My first discourse community is a writing group. We meet on a monthly basis with pieces of creative writing to share with each other. Our group does mainly fiction, but we also have people writing nonfiction. Most of us, not all, have either Masters of Fine Arts or are working towards getting an MFA. There are terms all of us are familiar with (point of view, plot, characterization, tone, voice, dialogue) that we discuss when we read each others’ work. The only requirement for being a part of our DC is to love writing and to desire to improve our writing, no matter what the genre (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, etc.). Having or getting an MFA isn’t necessary. Since the pandemic, we’ve been meeting on Zoom and communicate via text or email. Before the pandemic, we met at coffee shops and communicated via text or email. We communicate with the outside world by either publishing work in journals or magazines or reading at bookstores (not so much lately, because of the pandemic).

One issue my DC has is lack of time and money. Creative writing doesn’t pay the bills, so all of us have day jobs that require our time and attention. Some of us are teachers, others are students that are also working outside of their studies, which means we don’t have the normal 9-5 work routine. I never have enough time to work on my writing–and I know my peers don’t, either. I love to write. It’s why I’m a teacher and a writer. I love talking about writing with students and my DC. I also love just doing the act of writing itself. The problem is that our current economy doesn’t necessarily encourage creativity (and not just writing–all the arts). It’s more about what you can do to earn money, so I have to put aside my writing to make money to pay rent, pay for health care, put food on the table, etc.

Another issue is representation for many members of our DC. We have writers of color, LGBTQ+ writers, economically disadvantaged writers, and disabled writers. The majority of published and well-known writers are white, male, cisgender, and abled writers. That is certainly changing–slowly–but it is a lot harder to break into the outside world if you aren’t those things. I want to see more publications by the groups represented in my DC become the norm, rather than the outlier. I also want readers of all backgrounds to have access to books, short stories, nonfiction by people that look like them, so that the readers might think: Hey, I can be a writer, too!