It Takes a village

Recently, a friend said this incredible phrase; “Everyone wants a village, but no one wants to be a villager.” And boy oh boy did that resonate with me. As someone who has been a part of multiple communities in the past, I’ve seen time and again work that needs to be done deprioritized or just entirely forgotten while the same people complain about things not being done.

Community is incredibly important to me and my art. Art doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it is inspired and built through connections and collaboration, influenced by the conversations we have. It becomes ever more important as our lives become more and more commodified, as education becomes trapped behind paywalls, and cost of living increases. Work in the community reduces those barriers and creates an inviting well of inspiration for everyone to draw from.

My Work in the Community

I currently serve as the chairperson for the Seattle chapter of the Horror Writers Association and served as President of Gamut Literary Series at UW Bothell right up until I graduated (we had an event the week before graduation). In these roles I’ve set up learning series, run workshops, hosted reading events, read at events, built partnerships with other communities in the area, replied to SO MANY emails, built websites, connected members, direct funding, set up tables, sold items, and much, much more.

Now, this article isn’t about me passive aggressively complaining about the communities I’m a part of…I am surrounded by hard working, passionate, and intelligent people, and I wouldn’t be able to do half of what I do without their support. But it is true that the amount an organization can do is directly correlated to the amount of support it receives. One person does not a community make.

The truth is that I’m busy. Very busy. I spend, generally, about 10-20 hours a week on events for community focused projects, none of which pay me. That’s on top of work, job applications, normal life stuff, my own projects. Just ask my wife…I spend a lot of time shut in my office. I don’t say this to martyr myself, or to try to get praise for working on things…but rather to be transparent at the amount of work that goes into the things that I do.

A question that I get asked a lot is “why?” Why do I spend so much time on things that don’t put money in my pocket? Well, there’s a few reasons.

Yes, there is a personal benefit to myself and my career. The arts have become a space where it is impossible to create alone…networking and talking to people is the way to get your name out there. My work has opened connections to some of the biggest writing names, put me in rooms with my heroes, and, yes, got my work seen by people that may not have looked at it otherwise. As I’ve become more engrained in the community, I’ve found that the path between a writer putting their first sentence on a page and the writer making a living is very short. And it’s a small community…once you’re a part of it you find yourself connecting with people you think are unattainable.

But it’s a lot more than just that. There’s the feeling of being a part of something bigger than just you, helping people overcome their obstacles and become what they want to be. This is one of the main reasons I am pursuing a career in education- to help people accomplish their dreams, and working in the community makes that happen. I’ve had people say they got over their fear of submission and got something published because my communities gave them the strength to do it, I’ve gotten to sell people’s first copies of their work, I’ve created reading series where people got to present to audiences they wouldn’t have connected with otherwise. The feeling of pride I get seeing first time readers take the stage is incredible.

The last reason is a little less tangible. I want to see the world reflect how it should be. I want a world that is a community, people who support each other and create spaces for art, comfort, and safety. The world is scary enough as it is, and I want to see it become a bit more than what it is now. And these artists that I call friends, these places that I get to be a part of, are a better world. It’s always worth the work to make the world a better place.

Tips on creating and maintaining communities

That being said, we are all busy. I’m not saying drop everything and run into the world. There are ways to be a part of communities which will make them flourish and keep your sanity (don’t use me as an example for this last part). Here are a few things I’ve learned over the years:

1. Know your limits. To be honest, I’m terrible at this. I like pushing my limits and tackling a new challenge. But it’s important to know where your strengths lie. If you hate public speaking, don’t push yourself into a host role right away. If you aren’t good at planning, help social media instead. Knowing where your strengths are helps you establish yourself and then you can start experimenting more with those aspects that stretch your skill toolchest.
2. Find people who you can count on. A lot of people have the best of intentions and sign up for things, but then don’t follow through. You learn very quickly which people you can count on, and which people you can’t. I follow a “fool me once, shame on you” approach. If someone drops the ball, I’m not going to give them anything important until they prove they can handle it. Obviously you want people to have a chance to grow, but you can’t put your hopes on that. You don’t need to confront them, or even tell them about it, but when you’re determining who should run an event keep it in mind.
3. Know what’s happening. This one and the one before are also good tips for managers…even if you aren’t in charge of doing something yourself, you should know it’s happening. Set up good communication networks, whether that is via google docs, email, social media, what have you. Find something that works for everyone you are coordinating with.
4. Say yes. A lot. Say yes to help other communities, or people who are just starting out. Say yes to host an event which may not be your normal scope, or host a type of craft that you don’t personally take part in. These are the people who become your community, who continue to show up. And favors are worth their weight in gold. People remember when you stuck your neck out for them, and are willing to do the same for you.
5. Determine what you want to accomplish with your community. I knew when I stepped in as the chair for HWA Seattle that I wanted to focus on educational programming. Accessible education is the most important thing to me, and so I quickly established training and workshops as part of our chapter. Of course, we still wanted to create space for our members to sell books and connect with audiences, and continue to prioritize those, as well. Which brings me to the next point…
6. Establish a mission statement. This will help you prioritize the resources you have to focus on your vision. For HWA Seattle, our mission statement is “To create community through educational programming, connect with an audience, and create accessibility to events which would be cost prohibitive to individuals.” Whenever we are planning an activity, I check to see if it falls into one of these categories…if it doesn’t, we aren’t the right fit for it. Easy.
   1. The note on this is that some events you aren’t sure about. Here, it’s great to invest in trying it out. Worst case is you decide not to do it again, but networking is so important you never know when you will find a connection that will become your next great partner!
7. The last point is to make sure the events you sign up for actually do what you’re looking for. We’ve been to events which didn’t help us sell books or connect us with an audience that is interested in what we’re doing. For those events, I don’t want to spend my precious time on doing them again. After each event, we have a brief post mortem to know if our event accomplished our goals. When those events come around again, we can check the event document. If it worked for us, we’ll do it again! If it didn’t work for us, then we skip it. Again, it helps make your decision easier.

The moral is that you should be part of community. You should be finding your people and investing in making things better for everyone. You should be helping get your hands dirty and making the world a cooler, stranger place to live in. You should host events and make art, you should be teaching that weird niche you’re a part of. And if you find yourself a part of a community of people doing that, maybe buy them a beer to tell them thank you.