I feel fortunate to have found communities that I resonate with. The discord is where I go to find out what is going on and where I can talk more freely and also one to one if I want.
It is also a good place to promote your posts if there is a proper channel given for that.
I have to be careful how much time I spend there for it can be a bit of a distraction too!
I hear you about the courses!
I was very fortunate to have paired up with a most amazing writer - Dr. Jeffrey Lant, who wanted to do an online writing course and he asked me if I wanted to do that - I said sure! (wow! that was some learning curve I went on!) It was through his connection that I managed to get some books written.
One I wrote with my granddaughter - so much fun!
You can see my books (including the one I wrote with my grand daughter) on my author central page at: https://amazon.com/author/patriceporter