Writing a book isn’t easy. You have so many ideas and you have to allow some to flourish and grow and some to die, or at least maybe be postponed until another project. Just satisfying your own artistic expectations can seem like a monumental task. I know writers that pour out their hearts for chapter after chapter, and then tear up the work because some intangible element doesn’t feel right. I get it. I totally get it. Now imagine that you have to satisfy yourself AND someone else…someone else who is a different gender perhaps, or a different age, or has had very different life experiences. And now imagine that you not only have to write in a way that makes you AND THEM happy…but you have to let them write too…in YOUR book! Sounds impossible? Ahh…then maybe joint authorship isn’t for you. Or, maybe it is…because even though there might be moments of creative disagreement, you might be surprised how many serious benefits there are from writing as a team.
1. Brainstorming and Vision-casting: As a team you can bounce ideas off of each other in a creative maelstrom impossible for a single writer. Well, ok, perhaps not impossible, but certainly unlikely or uncommon. It would be hard to find another person, let alone another writer, as invested in your project as you, and as passionate about seeing it through to fruition. Writing teams, however, live in that circumstance permanently. My dad and I routinely schedule time to just review timelines or plot outlines, to talk about a character or a conflict, or to discuss thematic elements. Without this constant energy of creativity and cross-pollination I don’t think our writing would be as productive or as fun. 2. Checks and Balances: Have you ever come up with a brilliant idea, written say 100 pages or so about it, and then looked back at what you had done and realized it was drivel? Or worse yet, have you showed this work, proudly, to some trusted friend or unsuspecting family member, only to have them smile blandly and say, “that’s nice sweetie…”? In other words: Drivel. Sound familiar? Are you inwardly cringing at the memory? Of course…every writer has been there at one time or another. The great benefit to writing with someone else is that all the ideas get laid on the table, good and bad, and inspected by two pairs of eyes. If one person is going out on a literary ledge, the other person can pull them back to safety. This is crucial with the big decisions like plot and character, but it is just as valuable with the little things like deciding if a piece of dialogue sounds authentic or if a particular action sequence makes sense. 3. Division of Skills and Labor: Division of labor may seem normal in a colony of settlers, but perhaps it sounds strange when talking about writing, yet consider that in this day and age, writing may not just be ‘writing’ anymore. Sound confusing? Well, for many, writing is no longer just creating a novel or collection of short stories. It is also proofreading and editing, for sure. But, for those of us taking the more self-guided route, it is also design and marketing, website creation, graphic design and cover art, typesetting, account management, distribution, sales, negotiating with store owners…the list goes on. With so many things to consider, it can be an enormous relief to use the skill sets of differing individuals in tackling these sometimes overwhelming, and never-ending, tasks. Besides, often what feels like work to one of you might really be fun to the other. 4. Encouragement and Camaraderie: Have I mentioned that writing is hard work? Whenever I see a movie where the protagonist wants to become a writer because it seems like an easy way to make a living and not have to go into the office I want to…well I want to laugh. Or maybe punch something. But really, mostly, I want to laugh. Only people who have never written anything of real length and substance could labor under the misconception that writing is easy. And, as such, writing is one of those professions that you will sometimes find yourself frustrated by…or depressed…downtrodden…despondent…ok, ok, enough of that. But, you get my point. Living on your creativity means some days it will be raining manna from heaven, and other days it will be a drought. Either way, there is nothing better than having someone to celebrate with in your times of success and to push you in your times of weakness. Striving toward the same goal means that on any given day one of you may be pulling harder than the other, but you are always in it together and cheering each other onward. I have always loved writing, but I didn’t really become a successful writer until I had a partner. Now, after all of this discussion, chances are that you will still opt for writing on your own. That’s ok and is in fact the norm. However, there are still a few lessons to take away from this discussion. The most important is that good writers—here read ‘producing’ writers as well as talented writers—almost never write in a vacuum. They have proofreaders, or research assistants, or a mother or boyfriend or a persistent English teacher (or a persistent English student in some cases), but regardless, they have someone who encourages them to keep working no matter how difficult it becomes. They have someone who tells them their dialogue is cheesy or the protagonist seems overdone. They tell you when something just doesn’t sit right, and hopefully, they tell you when something is done well, too. Bottom line: Don’t disregard the importance that those people carry in your writing life.
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Wendy Picard GorhamWendy lives and works in the midst of words everyday--English teacher by profession, and writer by passion! Archives
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