Happy Birthday, #Amwriting! by Johanna Harness
#Amwriting is two years old today! We've grown from a handful of writers tweeting for an hour each day to a worldwide network of thousands. The #amwriting tweets never stop.The group began with a simple tweet. I asked, "are you writing?" A lot of people responded, but they responded to @johannaharness and I ended up having individual conversations with everyone. I wanted responses visible to all, so we could all talk together. I wanted everyone to experience that wonderful sense of community. I suggested the hashtag.
Every day the same group of people would meet and tweet and a few more would join us. At first, the conversation lasted only until I declared a need to dive into my writing. Then we'd disperse.
Then an amazing thing started happening: new writers joined later in the day and the conversation continued without me! As long as there were two people tweeting with the #amwriting tag, the discussion continued. Every day it went a little longer before fizzling and the next day we'd start again with a writer roll call. I can still feel the thrill of those early days--checking to see how long the conversation lasted each time. Two hours one day. Then four. Then six! The day the conversation extended twelve hours, I danced around the house.
A few months into existence, we made it full-circle: tweets around the clock.
Today I still start my day doing a writer roll call, even though there's no real need. The group would keep going, with or without me. Still, I do roll call. I do it because it pleases me, but also because it feels right to honor that original question every day: "Are you writing?"
I'm proud of this community for a lot of reasons, but my greatest pride is the inclusiveness of the group. There is only one requirement to participate: you must show up and write. It doesn't matter how old or young you are, what genre you write, how you're published or if you're published. You don't need a portfolio or a pedigree. You need only show up and write. We are writers and that's all we need to know to respect and support each other.
Today our #amwriting community still thrives on Twitter, but we also have this website, an author directory, a Facebook page, and a continually-growing list of people using Google Plus. The community is solid and real and extends past boundaries. I'm incredibly lucky to be a part of it.
To celebrate this #Amwriting birthday, we're having a blog party. All are invited to read and enjoy and a generous contingent of bloggers have invited us to their own websites as they share gifts of essays and stories, photos and memories.
Throughout the day, I will be tweeting about various sites, highlighting writers in the community, and posting pictures. It's a great day. To begin the blog tour, please begin with the first link and follow through the list. Ideally, every one of the blogs will have a link to the next but, if the chain is broken, just come back here and continue on. Happy birthday, #amwriting! Your writers are the best.
The Blog Party!
- The Amwriting Blog: http://amwriting.org/archives/6020
- Robert McKay's Chronicles of a Wandering Writer: http://robertmckay.net/
- L.S. Taylor's What I Learned Today: http://lstaylor.blogspot.com/
- Marian Allen's Fantasies, Mysteries, Comedies, Recipes: http://www.marianallen.com/
- JC Rosen's Girl Meets Word: http://jessrosen.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/happy-birthday-amwriting/
- Gem State Writers: http://gemstatewriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/03/making-connections/
- John Ross Barnes' Love This Live, Onward Through The Fog: http://johnross-lovethislife.blogspot.com/
- Linda Poitevin's Angels Gather Here: http://lindapoitevin.wordpress.com/
- Misa Buckley's Blog: http://misabuckley.com/?p=684
- LK Gardner-Griffie's blog: http://blog.griffieworld.com/2011/08/happy-3rd-birthday-amwriting-its-a-party/
- Khyiah Angel's author page: http://khyiahangel.com/2011/08/03/happy-birthday-amwriting/
- Johanna Harness' Big Thoughts: http://johannaharness.com/blog/2011/08/03/happy-birthday-amwriting-2/
- PJ Kaiser's Inspired by Real Life: http://pjkaiser.com/blog/
- Jamie Ridenhour's Blog: http://jamieridenhour.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/happy-birthday-amwriting/
- Everett Maroon's Trans/Plant/Portation: http://transplantportation.com/
- Carol Despeaux's One Wild Word: http://onewildword.com/
- Julie Butcher's Fire Drill: http://jrbutcher.blogspot.com
- Johanna Harness' House Lamb: http://houselamb.com
- Lily White LeFevre's Blog: http://lilywhitelefevre.wordpress.com/
- Jennifer Spiller's Blog: http://jenniferspiller.blogspot.com/
- David Ozab's Fatherhood, Etc. http://fatherhoodetc.wordpress.com/
- M.K. Hutchins' Books, Board Games, and Writing: http://www.mkhutchins.com/
- Phoebe Jane's La Vita Ho Vivere: http://phoebejanesblog.blogspot.com/
- Mike St's Many Stories: http://mikeofmanystories.blogspot.com/
- Elizabeth Saunders' Travels With Books: http://elizabethsaunders.blogspot.com/2011/08/amwriting-blog-party.html
- Robyn Leatherman's The One AM Pen: http://robynleatherman.com/
- Nik Barnabee's Blog: http://nikbarnabee.weebly.com/5/post/2011/08/amwriting-blog-party.html
