Editing buddies

I've got one I found through MS who, even though I work with a full-time writing partner, I couldn't live without! Granted, we just sort of fell into the arrangement one day - I mercilessly critiqued one of his pieces of one the showcase, and you know how men respond to abuse! We have a chapter by chapter quid pro quo arrangement going on - In a perfect world he edits one of mine, I edit one of his. (As it stands he edits one of mine and I stare at a 3 chapter pile of his excellent writing because the little bastard writes faster than I do so I edit like a mad fiend trying to keep up! )

Long story short - get to know people and make friends. I'd been on this site for over a year before stumbling into this arrangement, which while it is worth its weight in gold IS time consuming - editing the way I approach it is NOT for the faint of heart. It works for my partner and I because we have become good friends, we don't coddle each other, and our writing styles compliment each other marvelously (we even share the same Zodiac sign - freaky, huh?).

Have patience and stick around. Worse thing that happens is you come away with good professional contacts and excellent writing advice!

 

Like I said, the key is networking, which is exactly what a professional site like this is for - that and talking about cats and preferred arguing ad nauseum about the virtues of "Showing" vs. "Telling."

Make friends. Share ideas. Remember, ideas are a dime a dozen - put the basic plots of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Jim Butcher's Storm Front side by side and they're identical. What matter is execution, and only YOU can make that difference. So make friends, share ideas, debate concepts and learn new things. And for heaven's sake, stop fussing about another wannabe writer making off with your "golden egg" of an idea.

You never know who you'll be running into at a con someday!