A question for the writers....

[kellifer]

So...

If you have written collaboratively before or have thought about it, what would be the best approach?

Looking for ideas on how to truly write a mooshed story with someone.

Any advice/ guidance / war stories would be appreciated... ;)

Oh my god... remix/redux is really soon. Yikes!! Just got my s/d ficathon assignment and one of the prompts was something I've thought about writing for a long time so keen!

Comments

[lark_ascends]

It depends on what you're writing.

The collaborative work I've done have been an RR with starrylizard and a combined story with celtic_sky.

The RR, we didn't start out with any specific plot, have just seen where it will take us. It did stall (mainly because I went off into nutty land), but it hopefully will get going again.

The story with Celtic_sky, our insane masterpiece, Laundry from Hell, started out from an initial idea, that just snowballed as we flicked it back and forth between us over a couple of days. We had no idea where it was going to head initially or how we were going to explain anything.

I've enjoyed both as really good experiences, to the extent that the three of us are working on 'themes' as sort of independent, yet connected stories for SPN.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

Hrm. Well, an IM program has been a must, for me.

Usually, it devolves two ways.

1. Both people take a character/side to write, and construct successive paragraphs, dialog, whatever--this is really akin to the way some RP stuff gets done.

2. You write everyone, and just do it more of a round robin style. You write some, the other person writes some. Just... what flows.

The other thing is: melding your styles. With some people, this can be easy, with others, not so much (I still have issues with melding lucyparavel and I, because she's intensely descriptive and a bit flowery at times, whereas I... am not.) The best way to tell if it works is to remove all names, and then have someone else read them to see if they work coherently.

I also know of people who will take it chapter by chapter. One author writes one, then the other, etc. OR, they split the characters and write scenes from one side, then scenes from the other (there's a never-finished, rather awesome X-Files/Excalibur crossover out there where one girl wrote Scully and Mulder, and the other Kitty and Wisdom. sigh.)

Mostly, the big thing is: to not beat each other up and end up hating each other. Communication, as the Ancients in Crichton's head once said, is the key.

[eponin10.livejournal.com]

I haven't done a lot of collaboration, but when I have we ended up writing the fic in a locked post, and tagging each other. By which I mean, one of us would write a part in comments, then it would be the other's turn. We took turns editing it to make the style seamless.

For one fic, my co-author and I were writing based on an RPG we'd played, so we tended to each write our own characters, and then split up who wrote which minor character. For another fic still in progress, we're just writing back and forth and seeing where it goes.

[kellifer-fic.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm... a locked post is an excellent idea... that's got me thinking... so much easier than emailing back and forth... :D

[eponin10.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. Definitely easier. Plus, this way everything is all in one place. *g* scarlett_o and I have created our own, private fic community on LJ so we can do this. *g*

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

There is also Google Docs - which is a nifty way to share documents among people.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

I second the recommendation of Google Docs, as it lets both of you work at the same time on the same document and saves a lot of emailing back and forth. E and I have also done it with back and forth emails, just sending each other bits and pieces to add or change, but where that falls down is if your co-writer makes changes in a section and you've been editing it too - at the same time. You can't just cut and past her/his changes in without losing yours and must pick through it all. Google docs saves that problem and also has a revision history in case you don't like a change your partner makes (or vice versa).

Other than that, my best advice is to stay flexible about your ideas and IM is fantastic for brainstorming and compromising.

[miera-c.livejournal.com]

From the Ren!AU experience, I'd say 1) be honest (polite but honest) even when it makes you uncomfortable and b) check your ego at the door. You have to be able to discuss the project without worrying about stepping on the other person's delicate feelings, and you have to remain openminded when other people make suggestions or critiques.

And of course, sense of humor is vital. ;)

[poisontaster]

I've collaborated with several people at this point, some of whom have very different styles than mine and overall, I've found it to be a very rewarding experience. Much better than my school days when I didn't get to pick my collaborator.

I echo the recommendation for using google docs. It's been super convenient and it saves you the trouble of having multiple versions of a document on your computer and getting confused as to which is the latest. There's a revision view where you can see what you've changed or what your collaborator has changed, and because it's stored offline, you don't have to worry about losing the doc in a computer crash or anything.

With the collaborating itself, I also echo lyssie, I think, who was saying that communication is key. You have to talk about how you envision the characters, what you think they're about, how you think they'd handle given situations, etc. You have to talk out plot, not only in the larger picture, but down to small details. Be flexible. This is key, because disagreements, great and small, are bound to occur at some point and flexibility and not getting egoiste are key to keep it from becoming big fights.

When you disagree about something, plot point, characterization, whatever, first of all, decide if it's a big deal or not. If it's not, let it go. If it is, then talk it out calmly and rationally as you can. And give each other the power to either say "this totally doesn't work for me" or "I really really want this to be in here". Understand that you're going to fiddle with each other's 'deathless prose' and again, don't let your ego trip you up.

Get a good beta. Someone who can not only tell you what's working or not, but who can help you blend styles so that it fits together more seamlessly.

Have fun. Seriously. If you're not having fun with it, it's probably not worth it.