Two playwrights came to give a talk to a writers group that I am a member of. The thing they talked about most was networking - and it seemed to me as if they spent more time on networking than they did on actually writing (I may be wrong). So, just wondered what do you guys do about networking and do you think that you put enough time and effort to it?
An apples, oranges type thing.There is more networking and glad handing in the performance arts than in the "written arts," I can see where networking could increase the chances of getting a play stage or writing a play to fit a niche a director and/or a producer may be looking for. Although you are all invited to my picinic of prose where the only food will be in the form of narrative yall can clue me in on all the initial authors you quote j.j.k.l.martin, w.t.f. redbone, a.b.c smith and the likes I am criminally banal, I been reading the plain Johns...... Irving, Steinbeck, Grishman
Really, to have any shot of making it as a playwright, you need connections. The audience for drama in most cities is pretty small, so not too many plays get produced, so if you wanna get it, it's about who you know at least as much as how good your work is. The same isn't necessarily true of novelists, who do all the work on their own and then just need to find one interested publisher to take over and do the rest. The more collaborative your work is, the more important it is to network.
Networking is crucial in every profession these days. It's not always what you know, but who you know. Don't be discouraged if you have no writer, editor, publisher, or agent friends beyond WF. With the rise of Facebook and Twitter, networking has become as easy as clicking a mouse. Just be sure that your FB or Twitter conveys you as a professional. Personally, I have several writer friends from highschool and a couple of my other friends know editors in Kansas City. It definitly pays to have such connections to aid you in your writing skills and getting published, but it's certainly not a necessity to "make it".
Networking is huge with fiction writers. Obviously, especially if you're not already established. Having the right contacts is make or break, whether it comes to who you get for blurbs, where you get your name out there with interviews and guest blogging, or writing articles, or who encourages whom to write reviews. It's all a huge factor. I mean, book jacket blurbs don't just materialize because some other writer just happened across an advanced reader copy of your debut book. Nope, somebody had to send it to them, and the people involved make all the difference whether something gets read and a blurb written, and blurbs alone are huge.
I agree with both these posts - I think networking is important for all writers (to be fair to other posts I agree it may be more of a necessity for the playwright) Thinking about this fact myself, I am considering whether to change my user name to my real name. And here's one for the computer buffs - the writing group I joined has an on line site for its members, and to join the group on line, I had to open a gmail acc. which I did - on the site I posted a blog - my one and only blog. My problem; a couple of days ago I tried to start my own blog with google - but whenever I type my 'hotmail address' it keeps on taking me into the writing groups site and I do not know how to get away from it. Anyone able to help - thanks in advance and hope.
I agree with most of the others on the importance of networking. I'm always being told 'network! network!' It really is vital that you do if you want to get into the creative and media industries. There are professional social networking sites, and I found out last week that 70% of jobs aren't advertised which really emphasises how crucial networking is. I personally am not really pursuing networking because the thought of it terrifies me. But I am going to set up an account on a professional social networking site in the hope of attempting to do it, and I am also trying to get voluntary/work experience placements in the industry.
