I’ve always thought that if I had a writing buddy, I would get so much more writing done. I think it’s because of the accountability – they are expecting to see some progress in your manuscript, so you’re driven to provide that, or risk disappointing them and perhaps even losing them as a writing partner.
There are also other advantages that I can see with having a writing buddy:
- They are good to bounce ideas off
- They can help with motivation
- They can point out weaknesses or places that need work in your writing
- They can alleviate the sometimes “lonely” life of an author
- They understand exactly what you’re going through when you write because they often experience the same things!
Unfortunately, I’ve never had a writing buddy, unless I count my younger sister – we used to write story plots together all the time, but it rarely got past that stage! I would have gone to writing groups when I was younger, if I had lived in an area that had them, but remote Australia is sorely lacking in that respect! So when we moved back to Brisbane and I had some time to actually focus on writing, I checked out the local writing groups. I found one that was pretty close to me so I went to get a feel for it, but it didn’t click with me and I only went twice. Then not long after that, my husband and I moved back to remote Australia, so the writing groups dried up altogether!
Then I had a light-bulb moment. The internet! Why hadn’t I thought of this ages ago? The internet has everything! I found a few sites that looked promising, one of which is called Co-Writers.com. It’s a pretty decent site where people can post “ads” about the type of co-writers they are after and there are also some ads for people looking for writing buddies. A few of the ads looked like my type of thing, so I decided to try one of them first to see what sort of reaction I would get. That was about two weeks ago, and I haven’t heard anything, so I’m guessing my reply wasn’t what they wanted. I have decided to try again this weekend, hopefully with better luck!
I love the idea of co-writing a story. I’ve never done it before and I think it would be an extremely interesting activity. You would be able to really find your strengths and weaknesses and compliment your writing partners strengths and weaknesses. I will try it one day, once my own books have gotten off the ground.
What’s your view on writing buddies?