Do You Have an Accountability Partner? - Laura J. Davis

Everyone is accountable to someone - your boss, your spouse, your bank,  your weight-loss coach! The word accountable according to Dictionary.Com means, "subject to the obligation to report, explain, or justify something; responsible; answerable."

As a writer, it is very important that you have a group of people, or a good friend that you can be accountable to. I have a wonderful friend who encourages me when I want to give up. She is also my sounding board when I am frustrated. She deserves to be paid, for putting up with me and I'm lucky to have her in my life. She also prays for me and I can feel her prayers (especially when inspiration takes over!).

If I need to meet a deadline, all she has to say is, "How is the writing going?" and if I hem and haw, she knows I'm having problems. That's when she becomes someone I can bounce my ideas off of, to see if they are plausible. She is also not afraid to critique my writing. Not criticize - but critique. There is a difference. One is helpful and encouraging, the other is discouraging and serves no purpose.

A good accountability partner will:

1. Encourage you
2. Pray for you
3. Listen to you
4. Be aware of your deadlines and gently remind you when they are due
5. Make sure that you get out of the house (writers are notorious loners, so it's good to step away from your computer once in a while and have some fun!)
6. Basically, she/he will be a wonderful friend that you will have for life

Now, just in case you think this is a one-sided relationship where you as the writer get pampered by your best friend and she/he gets squat - think again!

A good writer will:

1. Encourage their accountability partner (aka - best friend!)
2. Pray for them
3. Listen to them
4. Be aware of what is going on in their lives and offer support when needed
5. Take them out for coffee
6. And above all enjoy their friendship!

Of course as a Christian writer, my accountability to God always comes first. If I'm not writing to glorify Him then I'm doing it for all the wrong reasons. That is another good reason to have an accountability partner. To make sure that what you are writing stays true to what you believe.

So how about you? Do you have someone who gets you through that next chapter? 

Until Next Time!

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