Was wondering if anyone has taken the time to find a mentor either for their writing or publishing hopes. If you have, how did you go about getting one? How helpful has it been to you? I don't have one and don't know where to begin. And college won't help - I have been out of college for some years now and no longer have any ties to a college or any professors. Thank you in advance!
If I was younger I would be on the look out, but time right now is not on my side. If you can find a willing mentor then I say go go it. Get what you can out of their experience and knowledge and if you feel it's not the right fit then just thank them and walk away.
Most of my favorite authors, actually this time, all of my favorite authors have passed. I like to go through what letters they wrote, or quotes they have on writing to get inspired. Sometimes when i want to execute a certain style of writing, I'll do what Thompson did, and just type the scene from another author over and over to try and get into their mindset. Putting together a small writing group to grow with is a really good way to improve and brainstorm if a local author isn't available as well.
It could be good to have a friendly experienced writer to help your writing along . Realistically , it probably will not happen unless you attend a writing course of some kind. You can find some online . It is not a good time to look for something you can visit in person . To be honest , I believe most good writers have the ability to teach themselves how to develop their skills . There is a massive amount of resources out there in books and the internet.
I had two mentors early on in my writing/publishing days. One was an author who posted her original fiction online before becoming published herself - I was a big fan of her work and we just organically grew a mentor/mentee/friendship. Same with @BayView, a successful published writer in my genre who used to engage here on a regular basis. I learned so much from the two of them, more than I can ever explain. I think for me the key was that I didn't set out looking for a mentor, it's just something that happened as a result of us hanging out online and shooting the sh*t in DMs about our work and experiences. There wasn't any expectation on my part going into the relationship that they would be putting forth significant efforts to help me be a better writer, it was an unexpected gift that I'll always be grateful for.
