Hey there, writers,
"Over and over we’re told that writing is a solitary activity: the writer in a dark room, alone again (naturally), bottle of booze (and no glass) next to the typewriter, etc.
"And sure, usually the act itself is solitary. But recently we’ve been talking about the collaboration found in critique groups and ghostwriting.
"Today I want to bore you to
pieces with an anecdote related to me & my pal Drew Nellins Smith and another type of collaboration: accountability.
"Shortly after we arrived in Austin in 2010, I cast about to learn what kind of
writing climate we’d landed in.
"Part of this involved cruising the woefully depressing Craigslist Writing Gigs ... where, among the 'Write my book in exchange for imaginary royalties' and 'Now hiring for content mill: no pay' posts, a headline jumped out at me:
"'Seeking a Writing Accountability Partner.'
"Seeking a what, now?
"I
didn’t save the text of that post, but the gist was, 'I can’t write unless someone is standing behind me with a cattle prod.'
"So I wrote back and said, 'Me, too! Let’s be friends!!!!'
"Spoiler alert: Six years later — this past Tuesday, in fact — that new accountability partner published his debut novel."
