Are you a Writer or Creative? Find a Community that Will Support You and Lift You Up.

Planning The Confident Creative Club in my writing journal during early 2021

“A community of supportive women provides incredible power for your writing and creativity.”

— Helen Redfern

Just over a year ago, I created a membership club for the unconfident writer or creative.

It was aimed at women like me who have struggled for years with confidence around their writing and creativity and have procrastinated, unfairly compared themselves to others and felt like an imposter. All of which had stopped us from pursuing the writing path we desperately wanted and dreamed of.

I called it The Confident Creative Club and it’s one of the projects I am most proud of.

Within the Club I provide monthly mindset or technical masterclasses, we have writing hours on Zoom and regular coffee chats and discussions on the Club website.

“I’m starting a girl gang of women aggressively supporting other women and if we get enough people we’re totally getting jackets.”

This quote above is a current popular sound on TikTok. It’s actually one of my favourites. Because every time someone uses it I think of my own ‘girl gang’.

There is this stereotype that women pull down other women when they’re in a similar sphere. Think Working Girl, one of my favourite movies despite the stereotypes, where Sigourney Weaver tries to stop Melanie Griffiths from reaching the top.

It’s possible we’ve all dealt with a so-called-friend who wants to bring you down. Maybe you’ve lost weight and become fit and she tries to prise cake down your throat. Maybe you’re working hard in your career and she gives you a hard time for never being around. Or, maybe she tells you that you’re doing it all wrong and should be doing something else instead.

Constant negativity dripping into your ear like poison can reduce your confidence, making you question what you’re doing and seed doubts. It might also make you change what you’re doing — even though it makes you happy — because of the doubt and derision from others.

But there are also women out there who lift you up. Who embrace who you are, who cheer your achievements, however small, and encourage you with words, laughter and generosity of spirit.

I’m fortunate to run the membership group with a number of women from all parts of the world. From many states within the United States, from Canada, from Italy, Germany, England and Scotland and more recently from New Zealand.

Thanks to Zoom and our membership site they gently support the other women within the club. Whether they’re further along in their creative career or just beginning, whether they’ve been in the Club since the beginning or have just joined. This gentleness is incredibly powerful and fills me with such joy every single day.

These women are pushing ahead with their writing ambitions. They’re taking steps out of their comfort zones. They’re working through grief and other difficult emotions.

They’re saying “this is my time” and being cheered from the rafters.

They are blossoming. They’re writing novels, putting their work on the internet, working out their creative mindset issues that have left them in neutral.

I’m so proud of them and feel incredibly lucky to have found such a tender-hearted group of supportive humans.

And yes, we’re totally getting jackets.

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For a limited time the doors are open to new members. If you’d like to join then click the button below to find out more.

If you feel terrified, overwhelmed, like you’re not worthy or talented enough then please believe me when I say this is normal. Yes, it is. It’s how every single club member felt before they took the plunge and joined. It’s how I felt when I was creating and launching the Club!

If you’d like to chat to me beforehand to check if it’s for you then send me an email.

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In the last couple of months, a number of us took the terrifying plunge and started writing on Medium. This is our group account. A few members have even written, amongst other fantastic articles, about the power of the Club.

“Finding a connection with women who struggle with their confidence, like me, was a game-changer.” Taken from Why Finding a Writing Community Paves the Way for Your Writing Success by Carla Calvert.

“I had followed Helen on social media for some time and found a comforting approach in her soft and warm appeal to not just build, but to claim one’s confidence as a writer. She understands those of us who want to write, who do write, yet are so afraid to share our work, and at times, ourselves, with the world. A gentle guide through the maze of imposter syndrome and procrastination, Helen created The Confident Creative Club for women just like me.” Taken from Better Together by Carla Calvert.

“The moment I understood the aim of the group was to help under-confident creatives build their confidence and start taking practical steps towards making their creative dreams a reality, I knew it was for me. This was a place where I could go and meet like minded people, find inspiration, friendship and encouragement.” Taken from Finding My People in an Online Community by Angie Vincent.

“A year ago I made a huge step in investing in my own confidence by joining The Confident Creative Club. This is a brilliant membership group run by Helen Redfern, where creative women come together to work on our confidence.” Taken from Three Ways to Win a Confidence Vote in Yourself as a Writer by Claire Holden.