of individuals in a Discord channel.
So, yes.
Join one.
But don’t forget to fish for folks who think alike!
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Oh, oh, you can buy me a cup of black too! Thank you!