You have probably heard of accountability partners before. Usually in terms of making sure you do something whether it is work-related or self-care related, or something else. An accountability partner is someone who holds you to the promise that you made to yourself. So let’s say that your goal was to go to the gym twice a week. That accountability partner would help make sure you do that. They may go with you or they may ask you to take a picture in a certain random position to ensure you’re actually at the gym twice (to make sure you don’t snap a pic and run to Krispy Kreme!). We are very familiar with accountability partners, but how familiar are we with accountability when it comes to our writing practices?
Stop for a second and ask yourself: Have you ever made a goal and then did your very best to stick to it when it comes to your writing?
How Is An Accountability Partner Different From A Beta Reader? What About A Critique Partner?
Both of these are great questions. And while your critique partner or beta reader can also act as an accountability partner, they do not have to. The best way to go about this would be to first define what a beta reader and critique partner is.
Beta Reader: A beta reader will read your draft and give you their overall opinions on it as a reader. Usually, this is like a basic review. Some betas review each chapter and tell you which characters and scenes were believable and others do more overarching narrative reviews. Betas should not be expected to edit or critique your book like some sort of expert, think of them instead like someone who pulled your book off a shelf and their feedback like something they would share with a friend.
Critique Partner: A critique partner is a fellow writer. You two both make a goal to share a certain amount of either words or chapters every so often and give each other detailed critique as writers. This can include what works and what doesn’t, whether your characters are memorable, what books are comparable, etc. Again, a critique partner should not be expected to edit your book! But you should expect a more detailed and thorough review than you would a beta reader.
An accountability partner is different because they hold you to a specific standard that you set before hand. Additionally, you haven’t already made an edit (typically) of your draft before sending it off to an accountability partner. It would be kind of rude to do that to either a beta or CP, in all honesty. Before you send to betas you should at least be on a second draft and before you send to CPs you should at least edit for punctuation and easy grammar mistakes. However, this is less of a rule and more of something that is standard practice. You don’t want your readers to be pulled out of the narrative because you put “read” when you should’ve used “red,” do you?
Anyway, that standard should be something both you and your partner agree with. Whether it be sending something weekly or a daily word count, it’s up to your discretion. You may not even expect a review at all from your accountability partner, they may just be someone you send your chapters to each week to prove to yourself and them that you actually wrote this week and that is perfectly okay.
Reasons To Have An Accountability Partner
- Keep you motivated.
- Both you and your partner are more likely to meet your goal. (Deadlines can actually work wonders when you aren’t hyper-focused on making it perfect.)
- Can be pretty fun. (You’ll be sharing ideas and reading together, which breaks up the monotony that writing can sometimes be.)
Do you have any other reasons why you might want an accountability partner to help build your writing habit? Share them below.
Written By: Chyina Powell
Women of Color Writers Circle 