August Writing Prompt

Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn’t planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

IWSG

I started writing content before I’d decided whether I was going to write a memoir or a work of fiction. I had thoughts and ideas swirling around my head and even though I wasn’t sure what form or genre I was going to settle on, I was still inspired to write. I didn’t want to use my indecision around the genre as an excuse to hold me up from writing. I just wanted to get my content and thoughts out on the page.

The more I wrote, the more I realized I had to publish it as a memoir—and be damned! But that’s when the writing process started to get scary, and I lost my motivation. I kept stopping and starting the writing process, and I knew I’d never finish this book unless I had some accountability. That’s when I decided I needed an accountability buddy, or else I’d never get this project over the finish line.

Finding an Accountability Buddy

A fellow blogger mentioned in one of her monthly newsletters that she had been wanting to write a memoir for years, but was procrastinating on the project. So I reached out to her and asked if she wanted an accountability buddy. I thought this would be a good way of holding myself accountable too.

My memoir has been on the back-burner for years. I’ve tickled and poked it, and has writing spurts, but then I close the file and it languishes on my computer. Percolating like a stale cup of coffee. I really just wanted to get my book written.

Our Accountability Calls

We set up regular calls. Every two weeks seemed to frequent, and every month seemed too far apart, so we settled on a three-week call cycle, which has turned out to be an ideal timeframe.

Our calls last about an hour. She’s currently in Canada and I’m in the UK, so we chat on Skype. We have a quick catch-up, and the discuss the struggles and challenges (and occasionally wins) we’ve both encountered, and offer support and advice.

Our Three Week Cycle

I’ve noticed a writing pattern emerging since we started these calls:

• We have an accountability call, and we set our goals of what we want to achieve by the next call.
• Week One: The week after the call I’m fired up and get focused on my memoir. I’m motivated, not only by her feedback and support, but when I talk to her about my challenges, I ended up somehow answering my own questions or coming to a realization about a writing block. And the combination of her input and my awareness, is a great motivator.
• Week Two: After that writing spurt, I lose momentum, and I switch to different writing projects, or just get disillusioned with writing my memoir.
• Week Three: As I entered the beginning of the third week, I realize I’ve procrastinated for a week, and that I have my call in a week, and I’ve made a commitment to myself and my accountability buddy about what I said I was going to achieve. So this fear of failure acts as a great motivator, and I have another productive week.

We’ve had about 5 or 6 calls so far (we’re in lockdown and all the weeks are flowing together), but it’s been a really productive way of making progress with my memoir. Having an accountability buddy has been really beneficial for me. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have kept the momentum going so long.

We both have very different ways of writing a memoir … she started off methodical and writing an outline, and then working chronologically through her content. I started off just freewriting content that interested me, and then I had to shoe-horn it into an outline because I got overwhelmed, and now I’m filling in the gaps.

Accountability Works

Having an accountability buddy has definitely helped to keep me accountable, and it’s worked for her too. We both agree that if we didn’t have these regular calls, we have given up this writing spurt, and the half-finished memoir drafts would be out of sight and out of mind.

Not only has it been useful to keep us writing, but it’s been really interesting to see another memoir writer’s approach to writing. We both have different methods, and we can see the benefits of each other’s approach, but have happily stayed in our lanes with our own approach and they match our personal writing style.

There’s so many books about writing memoirs, and you can end up feeling like a failure because you find it difficult to follow the recommendations. But writing is a personal process, and each writer has to find the method that’ll be most comfortable to them.

But whatever your approach to writing, finding an accountability buddy who is writing in your same niche is worth its weight in gold.

What is IWSG?

Each first Wednesday of the month, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) encourages writers to talk about their doubts and celebrate the fears that have been conquered. Once you’ve written your blog post, you’re encouraged to visit others in the group and comment on their blog posts. You leave your blog link in the comment and they’ll visit you blog and return the favor of a comment.

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The co-hosts for the August 5 posting of the IWSG are Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey! 

If you’re on the same path, and want to write your memoir and are looking for some inspiration (or can provide some inspiration), please join in the conversation in the comments section below and lets get our memoirs written.

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