Anyone interested in having regular writing 'dates' with me?

[Cerialkiller]

Hi all, I'm 60k into the first draft of my first book of a fantasy trilogy. Outline for the first is done but I have reached the end of my (terrible) notes and so now I'm flagging. This and a dramatic increase in my freelance work is making it hard to gind decent chunks of time to write.

One thing that is really helping is by booking in person writing dates with my writing buddy. We don't talk much, just meet for a couple of hours to write 1000-1500 words.

We only meet sporadically though so i'm hoping to recreate the same on here and 'book' in an hour or two and have somewhere to talk about our long term projects, and report word count etc.

Anyone interested? I'm thinking once term restarts at beginning of sept so i'm not distracted by kids. My work may calm down in the autumn months as it usually does and I can really push.

Independently published author here - I’ve 9 books on Amazon.

To be honest - I’d join a writing group and find a beta reader/writing buddy on there. You’re more likely to find someone who not only shares your love of writing but also who has the time to devote.

I already have a writing group and a writing buddies who review my work. I was hoping for a larger community on here to act as acountability for the actual sitting down and writing part so i can get my hours/words in.

My work is freelance and mainly on computers and at home already, as well as creative so need that incentive to change gear to switch to writing.

Have you tried the London Writers Salon writers hours? I found them invaluable when getting my novel finished. If cost is an issue you can join the sessions for free.

How the format do work ? Zoom, email, exchange of work , edits?

Do you just want someone to touch base with or someone to tell you off?

The author Clover Stroud has started doing these. Admittedly I am not a writer so not her target audience, but I find it a bit odd.

As I understand it, it is just to be held accountable, to spur you into productivity. So I think they log in, chat briefly, then everybody does whatever they have to to, in silence, for an hour. And that’s it.

So I guess I can see how it might work for people who are freelance or whatever and don’t have that team or office environment to work in.

I think you have to pay to join hers though, so I can see that it could be a nice idea for OP to link up with some people on here, without charge.

In use the LWS ones free of charge as I can’t afford to pay - they have a no questions asked code you can use. It’s four times a day (8am around the world)…when I’ve been on it’s been anywhere between 35 to 250 people on a session.

On Wednesdays they also have mingle time after for 15mins if you want.

@Cerialkiller Focusmate might be what you’re looking for.

I wrote my book thanks to it. It is not specifically for writers, but it has the accountability aspect baked in as you have to turn up to sessions.

Thanks for starting this thread, @Cerialkiller. I'm working on a fantasy novel as well but wasn't sure committing to regular 1-2-1s would work for me (which was why I didn't post earlier), but I definitely need more accountability to help me focus.

Both the London Writers' Salon and Focusmate are BRILLIANT. Oh my gosh. Game-changing. Huge thanks, @trailblazer42 and @BrightNewLife.

Good luck with your novel, OP!

Scribophile have a weekday writing hour on zoom. It’s free.

Yes this. I'm usually running around like a headless chicken as I freelance. Very hard to separate work from pleasure. If I have a booked zoom call or someone about to arrive at the door it pulls me out of that.

Some people (writers) can't stop themselves from writing. The stories pour out of them. I'm like that I'm my head but getting me to record it is hard.

A zoom sit in would work fine.