Today marks a pretty exciting day. As of today, I’ve been blogging for 13 whole years. And goodness, I’m feeling so grateful for all that time and the friendships I’ve built through it.

I will never forget much younger Christine sitting at her desk one early spring day excitedly typing up her first ever blog post. Though she had been writing for the majority of her life, she was at the very first sparks of diving into it seriously, into getting a platform going and studying the craft and writing regularly and making writer friends.

She had no idea what was all to come.

They say writing is a lone venture. In many ways, it is. There are a lot of days of hiding away in our writing caves pounding madly at the keyboard, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and occasionally muttering to ourselves about unruly characters.

You know, normal writer things.

In truth, sometimes we do have to take alone time to get words down. That is a part of it. But it’s only one fraction of being a writer.

I went for so many years being the only writer I knew. My friends and family were infinitely supportive, but none of them were writers themselves. For a long time, it was a lone venture on my part. But as I grew older and realized telling stories truly was what I wanted to spend my life doing, I began doing research and dipped my toes into putting myself out there.

And a WHOLE world opened up for me.

You mean, it’s normal to feel burnout? To experience characters coming to life as if they have minds of their own? To discover the story as I go (oh, it’s called “pantsing”? that’s so fun!)? To make messy first drafts? To have far too many ideas (or “plot bunnies” the writing community calls them!) but not enough time to write them all?

I felt understood. I wasn’t alone.

Young Christine starting a little blog called “Musings of an Elf” at the time could not imagine all the blessings that would unfold. As I continued to blog and build my platform, I began to make true connections, actual writer friends, become encircled into a whole community of writers that got me in a way no one ever had before.

And I realized writing was not a lone venture. It shouldn’t be.

Writing is hard and discouraging and tiring and time-consuming and sometimes just plain bizarre (yes, it does feel like the characters have minds of their own and won’t do what we say, I can’t explain it, okay??). But with people who understand? People by your side and holding you up? It is the wind beneath our sails to keep us going.

There’s this big belief that building a platform means gathering as many followers as possible. Publishers really push having big platforms, being influencers, gathering high numbers. And yes, it’s important for selling books, I won’t deny that. Unfortunately, being a writer does require a whole lotta marketing.

But platforms and marketing are not all about numbers. In fact, if you’re just racking up numbers and nothing else, chances are you’re going to burn out quickly. I’ve been thinking a lot about platforms and marketing, and I’m realizing more and more that it’s not about a huge following count, but about the relationships.

Having a huge number on your follow count doesn’t mean a lot of that’s all it is—numbers. There are people behind those numbers, and that’s what counts. Writers need other writers. We need people to understand us, people to support us through the discouraging days and celebrate with us through the wins. Community is so, so important.

When I began building my platform, I soon learned that the true joy is not new followers, but making friends, cultivating relationships.

So very many opportunities have opened up for me due to putting myself out there and talking to people, to forming relationships and keeping them going, to saying yes to scary things but ultimately incredible opportunities. If I had kept my head down and/or only let followers be nothing but numbers, I would still be so alone in my writing journey. I wouldn’t have experienced the true joy of being part of something. Because of the community I fell into, I learned about the Realm Makers writer’s conference and got to go twice and have the time of my life. I’ve been part of multiple online writing groups and made more friends. I helped run a delightful fairy tale-themed blog with some amazing ladies for a few years. I launched FicFrenzy and am blessed constantly by the community there. I was introduced to two of my now very best friends and am on a huge venture of co-writing a story together.

And it all started with a little blog.

I know I’m not as active here on the blog as I used to be, but choosing to make a blog is where it all started. It was the first root that branched off to countless others, and I’ve not regretted it a single day. It’s been an incredible 13 years of blogging and growing as a writer, and I know even better things are to come.

If you’re a writer or creative of any kind, I strongly encourage you to put yourself out there and find a community. Take time to build friendships, to cultivate relationships. Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. (Some of my closest relationships have formed simply by random emails or DMs!) It takes work, but it is so, so worth it.

It’s not about numbers, but relationships. You’re not alone, friends. You shouldn’t be alone. People need people.

So as I celebrate 13 years’ worth of being a blogger, I want to say THANK YOU. Thank you for being my people. Thank you for years’ worth of enthusiasm for my writing endeavors and all my many stories. Thank you for encouraging me and helping me keep going. Thank you for being my community, my friends. Words cannot properly express my gratitude. I’m so incredibly grateful for each and every one of you.

It has been a beautiful journey, and so much more is to come. Thank you, my friends, for being here with me.

I feel so much gratitude for this community of writers and readers! So let’s do something fun! Share your favorite platform for connecting with people (and offer up your handles, if you’d like!). AND give a shout-out if you’re looking for some writer friends/groups and/or have one of your own looking for more members so people in the comments can find you. Let’s share the love and help build each other’s communities. (Pst. One of my favorite writing groups is the FicFrenzy Discord, which you can join via the details HERE.)