Do you have a writing buddy? Predawn is my favorite time to write. I enjoy the quiet of our small Tokyo apartment in those hours before the street outside begins to bustle. With my Mac set on “dark mode,” I leave most of the lights off. I do, however, turn Miffy on. We got Miffy as a nightlight for our toddler granddaughter, only to discover she already had one she liked. So now Miffy, always stoic, but with a glow so gentle and warm, serves as my early morning writing buddy.

Of course, it helps to have people who can talk back when you want to explore an idea. For that, my first and closest writing buddy is my wife. She is not writing something of her own, so in the strictest sense she is not a writing buddy. (Miffy doesn’t write much either, though she makes the morning more pleasant.) My wife is so involved in everything I write that it’s unusual for me to compose something without showing it to her. I cannot write first drafts strictly for myself, as Stephen King suggests. His wife sees second drafts he has cleaned up. My wife sees everything. She stays encouraging, though, telling me only that something “needs polishing,” not that it’s awful. I like to think it’s because I don’t do awful, but I trust my wife’s charity more than my talent. And when something works especially well, she tells me that too. Those are proud moments, for her judgment stands the test of time better than my own.

As far as writing buddies who do write, I have only one, my friend Jacinta. She’s an Australian who lives in Japan. I met her at a workshop she taught on printing and publishing in January 2018. It was there I began thinking about self-publishing my first novel. (My editor has since convinced me to try going the traditional publishing route, although it is slow enough that I expect I will lose patience before much longer.) In May 2018, I attended a weekend writing retreat Jacinta hosted. There, we agreed to exchange daily writing shout outs to keep each other motivated and writing every day for a month, for it is constancy to purpose that gets a novel written, not momentary genius. At the end of the month, we decided to do it again. That was a year and a half ago, and most days since then we’ve messaged each other with encouragement. She is out of the country now, so rather than another physical writing retreat, we have a three-hour virtual retreat early in the morning on the first Sunday of each month. 

It’s interesting that Jacinta and I share little of what we write. Instead, we share our process and an optimism that if we keep writing, the process will create something worth publishing, for neither of us is writing purely for herself or himself. Maybe that’s what’s most important in a writing buddy, someone who shares the same dream. Jacinta does. My wife does too. And I trust Miffy does. She won’t say.