During the golden days of
200WAD
, a warm sense of belonging blanketed me anytime I logged on. I knew there would be people who had posted new things that I could comment on. There'd most likely be comments and conversations developing either on my posts or somewhere else. It felt like a community. A community of encouragement.
However I never felt it was a community of craft.
In the past three weeks I've learned how important a drive for craft from participating in the
Echo and Narcissus
writing club. I'm always looking to do things I hadn't done before and try to write something at the edge of my abilities. I know that when I started on
Adagia
I wanted to emphasize craft because I really think that a community is better when the people in it are trying to improve. I do think encouragement and just being there for each other is a good start, but I find that a pursuit of improvement and challenging each other is key. It's hard to figure out though. How do you facilitate pursuit of craft... especially through software. I haven't figured it out, but I've learned how it can be done in the context of a club/class. So maybe if I partake in enough of such communities I'll be able to sassify it later.
I agree that it is the best way to get deliberate practice. Toastmasters was the same way. You get a chance to work on the public speaking skill and get feedback and encouragement along the way. I also feel like i am learning a lot from the echo class. I find myself listening and rereading Scott's books all over again.
dealingwith that was my initial intention with Tribes! However, I learned that to make Tribes work you need enough people that it warrants it. Right now we only have 4-7 writers a day -- depending on the day --- so it's never felt needed.
I've also since formed the opinion that I should tailor the features of the main feed and then just spin that off later when/if tribes is needed again.
Ha but TLDR yes. That's what I wanted Tribes to be but couldn't pull off on it's first iteration. Learning what makes the
Echo and Narcissus
club tick will help me figure out a better way next iteration.
RIght now I'm under the impression that
Maggie Appleton
's thoughtful approach to the assignments is one of the key drivers. Whenever I feel lost at worst or even just purely unmotivated at best, I can look at the doc Maggie is working on and it never fails to put me back on track... I shouldn't even say back on track because that implies that I've been placed where I wanted to be... but it's more that seeing the thought and care she puts into her assignement allows me to find myself on a path that I didn't even know existed. So it's not back on track. It's transported the a new track altogether.
keni I know sometimes you struggle with the assignments... not knowing how to go about it. I feel that when you feel that way seeing what Maggie is doing for that week will help a lot.
keni I thoguht
200WAD
did encourage deliberate practice. However it encouraged only the daily-input part... which is important. But I don't think it ever got to the point where it gave more 'guidelines'.
I believe that competitions/contests are trigger concepts. Just as it pumps you up to be a part of a contest it pushes people away -- remember jasonleow?
This is why I find being a part of this writing club so fascinating. I feel that I'm goaded into showing up more impressively -- and I know dealingwith feels this way as well just by reading what he's showing up with -- without being a contest.
When I think contest I think people competing against each other. With this club I feel like it's more us elevating our curiosity. Expanding our openness to what we're willing to do.
I think it is a lot of work to craft the course work so it prompts an active session and engagement. I also think building a community of any sort has to be tough as well.
If you cant get on Facebook and join any group, you can see how much work it takes to get people to be civil and engaged in a positive way. But when it works, the synergy and impact is massive.
Yes I remember, contest doesn't work for everyone.
Almost 100% of all my FB communities are around health. Discussing treatments, conditions, natural supplements, latest research etc. For those things, social media is remarkable. I have learnt a lot and made big decisions from them. I don't remember how I got into them - but whenever I have a new diagnosis or want to know about a specific diet for diabetes, I go looking for groups where people share their experience.
I had also joined some business related groups at a point... amazon, kickstarter and similar things. Those I left sometime this year since I had stopped those activities.
I agree that it is the best way to get deliberate practice. Toastmasters was the same way. You get a chance to work on the public speaking skill and get feedback and encouragement along the way. I also feel like i am learning a lot from the echo class. I find myself listening and rereading Scott's books all over again.
I've also since formed the opinion that I should tailor the features of the main feed and then just spin that off later when/if tribes is needed again.
Ha but TLDR yes. That's what I wanted Tribes to be but couldn't pull off on it's first iteration.
Learning what makes the
RIght now I'm under the impression that
For the
I believe that competitions/contests are trigger concepts. Just as it pumps you up to be a part of a contest it pushes people away -- remember
This is why I find being a part of this writing club so fascinating. I feel that I'm goaded into showing up more impressively -- and I know
When I think contest I think people competing against each other. With this club I feel like it's more us elevating our curiosity. Expanding our openness to what we're willing to do.
If you cant get on Facebook and join any group, you can see how much work it takes to get people to be civil and engaged in a positive way. But when it works, the synergy and impact is massive.
Yes I remember, contest doesn't work for everyone.
What got you into them and what led you to feeling such a way after?
I had also joined some business related groups at a point... amazon, kickstarter and similar things. Those I left sometime this year since I had stopped those activities.