As we mark one year of lockdown, writers continue to find new ways to work, teach, and connect online. To help you in these efforts, AWP has compiled some of our online resources. We also look forward to hearing from you about your experiences working online; please see the end of this article for topics in our open call for submissions. 

Find Your Communities Online

Reaching out to other writers online can open you up to new possibilities, strengthen your writing, and give you support during difficult times. It might also change your life in unexpected ways.

AWP’s recently launched Community Writing Groups Directory allows you to browse and join writing groups around the world and provides resources for starting your own. Only members may add groups to the directory, but anyone can use it! Some of our WC&C members also offer online community. 

Be sure to join us on Facebook to make new connections through one or more of our focused groups that are open to all, both member and nonmembers:

• AWP Community of Writers: start a discussion about resources you have found useful, especially virtual learning tools for others. Be on the lookout for Q&As and other resources from AWP.
• AWP Novel Writing Group: get support during NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo and share tips to help you keep churning out word count all year long.
• Friends of AWP: stay in the know about different literary organizations and podcasts—curated by AWP Development Director Sheila Black.
• Faculty & Mentor Lounge: connect with other postsecondary creative writing professors, lecturers, and mentors to swap advice and pedagogy tips.

Use More Online Materials in Your Teaching

AWP offers a wealth of materials online to members and nonmembers alike. We have new suggested teaching guides available for the following articles:

• For “Has the Happy Ending Fallen Out of Style” by Lee Lee Goodson
• For “A Woman Alone in a Room Realizing Something” by Alice Mattison
• For “Foundational Narrative Design” by Andy Graff
• For “Who’s Colluding? The Case for Collaborative Writing” by Sally Ashton

Looking for more resources you can use for teaching or even learning on your own? We have you covered with:

• More than 1,400 articles from 50 years of The Writer’s Chronicle available to members (craft essays, poet and author interviews, and more)
• More than 350 articles in The Writer’s Notebook (career advice, appreciations, interviews, pedagogy program advice, tributes, and more)
• 160 episodes of the AWP Podcast Series (conference events, interviews)
• More than 100 video recordings from past conferences (conference events, interviews)

Take a Virtual Campus Visit

We know how important it is to find the writing program that is right for you, and you may not be able to visit programs in person. In addition to using our Guide to Writing Programs, a searchable directory with information about nearly 1,000 writing programs, you can watch short campus visit videos submitted by some of our programs to get a sense of the faculty, students, campus, and culture. Need some additional guidance before you make your choices? Check out our program advice articles.

Broaden Your Network

Now is a great time to reach out to others in your field. There are many ways you can network from home, reestablishing connections or developing new ones. In their Writer’s Notebook pieces, both Woody Lewis and Alyssa Colton discuss networking as a writer. You may want to refresh your listing in AWP’s Directory of Members and use that directory to find others in your genre. You can also follow AWP’s company page on LinkedIn for useful career-related updates.

Expand Your Opportunities

Members can search our list of opportunities for grants, awards, and publication to which they can submit their work. Erika Dreifus suggests using an online tracker to develop cost-effective strategies for submitting.

You may already be familiar with the AWP Job List, which includes online jobs for writers as they are available. This is a great time to update your CV or résumé. You can find this and other videos in our Video Resources on Careers & Publishing. We even have a section of our blog just for career advice articles. These days, technology can help us interview and work remotely.

Consider writing an article for AWP! Read through our submission guidelines to find out what we are looking for and what we pay upon publication. We are currently looking for:

The Writer’s Chronicle

• In the Classroom teaching guides that use a single essay or interview from a past issue of the Chronicle

The Writer’s Notebook

• Poetry, in honor of April, National Poetry Month (in categories such as craft, teaching, appreciation, reading lists, tributes to poets)
• How to use technology and online resources to further your career as a writer
• Teaching online classes (what you have learned, tips & tricks)
• What makes an online class most successful (from the perspectives of administrators, teachers, and/or students)
• How the current situation has changed your life as a writer and what methods you have now learned to use