Dear O'Abby: Where can I find a writing community?

 Dear O'Abby,

I've been writing on my own for several years now, and feel like I'm ready to share my work.  Probably not quite at the point of trying to get published, but I'd like some feedback from other writers before I dive into that particular pool.

I live in a remote area, so there is no real writing community nearby for me to join, so I was wondering if you might know of any online writing communities (other than this one) where I might find people who could help make my writing better.

Yours truly,

Friendless

Dear Friendless,

You are not alone!  There are several online writing communities I know of, and I'm sure some of our readers will be able to point out others I may not be aware of (readers, please leave links to your favorite writing community sites in the comments).

I have personally been a member of writing.com for many years and there are groups and forums for writers of all levels of experience across a wide range of genres and styles.

Another really useful community site is the Insecure Writers Support Group. They offer a lot of useful content themselves and have a monthly blog hop where writers can network.

NaNoWriMo is also a great community where you can connect with other writers while you are working on a project.  Initially set up to encourage people to write a novel in a month, there are now more opportunities to challenge yourself and connect with others throughout the year.

I don't personally have any experience with Writers Cafe, but it has been recommended to me in the past so might be worth a look.  So is Absolute Write.  I have not used this one for years except occasionally to read through the forums, but it was certainly THE writing site when I got started.

So there are a few options you might want to look at.  I also did a quick Google of writing community sites and found a few good lists you might want to explore in more detail here and here. 

Best of luck finding the one that will best suit you!

X O'Abby