writing partnersI’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:

  1. They are good to bounce ideas off
  2. They can help with motivation
  3. They can point out weaknesses or places that need work in your writing
  4. They can alleviate the sometimes “lonely” life of an author
  5. 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?