Would You Accept a Co-Writer for your Stories and Why or Why Not?

[EmilyMiller]

There's a "not" missing there, but otherwise no, you're not overstressing .

- Editor DJ

Help, help, my creative liberty is being suppressed!

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

Apropos of no previous post:

I think if you are going to co-write, you can’t view it’s as a battle between you. It’s like a collaborative board game, not a competitive one.

Of the two of us, I’m clearly the more highly-strung (not a gender thing, brain wiring) and @Djmac1031 is more chilled. But, that’s an over-simplification. He can be insistent when he feels it adds to the story to be so. And I can be “don’t sweat the small stuff,” despite it being my natural state to, well, sweat the small stuff.

It’s a process of accommodation, not a battle for control. I guess it’s a personality thing as to whether or not that is possible / desirable.

Emily

 

[intim8]

Would You Accept a Co-Writer for your Stories and Why or Why Not?​

I'd love to, but my schedule isn't very condusive to such commitments.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'd love to, but my schedule isn't very condusive to such commitments.

It’s easy enough to fit something like this around other stuff. Unless you are on a rigid schedule.

Emily

 

[Djmac1031]

Apropos of no previous post:

I think if you are going to co-write, you can’t view it’s as a battle between you. It’s like a collaborative board game, not a competitive one.

Of the two of us, I’m clearly the more highly-strung (not a gender thing, brain wiring) and @Djmac1031 is more chilled. But, that’s an over-simplification. He can be insistent when he feels it adds to the story to be so. And I can be “don’t sweat the small stuff,” despite it being my natural state to, well, sweat the small stuff.

It’s a process of accommodation, not a battle for control. I guess it’s a personality thing as to whether or not that is possible / desirable.

Emily

It's not like we've cowritten tons of stories.

We collaborate on many, sure. But the extent of that collaboration varies, depending.

We've obviously put a lot of thought and had long, detailed discussions when it comes to the shared Angels & Demons universe.

But even with that, at the end of the day, we're both writing our own stories.

Other times it's even far less involved:
"Hey, just wrote this, what do you think?"
"Looks great. May need X and Y. "
"Yeah, I can see X, but I don't think Y would work, because Z. "
" True. Go with what you think works best. "

The two Traffic stories are the only ones we've actually cowritten. And neither are overly complicated stories. A cute couple, a traffic jam, some hot sex. Not too much to disagree over lol

 

[intim8]

It’s easy enough to fit something like this around other stuff. Unless you are on a rigid schedule.

Not rigid, but I'm working for a startup, so it means occasional spurts of weeks of frantic work, interspersed with occasional and unpredictable free weekends, like this one. That means weeks where I can barely answer an email, and free time that comes out of nowhere and tends to get filled with things I've been putting off, like paying bills and doing yard work. I do try to write during them, but after weeks of not paying any attention to it, it is hard to get my brain in the right gear. I've been trying to write my April Fool's story all morning, with little luck.

 

[EmilyMiller]

It's not like we've cowritten tons of stories.

We collaborate on many, sure. But the extent of that collaboration varies, depending.

We've obviously put a lot of thought and had long, detailed discussions when it comes to the shared Angels & Demons universe.

But even with that, at the end of the day, we're both writing our own stories.

Other times it's even far less involved:
"Hey, just wrote this, what do you think?"
"Looks great. May need X and Y. "
"Yeah, I can see X, but I don't think Y would work, because Z. "
" True. Go with what you think works best. "

The two Traffic stories are the only ones we've actually cowritten. And neither are overly complicated stories. A cute couple, a traffic jam, some hot sex. Not too much to disagree over lol

Hey,

Let’s have a public disagreement, shall we ?

Angels & Demons is probably more collaborative than many on this thread would be comfortable with. We’ve had to negotiate all sorts of stuff (my Corporate Governance arrangements for Hell are still my favorite ). And I’d say me including three of yoru characters in one of my stories is pretty collaborative too.

But yeah, it’s only been two pure collabs. And yeah they have been simple. But still a bridge too far for many it seems.

Emily

 

[EmilyMiller]

Not rigid, but I'm working for a startup, so it means occasional spurts of weeks of frantic work, interspersed with occasional and unpredictable free weekends, like this one. That means weeks where I can barely answer an email, and free time that comes out of nowhere and tends to get filled with things I've been putting off, like paying bills and doing yard work. I do try to write during them, but after weeks of not paying any attention to it, it is hard to get my brain in the right gear. I've been trying to write my April Fool's story all morning, with little luck.

I get that. My work has peaks and troughs. And I have a busy personal life, though my bf is at a work thing today .

Emily

 

[Djmac1031]

Let’s have a public disagreement, shall we ?

If you insist...

Angels & Demons is probably more collaborative than many on this thread would be comfortable with. We’ve had to negotiate all sorts of stuff

Agreed. But my point was, at the end of the day, you're still writing your stories your way, while I write mine my way.

You're not waiting for me to write the next scene or chapter, or waiting for me to sign off on a plot development before you write it.

Each and every one of your stories is your ideas, your creations. Sometimes I contribute a few ideas, or help work out some plot holes or something.

But it's not like you're ever obligated to HAVE to go with any of my ideas or suggestions.

 

[intim8]

I get that. My work has peaks and troughs.

If you have ideas on making it work, let me know. The Aces series can easily become a universe that many people could work in. It's kind of post-apoc-ish, though the original series is more at the beginning of a slow motion apocalypse.

I have two sequels and a prequel, along with a couple of character sketches, with some basics sketched out. I've written opening scenes, almost-chapters, involving completely different characters than the first series. 20 years in the future, 120 years in the future, and 20 years in the past. But given my choppy schedule, they amount to little more than ideas now. And I have the conclusion/follow-up series to the original series outlined with about half of it written.

That kind of scattershot thing is what happens when I can't keep my head in it day to day. Lots of potential, but not much actual work getting done.

EDIT: Heh, I just remembered, I wrote a small script to calculate and graph future population trends given the premises of the series and some predictable consequences.

 

[AchtungNight]

If you have ideas on making it work, let me know. The Aces series can easily become a universe that many people could work in. It's kind of post-apoc-ish, though the original series is more at the beginning of a slow motion apocalypse.

I have two sequels and a prequel, along with a couple of character sketches, with some basics sketched out. I've written opening scenes, almost-chapters, involving completely different characters than the first series. 20 years in the future, 120 years in the future, and 20 years in the past. But given my choppy schedule, they amount to little more than ideas now. And I have the conclusion/follow-up series to the original series outlined with about half of it written.

That kind of scattershot thing is what happens when I can't keep my head in it day to day. Lots of potential, but not much actual work getting done.

This is all true of my stories’ universe also. If people read my stories and have ideas, please share them! I am willing to judge incorporating them on a case by case basis. There’s also a lot I just don’t have the ability to write as anything but hand-waved convenience and summarized backstory, I’m increasingly having to admit. If another author can do things better, I’d be glad for their help.

 

[Codoc24]

If someone wants to collab, by all means, go for it. I'm certainly not trying to dissuade anyone. I wish you all the success in the world!! It's just not in the cards for me at this time.