Are there easy ways to write with other authors?

Sending a master draft back and forth as e-mail attachments has worked just fine for and Sabb and me, writing as Shabbu--and we're on opposites sides of the world from each other. What is important, I think, is that there be only one master draft in existence, and simply bouncing that back and forth is safer than using any of these fancy programs that lets you both work simultaneously on it up in the cloud somewhere.
 
Technically, google docs works.

Philosophically, it’s a little more complicated.

Which part of your question are you having problems with?
 
Yes. Check out the srp section of the forum.

When I joined here the plan was to write lots of stories. But I only finished one, and got distracted by the srp game, which is more fun. It takes a little while to learn the rules, which seem to be unwritten. You can do it in public on the board here or in private by email (either plain text or passing a doc to and fro). I have private and public ones running. Which reminds me, I must get back to it, the ball has been in my court for too long...
 
As KeithD says, I reckon one master which goes back and forth is best, with each writer being able to edit anything (nooo, my character would never do that...).

I've done a couple of collabs with one writer and am currently in another, and one thing that's important to keep in mind is it's very likely a side project, and time will pass. Deadlines? Haha, they won't be met (I've still not been forgiven for leaving a character bare on his ass in the bathroom for a week. In winter).

Depending how you write, plotlines would be an adventure - my collabs have bounced each section of the last with no handover notes, no expectations - here you go, your turn. Do what you will with this. It can become very free-form. But it all depends how you approach the project.
 
Whose name on the story?

So if you have a collaboration with another writer, and the contribution is equal, how do you submit it? Do you submit it under one name but in the prologue/disclaimer make it clear that the other writer has made a 50% contribution, or do you come up with a different name for the two of you. Different than the name under which you normally submit.
 
A separate account for the collaboration. Shabbu in the case for Sabb and sr71plt/keithd. Our collaborations are published to the marketplace in the Shabbu name too.
 
So if you have a collaboration with another writer, and the contribution is equal, how do you submit it? Do you submit it under one name but in the prologue/disclaimer make it clear that the other writer has made a 50% contribution, or do you come up with a different name for the two of you. Different than the name under which you normally submit.
My first collaboration went out under my name, as the story fitted into an existing story cycle. My co-writer posted the first few paragraphs in his story file, with a link at the end to the full story in my file. We coordinated with Laurel to join them together. The story then got readers from our quite separate fan bases.

It was a one-off (we tried another story, which I took over and finished) so not worth introducing a "nobody knows" writer. If it was a planned regular thing, with volume anticipated, I'd probably do what KeithD and his pal did, but that's not going to happen anytime soon.

As a random, occasional project, it's not a productive way of writing, so keep that in mind. It might work differently if all you do is write and set up some discipline, but in my case, it's more for the curiosity of writing in a different way.
 
Depending how you write, plotlines would be an adventure - my collabs have bounced each section of the last with no handover notes, no expectations - here you go, your turn. Do what you will with this. It can become very free-form. But it all depends how you approach the project.
I can't imagine doing a story that way. To me, the plot is everything. I could see myself doing a collaboration were I lay out the plot and the other writer fills it out.
 
Some of us like to set a dilemma and enjoy the ride to how it gets resolved. If I established a strict, detailed outline for fiction as I've had to do for nonfiction, I wouldn't bother writing the story--no reward of discovery as I wrote.
 
I can't imagine doing a story that way. To me, the plot is everything. I could see myself doing a collaboration were I lay out the plot and the other writer fills it out.
It's not for everyone, that's for sure. I enjoy the process as I don't structure and plot anything (maybe loosely in my subconscious), so it's the spontaneity of bouncing in and around another mind that's the fascination. A story can end up with different layers of meaning, as we're reacting to each other in a creative way which can get quite intense. You have to let barriers down, I think, given it's erotica being written.
 
Some of us like to set a dilemma and enjoy the ride to how it gets resolved. If I established a strict, detailed outline for fiction as I've had to do for nonfiction, I wouldn't bother writing the story--no reward of discovery as I wrote.

This.

When I tried to collaborate, it foundered on the rocks of her needing to be a bit more regimented than I was willing to be.
 
I've been using Google docs with my editor. Not only is it free, and you can import/export common files from it, but you can set edits as comments. This puts them on a sidebar so someone can decide to put them in or not. The comments allow you to put in notes and replies.

I've had someone ask me to help him write a story, we're using Gdocs for this.

I find emailing attachments back and forth easy to get lost in. It becomes too easy to "fork" especially if you have more than two writers.
 
I do both. Google docs and emailing attachments. I use email when it's draft chapters and google docs for editing the complete draft
 
My editor and I send drafts back and forth in the text body of emails, editing in bold or Italics. Once we're convinced it's ready, I make a doc and submit it. It works well for us, given the number of edits done before publishing.

When I have worked with another author, one of us will write their part in bold, the other in Italics. It can be somewhat hard on the eyes, but it certainly keeps things straight about who's doing what and where you need to pay attention.
 
Jay and I have been writing together for just over two years now and live on opposite sides of the world (Australia and the US). It started out as roleplaying on the SRP forum and then moved to Skype. Now that we've been working together for a while we're going to start sharing our works.

So far our process goes something like this...
We write the stories as roleplays (we find that it allows our protagonists to have a consistent tone and voice, particularly in dialogue).
We convert the chat logs into a story format (currently using a shared file in Google Docs).
We take turns to run through and edit the document until we are happy with it. We usually highlight changes with comments or highlights and keep in frequent contact throughout the process.

We have just started creating shared accounts to post our work on. I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we actually enjoy the process. For me, it has been good finding someone I can work with like this. We share ideas and we both have different strengths (writing wise and process wise), which means that it is easier for us to get motivated to write.

:rose: Liv
 
Collaboration is tricky. My writing partner and I have a pretty good Mojo, so it works for us. We live 45 minutes away, so every weeknight, we spend an hour to an hour and a half on the phone, working on a project. I need to get a newer version of Final Draft, so maybe we could actually type into the same script together simultaneously (sounds like a train wreck waiting to happen). As long as nobody's excessively stubborn, it can be the most fun you can have. I love it.

The first name on it should be the person who came up with the idea.
 
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