I’ve seen a lot of jokes and memes about the kinds of things writers look up for “research” (and FYI they’re all true!), but let’s talk about the value of a writing partner. Is your writing partner going to know the answers to the minute details you ask Google? Possibly not. But they most likely know what you’re trying to write and in a way, that’s better than Google.
I’m fortunate to have a writing partner who’s basically in my brain when it comes to writing—as I am in hers (I think, anyway). Sorry, that’s such a vivid image.
But if we can start a conversation with a seemingly out of the blue, “I’m looking for a word that means [insert adjective here], but not that one,” and answer it with a list of synonyms, we might as well be each others’ brain. Or at least a personal thesaurus.
And it doesn’t stop there. My favourite writerly conversation is one that goes something like this:
“Ugh, I need to name another character.”
“I need to name a fake restaurant.”
“Why don’t you just choose a real one?”
“Avoiding research on an actual location so my novel is accurate.”
*Laughing emojis.*
And then there’s this conversation:
“[Protagonist] said something to [co-protagonist] and now I have to follow through.”
“Tell me about it.”
Because we both know characters have minds of their own. And there’s a perfect word for what we mean and we need help to find it. And we’re tired of naming things so we need someone else’s ideas.
Mostly what we need is support and encouragement for what we do. Google knows a lot of things, but it doesn’t do that. The world is a little upside-down right now. Everyone is experiencing a new normal, and for some that’s scary, and for others, we’re just going a little crazy. So I’m glad to share this little bit of normal.
Last thought: enjoy this recent conversation, unedited and completely normal.
Who’s this writer who knows my brain so well? Check out Natasja Eby here!