Trying to Find a Writing Buddy? Here’s how you do it!

Writing buddies are not really a widespread concept, but they are some of the most useful people to have on your side during the writing process. What are writing buddies? Why are they so useful for writers? Writing buddies are friends who help you during the writing process. They give you the support that you need and vice versa. This is a partnership that helps you and your writing buddies grow as writers. They are also very useful when writing a book, because they make the writing process so much easier. But where can you find them? What should you look for in a writing buddy? Here are some great tips on how to find the best writing buddy for you.

• Family and Friends

The first place you should always look is close to home. Your family and friends are a great source of support and better yet they are very easy to get a hold of for writing sessions. Look to your family first and see whether some members are also interested in writing. If not you can look to your close friends. If there are, ask them if they want to be your writing buddy. Then you can schedule a weekly writing sessions where you can show each other your work and the progress you made.
It is always a great advantage to have a family member or friend as a writing buddy because you can be more honest with one another. If you or your writing buddy are writing a book you can help each other by critiquing one another’s books. Just be sure to be tactful with your criticism to avoid hurt feelings in the future.

• Online writing buddy

If you live far from home or moved somewhere new, you can always find writing buddies online. You can visit writing sites and join writing forums. There are a multitude of writing forums online. Match your preferred genre with your writing forum. Are you writing a novel on high fantasy? Check out high fantasy forums, there you can write fan fiction about your favorite characters in a book series. It all really depends on what genre you are interested in. Once you have chosen a writing forum you like, you can now share your work with your online writing buddies. Just be careful in choosing trustworthy people to share your work with.

• Colleagues and classmates

This usually applies to students and teachers. Schools are some of the best places you can find a writing buddy. For students, writing buddies can be found in friends and school organizations such as book clubs and the school paper. For teachers, writing buddies can be found in members of the academe who also share the love of reading and writing.
The best example of this would be the well-known literary group known as the Inklings.  This group was composed of academics from Oxford University and its ranks boasted names such as C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien to name only a few. The group was known to have cultivated some of the greatest literary minds in a generation. So if you really want to improve your writing style and achieve your potential as a writer, it stands to reason that you look for writing buddies in the academe.

• Writing Events

Writing events are some of the best places you can find a writing buddy. This is because most of the people who attend these events are also interested in writing. There are a multitude of writing events that you can attend and you can both participate or just attend them. These events are usually short story or poetry writing contests and attract a bevy of great writers. Just be sure that your chosen writing buddy is compatible with your schedule and personality.
All in all when it comes to a writing buddy, you should always make sure that you are compatible with your chosen writing buddy. Make sure that your writing buddy is someone you like and trust that way you can really reap the benefits of having a writing buddy during the writing process.