Writing Buddies, Critique Partners, and Accountability Partners

Stormy

Pictured here is one of my writing buddies. He sits on the chair arm and presses against my arm and shoulder while I write.

Like most writing buddies, he doesn't care what I write, how I write, or how much I write, as long he can keep me company WHILE I write. I have several writing buddies in addition to this fine fellow, some writers and some non-writers, that stay in touch and encourage me along the way.

Critique Partners, now they're a different breed. They, hopefully kindly and professionally, assist by critiquing my writing once a book goes into second draft. My current Critique Partners are two of the sharpest, most intuitive writers I know, and I'm honored we're sharing our critiquing journey. (I've experienced some not so pleasant unpleasantness when interacting with former Critique Partners in the past, thus I appreciate these wonderfully talented and upfront folks all the more.)

Accountability Partners assist with accountability. You each share your current word, page, scene, etc. goals, then set a check-in time. Lots of Whoots and Way-to-Go's are given out when one of us meets our goal, while no judgement is made when we don't. We coordinate a Wednesday and a Sunday check-in, and when one of us is struggling, we might ask:

• "What could you differently next week?"
• "Have you considered a more reasonable quota, then building slowly on that?"
• "What happened? Do we need to change our check in date to better fit your schedule."
• "Have you tried this or that?"
• "Is there anything I can do?

All three, once I learned to be discerning and set boundaries, have been pleasant additions to my writing life. Which reminds me, I best be getting back to writing. Check-in time is fast approaching.