Accountability Partners: For when you need a kick up the butt

In the age of hacks, time savers, efficiency boosters and pro-tips, this one might seem a rather quaint writing tip. It’s an accountability partnership. This is simply meeting with one or more writers on a regular basis to set some writing-related goals and hold each other accountable in meeting those goals. Ideally, the partnership provides motivation and support to help you complete your writing. There may be more layers baked into this cake, but that’s the basic recipe. 

I was first drawn into the idea of accountability groups when a fellow writer friend told me she was in an online partnership. Initially, I thought that this was the type of writing group that many of us are familiar with: sharing work, getting and providing feedback. Rather, accountability partnerships don’t do any of those things. It’s simply meeting with another writer, or writers, to track your progress, reflect on what didn’t go well and, hopefully, celebrate when you meet a goal. In an accountability partnership, you have two roles. You take turns playing the mentor and the mentee with the shared goal that everyone is meeting their writing aims.

My writing friend invited me to join her online group and we had an accountability partnership of five writers for almost two years, during which time I finished the first draft of my first manuscript. For me, it was a little like being back in school. There’s a deadline, and you have to get work done, and if you don’t, someone’s going to ask you what went wrong. As a teacher, this form of accountability is like catnip for me. We kept a shared document to log our progress and the sense of achievement in being able to check ‘done’ on a goal was gold star levels of good. 

However, for various reasons, that group began to dissolve. I worked on my own for a while but I noticed a decrease in my productivity and motivation. I wasn’t in touch with other writers regularly, wasn’t accountable to myself or anyone else and writing seemed to drop lower and lower on my list of priorities. It was time to tap the writers hive in search of another partnership. As a member of the Romantic Novelists Association, I put a call out on their Facebook page seeking writers interested in forming an accountability group. Two writers responded and we met online. We’ve had a partnership for about 8 months now and I’m happy to say it’s going really well. It’s reignited my passion for writing and even given me new opportunities, like the chance to join Pens and write this blog post. Happy Days! 

If you’re wondering how accountability groups can benefit you, here’s a few positives I’ve taken away: 

1. The external ‘pressure’ or motivation of having to meet with someone and discuss how much progress I’ve made towards my goals is often stronger and more motivating than any ‘internal’ pressure I try to exert. 
2. We can commiserate. Most writers are kind to each other and understand the hurdles we all face. The accountability group is also therapy some days; a type of writers therapy group that I can’t get with my partners or friends. 
3. Accountability partners usually keep track of their goals and their progress in some kind of shared document. This document serves to strengthen the belief in my ability to meet goals. Even when I don’t exactly hit that word count, I often surprise myself by what I’m able to achieve. When I’m feeling stuck or struggling with writer imposter syndrome, I can look back at the documentation of all I have achieved and it often gives me the confidence to keep pushing forward.
4. It helps to remind me that I am a writer. This can be especially necessary for writers who haven’t been published: you need to remind yourself of this frequently. Not all work can or will be monetized but we are still writers; because we see the value in our work, we want to hold ourselves accountable to achieving our writing goals. 

I like to meet with an accountability partner or group once every 2-3 weeks. That feels like enough time to stretch out in, but also enough so, if I don’t write anything earlier, I will still be able to work frantically for the week before we meet to produce something I can share. I say work because drafting, promotion, reading, researching, and everything else necessary to writing is also the work of writing and sometimes the goal isn’t a word count. When setting goals, it’s good to have a realistic view of what the coming 2-3 weeks looks like at any given time in life and plan accordingly. If your day job is ramping up to a busy period or the kids have school holidays, be gentle with your goal setting. 

Great, wonderful, fabulous! Accountability partnership: the thing that’s going to get me through my manuscript! But how do I get a partner or partners? If you don’t know any writers in close physical proximity, which may very well be the case if you’re writing in a country where English isn’t an official language, try putting a call out on social media or any online writing communities. That’s how I’ve managed to do it. And I find forming partnerships with writers who I’ve never met before has the added benefits of widening my community and letting me make friends with people who have different writing experiences and work in a variety of genres.

Be clear at the outset on your larger goals and how you’d like to be supported by your partner or partners. Some people like to have mini check-ins in between larger ones. Some like to have strict markers for what they consider a success and other folks are more flexible. It’s best to establish this early on to make sure the partnership works for everyone. Knowing what your partners expect and communicating how you’d like to be held accountable makes sure that everyone’s needs are being served. 

So go forth and find a partnership to enjoy all the rewards that come with accountability partners!