Why You Need Some Sort of Family

One of the coolest things you have right now is not just beta readers, but people that know you well, that love you, and are more than willing to slap you down. You need support, you need someone to hug you when you need it. That's what we get from family, however we define that family.

You need that but at the same time sometimes you need somebody who's going to basically come in and slap you down. Not only will family support you and evendefend you, but occasionally they'll let you know that when you're being an idiot. 

And that's something every writer needs. 

Writers tend to go on really long rants about absolutely nothing that do absolutely nothing for the stories we are working on. That's where family comes in. You've got people who have absolutely no problem giving you a hot cup of cocoa while they make fun of how you're messing up. And you need somebody that has absolutely no problem coming in and slapping you down. You need somebody who's going to be a harsh critic. If that harsh critic isn't going to be you, it better be somebody you love. So if you're serious about writing, I don't care how you define the family. I don't care if you use close relatives, people you've known for years, or even just people you spend a lot of time around, if you serious about ready you need to make sure that you have family of some sort near you.