Caution--Trouble Ahead

The last couple days, I've been discussing the benefits of belonging to a state, national or international writer's organization. Today, I have a few words of caution. As beneficial as these groups are, a writer can get so caught up in supporting them, being part of the leadership and serving on committees that it can cut into valuable writing time. 

Anything that lessens writing time is something to be wary of. When we're driving and see a caution sign, we slow down and look around before proceeding if it's deemed safe. Gotta do the same thing when joining writer's organizations. If you belong to too many, or if you take on too many jobs in one or more, you will make a serious cut into your writing time. It's what we call one of the traps of writing.

I wrote a full article on the several traps writers fall into. You can  read it here. All the traps in the article are things that writers are urged to do. They're things that can expand your writing world and help you grow as a writer if you proceed with caution.  It all comes down to that old wisdom that too much of a good thing can be detrimental. 

So join a group or two, but don't get caught up so much that you neglect your main goal--writing!