It almost feels like an understatement when I say that the online writing community has been a game changer in my life. It’s a daily blessing that I rely on, a source of inspiration, and a constant reminder that I’m not alone in doing all those bizarre writerly things I do. (e.g. talking to myself, imagining elaborate and gruesome death scenarios for the guy in the SUV who just cut me off in traffic, and/or staring off into space for hours at a time, trying to piece together a teenage dialogue about the stud of the moment when I was in ninth grade…for research.)

But there are also those times–rare, but existent–during which the writing community can become…let’s say, a bit of a distraction.

Here are a few examples of things the writing community has shared with me this week, which I really kind of wish they hadn’t:

#1 – “PowPowPowPowPow-Pa-Pow!” (Make no mistake, @Heilooo. I WILL get you for this.)

#2 – Romancing the Sledgehammer (I just…I can’t even…there aren’t enough WTFs in the world.)

#3 – WOP (Actually this is kind of awesome. And yes, I tried it.)

and

See, a few years ago, I would’ve been blissfully unaware of these things, happily clicking through the typically lame e-mail forwards from my 9-5 coworkers…perhaps lending a courtesy chuckle here and there. But no abject horror or deep disturbances would’ve existed to wrinkle my day. Or further warp what’s left of my sanity.

Now, as I try to finish my latest chapter, these are the songs and images that prance through my head on a seemingly endless loop.

So thanks be unto you, o online writing community of like-minded weirdos. Thank you so much for that, you guys.

Seriously though, LERVE you all. XOXO