co-authorship????

I've never co-authored, but the people I've observed who do always seem to have the same set-up. One is, they're long-married, which I presume means they already work well together and know plenty about give and take. Based on my teeny sample (two pairs of co-authors, met at writing conventions), one typical way they work it out is for one to be the main writer and one the idea person. They both write, but the Writer has final say on how it's all worded. They both produce story elements, characters, and so on, but the idea person has final say on that aspect.

For what it's worth, I bought one book from each of the co-authoring pairs, and I found them both drab and predictable. It made me wonder what they'd have produced working alone, it really did.

Maryn, simultaneously too bossy and too insecure to work well with anyone

Some people have a natural relationship of ideas and plotting vs dialogue.

Others (especially with some celebrities) are cases of the ghostwriter getting co-author credit. Most celebs I can't believe know how to create a coherent sentence, let alone a readable book. But their names are what is selling/driving the book.

The former takes a lot of time to develop but once two people gel, it can become so productive you'll wonder how you ever wrote without them!

Jim would be a good person to talk about this. He and his wife are lovely co-writers.

My husband and I have never actually taken the step of becoming co-authors, but we might as well be. When we work together, we basically brain storm and bounce ideas off each other until we hammer out a plot, characters, and logical motivations. I know you're probably thinking, "Um, that is co-writing" but when we do this, it's usually when I'm revising a second or third draft. I come to him and say "Look, X, Y, and Z has happened and now I don't know what to think" and we start hashing it out.

I have a friend I would love to write with, but I don't think she will go for it. She creates wonderful words and characters. I have a really, REALLY hard time creating context and setting for my stories. I usually have to do it in the second and third drafts. However, she can't think of a story--which is my strong point and generally what I care about the most. I think writing a story in her fantasy world would be a lot of fun, but I can imagine a lot of horrible things happening as a result.

Personally, I couldn't stand to even try it. But at the same time some of the best books I have ever read are from the Lincoln Child/Richard Preston writing team. Also, I believe "Judith Michaels" is a husband and wife pseudonym.

Most of my works are co-authored with my beloved wife of 27 years, Dr. Doyle.

How it works: I write an outline (about 3/4 of the length of the finished book). She takes it and re-writes it. I take that and re-re-write it. We fill in, expand, move stuff around, rename ... then go over the whole thing word by word together.

I have final say on what happens. She has final say on what words we use. We discuss everything, and sometimes act out scenes.

James D. Macdonald said:

We discuss everything, and sometimes act out scenes.

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Well that explains it then. I always wondered why characters in your books always seemed to have headaches

Authors Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert have worked together on the 6 Dune prequels and have talked about how they work together in many of their interviews.

JohnLynch said:

I always wondered why characters in your books always seemed to have headaches

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Characters in our books drink an awful lot of coffee, but I don't recall any that had headaches.

I'm pretty sure Larry Niven refused Jerry Pournelle's proposal for marriage, but they still made a good team. Their strengths complement one another. One is dour and the other is insane.

(Note that I've not said which is which. Some day, when I accept my Nebula, we'll meet. I don't want the serious one to pop me in the nose while the crazy one laughs maniacally.)

Co-writing

CACTUSWENDY said:

Hi, it's me with more questions...again. I see books that are co-authored, sometimes big selling books. I think some of you in here have done that. How do you find someone that compliments your style? What does each bring to the 'table'? I think i can see non-fiction being done this way, but how do you do it with fiction?
Let me thank you ahead of time for any information you share about this.

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Co-writing seems to work very well for some writer, not so well for others. I don't think there is any set way on how it's done. Each team seems to go about things in a different manner. I'm a big fan of Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, and I love both novels Peter Straub and Stephen King have so-written, but it's not for me.

I can't remember who said it, or the exact quote, but I remember hearing a writer say something like "Co-writing is twice the work for half the money and a quarter of the fun." This sums it up pretty well for me.

I have done some co-writing, but I'd much rather just do it all myself. There isn't any part of writing a novel I don't enjoy, and when I have something published I want the full blame or the full credit, whichever is most appropriate.

My co-author and I work well together

We have written three nonfiction books, our latest The Making of a Bestseller is hitting bookstores this month.

The sticky part with nonfiction is not duplicating each other. We can't both be working on the same document. About five or six chapters go into one document. That way there are four or five different files and we always make sure we're working on different files.

The research is split, each of us working on what grabs us for that day. We have a chart which outlines all the required tasks, research, interviews, etc. We initial which sections we're working on. As that particular task is completed we highlight it.

We have written fiction but haven't had it published yet. Fiction is more of a challenge. We outline the entire plot and develop the characters. The backstory on each character is pretty thorough, even though most of it may not actually be used in the story.

Then we each take chapters and write. Switch chapters and write. Edit, write, edit, write.

Dee

I am currently partnering with a close friend for my first novel. We've been critiquing work for each other for about 10 years and understand our individual styles very well. He is mostly the idea person and I am the writer, but there is a lot of give and take. And a lot of frustration, since both of us have been writing on our own for 10-15 years. But we understand each other and spend a lot of time working out details before typing anything out. I think it takes a special dynamic to be able to partner and do it well. We’ll see how we do in the long run!

I've seen this from two sides.

Once, I co-wrote a non-fiction book with my husband - it was a nightmare, as we hadn't set up anything beforehand. I rewrote his stuff, he rewrote mine - but not in a good way - we kept changing our original points, then would argue about it. We've both grown up since then (we were at Uni at the time), and I think we'd have the sense to work out a plan of who did what if we ever did it again.

I've also come into contact with a lot of co-authors, both unpublished and published, but mostly writers of romance. I've known sisters write together, friends, and husbands and wives. I saw three manuscripts from two authors - the ones they'd written individually were fantastic. The one they'd written together was bland and forgettable. Other teams created memorable stories that they couldn't have done alone. Some people formed long-lasting teams, others lasted barely a book or two.

Different things work for different people - and sometimes it's hard to know in advance what will work for you. However, it's a good idea to set out guidelines if you can.

Co-writer

mistri said:

I've seen this from two sides.

Once, I co-wrote a non-fiction book with my husband - it was a nightmare, as we hadn't set up anything beforehand. I rewrote his stuff, he rewrote mine - but not in a good way - we kept changing our original points, then would argue about it. We've both grown up since then (we were at Uni at the time), and I think we'd have the sense to work out a plan of who did what if we ever did it again.

I've also come into contact with a lot of co-authors, both unpublished and published, but mostly writers of romance. I've known sisters write together, friends, and husbands and wives. I saw three manuscripts from two authors - the ones they'd written individually were fantastic. The one they'd written together was bland and forgettable. Other teams created memorable stories that they couldn't have done alone. Some people formed long-lasting teams, others lasted barely a book or two.

Different things work for different people - and sometimes it's hard to know in advance what will work for you. However, it's a good idea to set out guidelines if you can.

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I do think each writer must know the role he or she has to play, and guidelines in advance are important.

Co-writing does work very well for some writers, and for others it's a disaster.

Just from my own personal viewpoint, I'd rather chew ground glass and wash it down with sulphuric acid than ever co-write another novel. I know the way I like writing, and the way I like story-telling, and I can do both without help. Doing it myself is faster, easier, better, and much, much more fun.

Why I am co-authoring.

I am writing a book that is being co authored because they are family and have contributed to the material in the story. That and they are financing the book when finished to a publisher and we do a contract so that they get proceeds from it. I want to be fair to who helped me with it. But as for doing it with another person I really have to know them and get it in writing.

CACTUSWENDY said:

Hi, it's me with more questions...again. I see books that are co-authored, sometimes big selling books. I think some of you in here have done that. How do you find someone that compliments your style? What does each bring to the 'table'? I think i can see non-fiction being done this way, but how do you do it with fiction?
Let me thank you ahead of time for any information you share about this.

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I write in several genres, and began writing romance a few years ago. My writing partner and I met online in a romance writing class in fact. We chatted back and forth in AIM for a few months. One day she sent me a paragraph and asked me what I thought. I sent it back with a paragraph added to hers. That began our partnership. She lives in NC and I live in PA. We plotted out our entire novel then took turns writing sections, sending them back and forth by e-mail. We completed our first book and half the sequel before we met in person. We're now in our final edit and Unforgettable Journey placed fifth in a recent romance contest.

There were times when we didn't agree on things, so we picked up the phone and discussed the issues. If there is one thing we've learned as writing partners, it is that we both have to be on the same page in order to keep the work moving and keep our partnership alive.

Joanne

I've published a few novels as co-authorships and had some others under contract that have failed for one reason or another. (Hard to complete a book when your big name co-author ups and dies without leaving any notes.)

Most often a co-authorship is created when the publisher signs a Big Name (who may not actually be a writer) and then starts looking around for a young-but-proven writer hungry enough to actually write the book. In one case I was lucky; my Big Name provided an outline, then got out of the way and didn't care what happened as long as the book wasn't embarassingly awful and the publisher's check cleared the bank. Fifteen years later, that book is still in print.

The "young-but-proven" part is important. These kinds of contracts never go to utter unknowns. You have to have some kind of track record first.

Another book was written as a cooperative effort of near-equals, and that was an experience I am not eager to repeat. I'll second whoever said that co-authorship is "twice the work for half the money and a quarter of the fun," except that's probably underestimating the work. My co-author was a good friend, and he remains a good friend still, but writing that book was an ordeal.

Weird. My reply got truncated.

Co-authorship is one of those things that seems like a great idea to those who've never tried it. A few pairs of co-equal writers have, or at least can learn to fake, a good working synergy. More often, "we'll combine our strengths!" turns out more like "we'll multiply our weaknesses!"

I recommended learning to finish your own book first. You can always take on an apprentice after you are the Big Name.