I’m considering creating an accountability system or community of my own, but am well aware that I’m launching into an ecosystem; I’d be adding my own special flavor without trying to reinvent the wheel.

Writing groups of all stripes abound. Accountability seems to be in the air these days; lots of folks are talking, writing, and podcasting about it.

Here are some of the pieces swimming around in my brain while I lay the foundation for my own group.

• Nicole Zhu’s Ode to Accountability Buddies: “Even if it’s just a text we shoot off at the end of the day, it helps us keep up momentum and celebrate each step, no matter how big or small. Our intentions can be expansive and acknowledge the many aspects of writing and publishing.”
  
• “Why the Best Way to Get Creative Is to Make Some Rules” by Aimee Bender: “If left to my own devices, a blank page and a free day and that meadow, little will get done and I’ll feel awful about it. But put me in a box for two set hours and say go? It is one of the most steadying elements of my life.”
  
• Bryan Washington on a different kind of accountability—which doesn’t have to be disconnected from the writing group kind of accountability: “I think I’m pretty mellow (nearly to a fault) about virtually every area in my life but the needs of the work: because one thing I’ve learned is that—as queer folks, as folks of color—if we don’t speak up for the needs of our craft in a media ecosystem saturated by whiteness, absolutely no one else will.” My commitment: I will.
  
• “SFD and Champagne” by Julie Cohen: “Writers often celebrate the publication of a book, at home or with family or with a launch party—which is excellent and necessary, a public celebration of a public event. But I also believe that we should celebrate all the major achievements it takes to get to that point, too.”
  
• “How Writing in Community Rocked My Writing” by Laura Sturza: “Writing is often a solitary endeavor, but we don’t need to go it alone. For many of us, the deeper we go with our craft, the more we rely on a community to help bring our work into the world.” 

What’s swimming around in your brain these days?

Interested in joining an accountability group or having me as an accountability partner?

Comment below or send me an email: I’d love to know.