Or a Literary Circle Jerk?
So here I am on an early Monday morning, scratching my old head while pondering a question: Is Reddit’s r/writing forum valuable?
I’m not scratching because of writing. Heck, I’ve been pushing words around for fifty years, so that particular form of insanity is well-established. No, I’m wondering about my recent habit of scrolling through r/writing, that sprawling Reddit community of a zillion would-be authors, published writers, and everything in between.
I’ve been lurking there for a few days, trying to decide if it’s worth my time to actually participate. The question that’s been nagging at me: Is this a place where I could build readership for my books, or am I just contemplating joining the world’s largest literary circle jerk?
What r/writing Gets Right
Let me start with what r/writing gets right, because there’s actually quite a bit to admire from the sidelines. On any given day, you’ll find a few helpful discussions about craft, technique, and the brutal realities of the publishing world. There’s something democratizing about a space where a debut novelist can get advice from someone who’s actually published, where teenagers can ask questions without being dismissed, where the conversation flows between genre fiction and literary pretensions without too much snobbery.
I’ve read useful threads about point of view. Discussions about dialogue tags that get into the nitty-gritty of readability versus style. Honest conversations about the difference between showing and telling that actually illuminate rather than just repeat the old mantras.
It reminds me my college daze in the early 70’s when I drank too much beer on Friday afternoons with fellow aspiring wordsmiths in the creative writing MA program at Colorado State University. Those were good times, and I especially miss my friend and thesis advisor, James Crumley. Back in the day… before everyone had a laptop and an opinion about Amazon algorithms. The same hungry energy, the same desperate hope that someone, somewhere, knows the secret handshake that opens the door to publishing success.
Except now it’s amplified by hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
Too Much Same-o, Same-o?
But here’s where my old-man skepticism starts creeping in after just a few days of observation. The sheer volume of voices creates its own problems. Every day brings the same questions: “How do I know if my book is good enough?” “Should I query agents or self-publish?” “How many words should I write per day?” “Is my plot too similar to [insert popular book]?”
It’s like watching the same movie over and over, except the actors change but the script remains identical.
I keep thinking about posting a question about AI collaboration in fiction–specifically about my work with Claude on my Lost Pages series. But honestly? Based on what I’ve observed in similar discussions, I can already predict the response. Half the community would treat it like I’d suggested burning down the Library of Alexandria. The other half would pepper me with questions about ethics that sound more like philosophy seminars than practical writing advice.
What strikes me isn’t the potential divide in opinion–that’s to be expected when you’re pushing boundaries. What strikes me is how quickly these conversations become about principle rather than practice. Lots of passionate positions, not much curiosity about actual results.
The Elephant in the Room
Which brings me to the elephant in the room: Would participating in r/writing actually sell books?
From what I can observe, probably not. At least not directly.
I’ve been watching how promotional posts get received, and it’s… not encouraging. Anything that smells remotely like self-promotion gets downvoted into oblivion. The community has strong antibodies against marketing, which I respect philosophically but which makes it essentially useless for building readership.
The math is brutal when you think about it. Even if a helpful, non-promotional post reaches 10,000 readers, and even if 1% of them are curious enough to check out your profile, and even if 10% of those actually investigate your work… you’re looking at maybe ten potential readers. Maybe. And probably not.
And that’s assuming you post something genuinely valuable that doesn’t get buried in the daily avalanche of “critique my first chapter” requests.
It’s About Permission…
So why do so many writers or wannabe’s participate on r/writers?
Partly, I think, it’s because there’s something seductive about feeling like you’re “working on your writing career” when you’re really just scrolling through discussions about whether you need a prologue.
But there’s something else I’ve noticed in my week of lurking. Something that took me a while to recognize.
They aren’t really asking: Is Reddit’s r/writing forum valuable?
Nope. The questions people ask in r/writing aren’t really about writing technique or publishing strategy. They’re more about permission. Permission to call themselves writers. Seeking permission to take their ideas seriously. Permission to believe their stories matter.
And here’s what I’ve learned after fifty years of putting words on paper: Everyone needs that permission, and we can only give it to ourselves, but somehow watching other people struggle with the same doubts makes it easier to grant ourselves that grace.
The real value of r/writing might not be in the craft discussions or the industry advice–though both can be useful if you dig through enough repetition. It might be in the reminder that writing is fundamentally an act of faith performed in isolation, and sometimes it helps to see that thousands of other people are performing the same act of faith.
If I did post about my collaboration with AI, I wouldn’t be trying to sell books. I’d be trying to normalize the idea that a 77-year-old guy can reinvent his creative process, that traditions can evolve, that there’s no single right way to tell a story.
When someone asks whether their idea about a time-traveling librarian is worth pursuing, they’re not really asking about marketability. They’re asking whether their imagination deserves respect.
On the Fence but Probably Standing Mute…
Let’s circle back to the opening question: Is Reddit’s r/writing Forum Valuable?
My conclusion after a few days of observation: I’m still on the fence about actually participating. The community has value, but I doubt it has value for me at this stage of my career and with my particular approach to publishing.
Maybe the real benefit of r/writing is for newer writers who need that sense of community and permission. At 77, with fifty years of writing behind me, I’m content to spend my time here on my blog, sharing what I’ve learned and what I think about throwing words around until some of ’em actually stick in sensible patterns.
On Wednesday, I’ll share my observations about r/selfpublish–where conversations become more practical and advice becomes more actionable, but the fundamental questions about whether any of this is worth it grow even more pressing.
For now, I’ve got a manuscript to work on. Claude’s waiting, and we’ve got mysteries to solve.
Hey, I’m 77 and I’ve got stories…
Stories about what it’s like to navigate life at this age (spoiler: it’s weird, wonderful, and occasionally terrifying). And stories about collaborating with AI to write books in ways that would have seemed like science fiction when I started putting words on paper. Stories about the daily realities, unexpected surprises, and hard-won wisdom that comes from three-quarters of a century on this planet. If you’re curious about authentic aging, writing innovation, or just enjoy good storytelling from someone who’s been around the block, subscribe to my weekly newsletter “Old Man Still Got Stories.” I promise to make it worth your time.