Co-writing

[Stockholmblondie]

Does anyone find it interesting and fun to co-write with a partner? I think it makes the process very interesting, not knowing exactly where the story goes.

 

[Jada59]

Does anyone find it interesting and fun to co-write with a partner? I think it makes the process very interesting, not knowing exactly where the story goes.

I tried it and it didn't work. The other author had specific ideas of how he wanted the story to go, but I just couldn't see it.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I tried it and it didn't work. The other author had specific ideas of how he wanted the story to go, but I just couldn't see it.

Yes, that can happen of course. Guess one needs to find just the right partner, and it might not work even then.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

I tried it and it didn't work. The other author had specific ideas of how he wanted the story to go, but I just couldn't see it.

Exactly the same experience; the other party needed me to provide detailed versimilitude describing surgical procedures and treatments, OR conversations and instructions, drugs and medicaments, dressings, recuperation and rehabilitation, then proceeded to paraphrase me down to what amounted to 4th grade descriptions à la 'what I did on my vacation' simplicity, which he could have gotten from Wikipedia or just made up instead of wasting my time and effort. I walked away, I understood we were writing a realistic hospital-centered patient/nurse/doctor love-triangle romance, not a big-little book.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

Exactly the same experience; the other party needed me to provide detailed versimilitude describing surgical procedures and treatments, OR conversations and instructions, drugs and medicaments, dressings, recuperation and rehabilitation, then proceeded to paraphrase me down to what amounted to 4th grade descriptions à la 'what I did on my vacation' simplicity, which he could have gotten from Wikipedia or just made up instead of wasting my time and effort. I walked away, I understood we were writing a realistic hospital-centered patient/nurse/doctor love-triangle romance, not a big-little book.

I think that might be the biggest problem that can occur, that one part wants something very detailed, and specific to fit their own ideas. Guess this is a bit more tricky than one might think at first.... I got lucky once writing with a partner, lets hope that it might happen again.

 

[Rustyoznail]

I think it takes a special relationship to make it work. I’m writing a three part series with an Indian lady. We tossed around a lot of ideas and came up with a workable plan. The first part went well.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I think it takes a special relationship to make it work. I’m writing a three part series with an Indian lady. We tossed around a lot of ideas and came up with a workable plan. The first part went well.

Nice to hear that some find a way to make it work.

 

[TheOlderGuy]

As you pointed out, I love that you don't know exactly what twists and turns the story will take. It depends on your partner, mirroring real life so well.

Choosing the right partner, therefore, is key.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

As you pointed out, I love that you don't know exactly what twists and turns the story will take. It depends on your partner, mirroring real life so well.

Choosing the right partner, therefore, is key.

Yes, that seems to be the main thing. As it is in life lol

 

[AlinaX]

I collaborated with someone on one story for Lit. It was a really good collaboration, but it was also a form of intimacy that I was uncomfortable with and I haven't done it again since.

Even responding to personal requests for stories can feel unexpectedly intimate, leaving very mixed feelings afterwards. Ultimately you are interacting with someone else's erotic fantasies, which is very different from creating your own and having a clear separation from the readers.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I collaborated with someone on one story for Lit. It was a really good collaboration, but it was also a form of intimacy that I was uncomfortable with and I haven't done it again since.

Even responding to personal requests for stories can feel unexpectedly intimate, leaving very mixed feelings afterwards. Ultimately you are interacting with someone else's erotic fantasies, which is very different from creating your own and having a clear separation from the readers.

Interesting point. I can relate to that now that you mention it, that the intimacy can get a bit intimidating.

 

[Lori_the_Hoosier]

Interesting point. I can relate to that now that you mention it, that the intimacy can get a bit intimidating.

This was a part of the reason I found it easy to walk away from the collaboration I had embarked on; apart from downplaying my contribution to the point almost of invisibility, my writing partner seemed to feel that he was entitled to explore my own most intimate thoughts and attitudes, and play himself into them, the excuse being he needed to find where my sexual predelictions lay so he could incorporate both his and mine into the mindset of the female protagonist as she wavered between the two male main characters.

Eventually, and after not much prompting, TBH, his low-key innuendo and barely disguised voyeurism finally convinced me he needed help, and not with his writing, and that I was not going to be able to write with him, because writing ultimately wasn't what he had in mind. As an experience it was both interesting and instructive, but not one I have any wish to repeat; in future I'll just confine myself to editing and critiquing my husband's work.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

This was a part of the reason I found it easy to walk away from the collaboration I had embarked on; apart from downplaying my contribution to the point almost of invisibility, my writing partner seemed to feel that he was entitled to explore my own most intimate thoughts and attitudes, and play himself into them, the excuse being he needed to find where my sexual predelictions lay so he could incorporate both his and mine into the mindset of the female protagonist as she wavered between the two male main characters.

Eventually, and after not much prompting, TBH, his low-key innuendo and barely disguised voyeurism finally convinced me he needed help, and not with his writing, and that I was not going to be able to write with him, because writing ultimately wasn't what he had in mind. As an experience it was both interesting and instructive, but not one I have any wish to repeat; in future I'll just confine myself to editing and critiquing my husband's work.

Oh, plenty of pitfalls to this that I never thought of. I will write that up as lesson of the day, thanks for the input.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

I've never collaborated on writing before, but I like the idea. I started doing a bit of SRP on this site as a way to get my feet wet with co-writing. So far, I've been very pleased with the experience. As has been mentioned, it's exciting not knowing all the twists and turns the story will take. It also make's it easier to get unstuck in the plot. It sounds to me like the people who had bad experiences mostly picked the wrong partners, but I haven't been doing ti long enough to know, really.

 

[blackrandl1958]

I enjoy the process

I have posted 19 different stories with several different co-writers. Five different ones, I believe, and six co-writers on one story. It's always been a lot of fun. I have four more in various stages of completion. I have known all the co-writers for years, we were good friends, so there was no creepy shit, and none of us have had much ego with the others. It has been quite fun and I never experienced any issues other than it can take a while if one of you has ongoing projects.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I've never collaborated on writing before, but I like the idea. I started doing a bit of SRP on this site as a way to get my feet wet with co-writing. So far, I've been very pleased with the experience. As has been mentioned, it's exciting not knowing all the twists and turns the story will take. It also make's it easier to get unstuck in the plot. It sounds to me like the people who had bad experiences mostly picked the wrong partners, but I haven't been doing ti long enough to know, really.

The right partner seems to be the way to go

 

[Small_Island]

re: Lori the Hoosier's comment.
Damn, that is creepy. I haven't tried partnering with anyone, but have often considered trying to write with a female partner to blunt my blunt object perspective. ;-) I do have one story where I'd really like to just turn it over to a woman to write a whole interlude story explaining how a guy's wife ended up taking her jealousy at him flirting with two college girls into having sex herself with those girls.

 

[HeyAll]

I love collaborating. Especially with the right person. It brings new life and insights into a story, which avoids repetition from always doing it alone.

The key is that one person has to clearly be in charge. If it's 50/50, it's going to be a problem. For me, I always have to be in charge. I can't see myself co-writing for someone else.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I love collaborating. Especially with the right person. It brings new life and insights into a story, which avoids repetition from always doing it alone.

The key is that one person has to clearly be in charge. If it's 50/50, it's going to be a problem. For me, I always have to be in charge. I can't see myself co-writing for someone else.

Interesting point. Whatever works is good, if the two writers are on the same...page. Lol

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

I feel like that prohibition against 50/50 wpuld depend on how important the result is to you. If you can let go and enjoy the surprises and the changes your partner brings, and make the result less of a darling, maybe you’d enjoy a more egalitarian process, with more give and take.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a specific vision, though. Maybe it’s just different approaches.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Best thing ever.

But it's rare I'll admit.

 

[KeithD]

I cowrite with Sabb as Shabbu. We enjoy it, but Sabb has gotten so busy with publishing and other activities that we don't do it much anymore. The arrangement was initiated by Sabb, who thought our styles were compatible. They've proven to be, I think. Our stories get high marks and we won a contest here a couple of years ago.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

I cowrite with Sabb as Shabbu. We enjoy it, but Sabb has gotten so busy with publishing and other activities that we don't do it much anymore. The arrangement was initiated by Sabb, who thought our styles were compatible. They've proven to be, I think. Our stories get high marks and we won a contest here a couple of years ago.

Nice that some make it work

 

[SamScribble]

Does anyone find it interesting and fun to co-write with a partner? I think it makes the process very interesting, not knowing exactly where the story goes.

Many years ago, I co-wrote a suitably-smutty novel with another writer.

We agreed to write it in short chapters. She wrote the first chapter and left the story dangling off the edge of a cliff. Then I wrote the next chapter - and returned the favour. In no time at all, the aim of the game came to be to make life as difficult as possible for the other writer - to hell with the readers.

It was lots of fun. But it wasn't great literature. Nevertheless, when we both ran out of steam (and had to get back to 'proper' writing), my partner in crime tidied up the manuscript and sent it off to her agent who placed it (under a nom de plume). Surprisingly, it sold quite well.

You never can tell, girls and boys.

 

[Stockholmblondie]

Many years ago, I co-wrote a suitably-smutty novel with another writer.

We agreed to write it in short chapters. She wrote the first chapter and left the story dangling off the edge of a cliff. Then I wrote the next chapter - and returned the favour. In no time at all, the aim of the game came to be to make life as difficult as possible for the other writer - to hell with the readers.

It was lots of fun. But it wasn't great literature. Nevertheless, when we both ran out of steam (and had to get back to 'proper' writing), my partner in crime tidied up the manuscript and sent it off to her agent who placed it (under a nom de plume). Surprisingly, it sold quite well.

You never can tell, girls and boys.

Oh, that sounds great, guess you had a connection that made it work.