Join a local author group! 

One of the best ways a writer can help themselves is to join and participate in an writer's group. 

​

Membership in the Chesapeake Bay Writers includes authors from Kilmarnock, Gloucester, Williamsburg, Hampton Roads, Smithfield, and a few other not-so-local places like me in Alabama (soon to be North Carolina.)  With 8 of my Jazzy Books under my belt I joined this organization.  At the time, I was the only active children's author.  I felt out of place at first until I started talking to the other authors.  Though they wrote adult fiction, our issues were the same.  We all need other eyes on our work.  We all need help deciding which way our characters should turn. We all need that pat on the back saying we did a good job, or the pat on our back that says, "Stick it out, you'll get it!" 

​

Even though I moved away, I am still an active member of the group. I have friends from this organization whose words of wisdom follow me wherever I move. 
 

Remember, though, you must participate in the group to get anything out of it.  It's those interactions that will give you a foundation for better writing.