Dual authoring

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arodriguez

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I was curious. I know there are plenty of titles with two authors, but how does that work? Do they alternate chapters? Do they have control of specific charcters? Does one usually dominate the manuscript more than the other? Anyone know?
 

LilliCray

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It depends on the authors. I'm co-authoring a book with a friend of mine, and we email portions back and forth. One of us writes till we can't write no more, then the other writes till they can't write no more, et cetera.

But there are many different ways of collaborating on a book. Really, it depends on the authors themselves and their preferences.
 

Joe Moore

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I don’t know how others collaborate on fiction, but here’s how Lynn Sholes and I work together.

Prior to collaborating on our first book, Lynn and I spend almost 10 years as friends in a weekly writer’s critique group. So by the time we decided to collaborate, there were few issues or surprises in dealing with ego, writing styles or author voice. We already knew what our individual strengths and weaknesses were and our goal was to capitalize on them. The result was THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY which was named Book-Of-The-Year by ForeWord Magazine. It became an international bestseller in several countries. Along with our other thrillers, THE LAST SECRET and THE HADES PROJECT, we have been published in over 21 countries.

When we first started, we worked in a linear fashion as most writers do. Not so much any more. Currently, we’re almost finished with our fourth thriller in the Cotten Stone series called THE 731 LEGACY. Because we constantly brainstorm and plan our story in such detail, it’s not unusual for us to hop around and drop into the story at any point where one of us has a “handle” on the scene or chapter. I might be drafting chapter 52 while Lynn is revising 35 with few chapters in between. And we always know how the story ends pretty much from the start.

We are separated by hundreds of miles, so we collaborate electronically. Aside from an occasional signing, workshop or conference, we rarely are in the same place together. We conference call daily and burn up our email connection with attached drafts of our current chapter. Having a co-writer means there’s never any writer’s block or lack of ideas and solutions.

Lynn and I work well together. But I would not recommend collaborating on fiction to anyone else unless their goal was to wind up in prison for murder.
 

L M Ashton

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I would think it would depend on the authors involved.

My husband and I have talked about and are currently experimenting with co-authoring a book. We started with an idea I had for a story, and hashed out the details in the plot, with most of it coming from him (he's much better at logic and figuring those things out than I am) until we came up with a plot outline that we could both live with. I'm blitzdrafting the first draft - I'm much faster at that than he is. Then he'll get a crack at editing, which will include adding/changing details at will (track changes on in Word), then it'll go to me for editing, and we'll pass it back and forth until we're both happy. We also discuss things as problems come up - but then, we sit beside each other all day geeking out on our computers, so this is very easy for us.

I imagine other writing partnerships do whatever works for their own particular strengths.
 

nevada

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the way Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer work it is that Jennifer writes the female POV and Bob writes the male POV and they exchange a lot of emails. She likes to plot down to minutiae, him not so much, so they're constantly discussing plot and character development.
 

Scrawler

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We both do what we do best. In general, she's great with sparking the ideas and I'm more of the nuts & bolts. I'm a better editor, she's a better proofer. I get bogged down with technicalities, she lightens things up with outstanding creativity. I can take her bag of great ideas and organize them into a solid outline. She reads literature, I like chick-lit, which often means her views are deeper and I go for lightweight comedy. It's a good balance.
 

J. R. Tomlin

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Change Tracker is an essential. One of the great things about Word. I co-author occasionally with a good friend who lives out of state. He does the plot and rough. I then change a substantial portion of the plot (because he doesn't put in enough tension) and edit the hell out of it. :D

Then we go on ad infinitum. It's a nice change from solo writing sometimes.
 

arodriguez

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I don’t know how others collaborate on fiction, but here’s how Lynn Sholes and I work together.

Prior to collaborating on our first book, Lynn and I spend almost 10 years as friends in a weekly writer’s critique group. So by the time we decided to collaborate, there were few issues or surprises in dealing with ego, writing styles or author voice. We already knew what our individual strengths and weaknesses were and our goal was to capitalize on them. The result was THE GRAIL CONSPIRACY which was named Book-Of-The-Year by ForeWord Magazine. It became an international bestseller in several countries. Along with our other thrillers, THE LAST SECRET and THE HADES PROJECT, we have been published in over 21 countries.

When we first started, we worked in a linear fashion as most writers do. Not so much any more. Currently, we’re almost finished with our fourth thriller in the Cotten Stone series called THE 731 LEGACY. Because we constantly brainstorm and plan our story in such detail, it’s not unusual for us to hop around and drop into the story at any point where one of us has a “handle” on the scene or chapter. I might be drafting chapter 52 while Lynn is revising 35 with few chapters in between. And we always know how the story ends pretty much from the start.
We are separated by hundreds of miles, so we collaborate electronically. Aside from an occasional signing, workshop or conference, we rarely are in the same place together. We conference call daily and burn up our email connection with attached drafts of our current chapter. Having a co-writer means there’s never any writer’s block or lack of ideas and solutions.

Lynn and I work well together. But I would not recommend collaborating on fiction to anyone else unless their goal was to wind up in prison for murder.

It sounds like a challenging experience. Do you ever have any disagreements? Have you sort of "claimed" any character for yourself or vice versa? Were either one of you new to the genre?

I'd really like to try this because i have a crapload of ideas for books, but no time to write everything. i want to write other genres as well, and it seems like it would be fascinating to have a team to do it. Somemtimes i feel like my eyes are deteriorating from editting.a little backup would be nice.
 

Joe Moore

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Do you ever have any disagreements? Have you sort of "claimed" any character for yourself or vice versa? Were either one of you new to the genre?
Yes, we disagree, but that's what brings about fresh ideas and story conflict. I lay claim to a number of secondary characters while Lynn invented Cotten Stone, our main character. I was writing in the genre when we teamed up but thrillers were new to Lynn.
 

pepperlandgirl

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I collaborate with Vivien Dean. We write as Jamie Craig. At the beginning of the novel, we each choose a character, and we write everything for that character. We write a paragraph at a time in chat. It's easier to show than it is to explain it:
Pepper: “But I am happy you ventured out of the warmth of your room tonight. Even if you did put yourself at a bit of a risk.”

Vivien: “I must confess…I’m beginning to suspect you would not allow such risk to befall me. I’ve not had a friend like you before. I…it’s a boon I didn’t anticipate in coming here.”

Pepper: Jefferson’s heart twisted. Micah’s voice was so small, he could barely hear him. He sounded lost in the darkness, overwhelmed by the night. “You never had a friend who would take care of you? Nobody who would help you?”

Vivien: “No, why would they? I’m the youngest Yardley, with three brothers ahead of me to inherit long before I do. They gain nothing by being my friend.”

Pepper: “Micah…that’s not true. There is plenty to gain by being your friend. Your life…your existence is not just as important as how much money you possess. You cannot be measured by your land, or your birth order, which was nothing more than a random accident. You’re more than that.”

Vivien: Micah’s long pause made him fear that he’d been a trifle too vehement in his declaration. That fear was heightened when Micah pulled his hands back and folded them in his lap, turning his head to gaze up at the pulpit.

“I envy you. Your life is so simple.”

Pepper: “It’s not.” Jefferson forced his disappointment down, and folded his arms. “But I’ve worked hard to make it appear that way. I haven’t…had any friends, any real friends, since I left Boston. And…I did not exactly leave Boston by choice.”
Then one of us will edit it. It really depends on who has the time, where it's going, what needs to be done, etc. Editing pretty much consists of cleaning up the language. Plot and characterization does not change once we've completed the first draft. Then we submit to our editors. Then when we get their edits/suggestions back, whoever has the time will take it. Sometimes it works out so only one of us will see it through the editing process. Sometimes we'll both have a look. Sometimes she'll take the editing and I'll take the galleys. It just depends.

We work well together, and we work quickly. In a bad week, we write 20K. In a good week, we can almost complete a novel. Our disagreements generally last for less than an hour, and we rarely, rarely fight. When we do, we take a break and then approach the problem from a new direction. Most of the problem arises from the fact that I absolutely will not stick to a plan from start to finish. Our characters do what they want, when they want. This requires a lot of revision and brainstorming and both of us have to be very flexible.

ETA: In many ways, collaborating is like being married. My husband refers to Vivien as my wife, and he's not really off-base. I don't think I've ever spent this much time with another person besides my husband. And we really do share a brain. We used to laugh at how eerie it was, but now we just accept it because we realize that's how it is. She can read my mind and I can read hers. But despite all this, sometimes it's hard. You better be prepared to make sacrifices when you collaborate, and not get things your way. I don't think it something that can be entered into lightly if you want it to work.
 
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arodriguez

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That's pretty deep. Very intriguing. Writing is such a solitary activity, it must take great effort to make the co-authoring work. maybe one day i'll get to try it, but for now it sounds real intimidating.
 

David I

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But I would not recommend collaborating on fiction to anyone else unless their goal was to wind up in prison for murder.

Apparently no one bothered to take note of this important concluding remark from the voice of experience.

But I did, and it sounds threateniningly authentic.
 
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