Matchy

When I was looking up the Adair Lara writerism I wanted for this month's sidebar thought (see over there on the right), I noticed a link to a writing community I'd never heard of listed in the author's bio. Matchwriter.com sounds like a dating service for writers, so naturally I couldn't resist going and having a look.

It's not a dating service (that I can tell from the content, anyway) but sort of a critique partner/writer pal warehouse. There's a nice concise explanation of the site, as well as bios for the folks who run it on the About Us page, and a Find Other Writers search engine page that helps you sort through the profiles using 27 genres, 5 writing skill levels, and 18 global geographical locations. So if you wanted to find a critique partner who is a romance/horror beginning writer living in Africa, this search engine would do it.

I left all the fields open (as in, show all) to get the maximum number of results, and the search engine returned 212 profiles. Here's one I thought was interesting:

I have been writing about food for a book publisher for about 7 years. The bulk of my writing is marketing copy to help sell our books. I'd like to write more creatively on subjects I like personally--food related or otherwise. (Amy T)

Another, more specific:

I'm hoping to find a couple of writing partners who I can ask for feedback on an as-needed basis. In exchange, I can offer quick turnaraounds on your work, with critiques as detailed as you choose. My current writing partner, a member of the Matchwriters.com community, is focusing on marketing her memoir work, so our past agreement on exchanges is evolving and nudging us both to find additional partners for exchange. (Gary Miller)

And, much as I love my solitude, some were really tempting:

I'm a psychotherapist and before that a newswriter at a time so long ago, we were still using molten lead linotype . . . I will send you anything you want. Freewriting, pieces nearly finished, rough drafts. I will return everything of yours. Just don’t ask me to drive south of Petaluma. (Marsh)

I think if you're looking for a serious crit partner, or want to put yourself out there for other writers to find, this might be a good place to try. Also, all the features of Matchwriter.com are free, which gives it a gold star in my book.

Added: I have to take away the PBW gold star, as our pal Buffysquirrel reports in comments: All the features are free, apart from actually contacting a partner, which will cost you $29. Interesting definitions of "all" and "free". I didn't try to contact anyone so I missed this -- thanks for the heads-up, B.