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

[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.