The Stream that Saved Me
I recently discovered a new resource that completely revitalized my writing life: a creative writing stream on Twitch, of all places. For those who don’t know, Twitch is an online platform much like YouTube where creators do things like play video games, paint, etc., for an audience. The big difference between the two is that, while YouTubers largely record their videos and then upload them, Twitch streams the live feeds of the creators. Therefore, the video is live and the community watching can chat with the creator in real time.
I’ve toyed with the idea about starting some kind of writing/storytelling stream, but that’s not what this post is about. The point is, I didn’t know it could be done. I didn’t think an actual collaborative writing stream could be done, and one day I stumbled onto this person who had managed to figure it out. His name is Scott Wilson, and he runs the Scott Writes Stuff stream. He’s ridden into my life like a high-definition knight in shining LCD light.
Each stream we do: a warmup, to get writing juices flowing; an exercise, to learn something of the writing craft; a prompt, writing a short story with the help of and suggestions from chat; and then free share, a critique of up to one page of story from anyone in chat, to implement what we are learning. It’s FANTASTIC.
Scott himself is personable and funny, and when his wife Abbey joins in on the occasional stream, all logic bets are off. Zaniness amid actual writing advice and community is the name of the game, and I needed to find exactly this, exactly now.
Not only has being part of the stream and community been good for my overall health, actually interacting with people and all, but it’s done amazing things for my writing life. Especially after I lost my previous community when my former writing coach and I parted ways, I needed something to hold onto. I needed something to get me invested and involved.
This stream has also helped with bringing out not only my carefree, silly side personally, but also professionally. I am now writing things just for FUN (imagine that), and writing short/flash fiction stories for submission and publication into magazines, because that’s the kind of stuff that Scott tells you about and encourages you to do.
I’m branching out and finding my voice again, and it feels doggone delightful. After a rough few months, it’s been wonderful finding inspiration in writing and community again. I feel blessed!
If you want to check out his stream, he’s live every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night at 7:30 pm EDT (6:30 pm during daylight savings time). You won’t regret it!
