Totally Tuesday-Writing Buddies by Donna Fitzgerald

Recently my writing buddy Talina and I hit a bump in our writing partnership.  I should say or so we thought.  It seems we both got a little worried that we are now writing the same genre.  Well of course we talked about this at some length yesterday both at a loss for what to do.  I mean how could we both write the same genre and discuss it with one another without giving up our greatest twist and turns?
To make a very long conversation short, we called in who we like to call the experts.  Some in the form of Google and others well-closer to us-our husbands.  We know that they are experts on the matter for two reasons.  One, they are both highly intelligent individuals who shoot straight from the hip.  In other words if you don’t want to know the truth, for heaven sake don’t ask one of them if you don’t want an honest answer. The second reason is they both have seen this relationship blossom first hand and know that more than our writing would suffer from this new turn of events. 
For those of you that don’t know, Talina and I have been joined at the hip since we met.  Our friendship was sealed first when we both realized we shared a love of writing and the passion of wanting to be published authors. 
That paragraph doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the relationship that we share.  Not only do we encourage one another when the other feels that their writing is going nowhere.  We will sit for hours on a subject that our story line contains but we haven’t figured out how exactly it’s going to work in the land of make believe that we spin daily.  And yes, then there are times when our brains are mush from being mom’s all day and the last thing we can try to do is work on our current WIP.  It is during those times our friendship really shines.  We know instantly when the other one is having a bad day without saying a word or isn’t motivated in the least to write, so we do what any good friend will do and that’s sinking down into the abyss and grab each other’s hand no questions asked and sweetly smile and say “Hey chica, I got your back and we’ll get through this together.”  And oh, by the way did I mention we do every single bit of this online sight unseen?  Don’t ask me how we know these things about one another through our comps.  We just do, thank goodness!
So back to the topic on how we can possibly continue all that we have going on with our own WIP and not cross over in the ideas department.  Well, as I said earlier our husband’s came up with the solution we were diligently looking for.  Although one husband actually found it, the other whole heartedly agreed and it is as follows:
Top Ten Reasons to Write with a Partner
10. It’s a dog-eat-dog business-and vice versa- but when you write with a partner,   
      there’s always one person in town looking out for your interest.
9. Writing is lonely. It doesn’t have to be (and it isn’t if you write with a partner).
8. Two imagination really are better than one.
7. Collaboration leads to better brain storming.
6. A writing workout partner helps you stay focused and productive.
5. Complementing (and complementing) each other leads to stronger ideas.
4. Writing with a partner improves mental health (and it’s cheaper then  
     antidepressants).
3. A partner can help you conquer writer’s block.
2. Collaborating makes you a better writer (and maybe a better person).
1. Carpool Lane. (You ride to the finish line together.
I do want to add that these ten reasons must be mixed with the right measure of total trust, value for a friendship that is everlasting, and the most important one, a heaping measure of your gut feeling. That last ingredient allows you to revel in the fact that you can whisper those magical twist and turns to your writing buddy and they will only be revealed when your precious current WIP that has you wearing your heart on your sleeve because you’re so passionate about it but you just knew when you met, that those kind of secrets would not be revealed until that WIP has made it to the bookshelf for all the world to discover.  I have found that in my writing partner. I could have never handed over that trust if Talina hadn’t first became my friend. 
The moral of this story, if you are considering a writing buddy you must find the one that will tell you that line stinks, will not allow you to cry alone over those beloved characters you’ll choose to cut out but most important when it’s all said and done and you become a published author she will be in the front row cheering the loudest because your dreams are coming true. If you have been blessed to find a unique person like that then you have my word you have found a forever writing buddy and friend.


2 Responses
  1. And might I add that although Donna is the author of this wonderful post, she has put words to both of our feelings. I am truly blessed with the best chica out there as my writing partner and most importantly...as my friend!

    ~Talina


  2. The Mason3 Says:

    An inspiring post. It is often said that people come into our life disguised as angels, and sometimes angels come into our life disguised as people. It is a profound truth that the people we spend time with shape the path that we travel. We usually choose our friends based on common interests that we share. The important thing is that there is sense of mutual respect, and caring for each other. I tip my hat to you ladies!!!