Having a writing buddy is to have someone hold me accountable to my work. Jeanne Lupton and I have been meeting every Monday morning since 2009. Mostly at Mission Pie in San Francisco, sometimes at Leila’s Cafe in Berkeley, we take our meeting seriously and rarely have we missed a week. When I was working on the second draft of my memoir I promised to show her a chapter a week. I was eternally struggling with grammar and syntax. Jeanne patiently corrected and explained to me my mistakes. It was her steadfastness, expectation and our discipline that made me finish the book in a timely manner.
Writing is a solitary undertaking but sharing is an integral part of the process. When I look back, we have worked through a variety of works: my book, Jeanne’s draft on her poetic memoir, poems, stories and her incisive tankas. What can be accomplished over a cup of tea is truly amazing.
Your memoir? Where is it?