Question About Writing Partners

I hope someone with experience can answer this question, because I need to know as well! I have written casual fan-fiction with a friend or two before, so I can say that you need to make sure the use of language and vocabulary blends perfectly. You wouldn't want a reader to pick up the book and be able to tell where one person stopped writing and the other one began. Continuity of storyline and plot are important, but I'm sure all of these things are obvious to you. What I don't know about is this:

What if your co-author doesn't do any of the writing but contributes some of the basic ideas and characters, and then flakes out on you? If you go on and finish the story, doing all the work, writing all the drafts and developing all the characters, does that other person still own half of your work? Are you required to put their name on the copyright when you make it that far? What if you never see them again, but you want to continue the story and publish? Since you've already done all this work on it and basically made the entire story, what are you legally obliged to do before you can publish?

I'm sorry that I can't give a more helpful answer. Maybe the copyright suggestion will help generate some ideas?

I've seen writing partnerships flourish and I've seen them explode so violently both parties are wounded and their friendship killed.

Before you begin, you should agree on a goal. Yes, write the book together, but then what? Is the intention a sale to a publisher, or your own enjoyments of the process? How you write it might differ depending on the answer. What you're really into may not be as marketable as other ideas you have.

Be prepared for one of you to do way more work toward the goal. If you're not both good with that, don't begin. Seriously. One of you will lose enthusiasm, or have other things which eat into available time, guaranteed.

Have an agreement (maybe in writing) about who owns the writing done so far, including outlines, synopsis, or other plan for the whole, if one of you abandons the effort. Can the lone survivor proceed on his or her own? If so, and if there's a sale, what happens to any money received?

How do you plan to work? Will you brainstorm ideas together, then one writes? Will you write together, settling on each sentence? (Lay in plenty of supplies.) Write alternating chapters? It's probably worth a dry run before you commit: Write a short story together, no longer than 4,000 words, with the goal of publication. See how it goes.

Maryn, who could never write with a partner