About Collaborative Writing

In Wendy's and my case, it was unintentional. We've been friends for years and we're both members of the Salem Fiction Writers Group. We had dinner at a nice restaurant, hanging out, talking about stuff. One of us said, wouldn't it be great if ... By the end of the dinner we had a story line and the names for our characters.

Having an idea is the easy part. Writing is the hard part. It helps to have a collaborator, someone you are accountable to. It's the antidote to procrastination. There's a difference between telling yourself "I'll do that tomorrow" and then having to tell that to someone else.

It's also an exercise in forgiveness. We both frequently mixed up personality traits that were unique to the other character. We tried forcing the other character into actions that simply wouldn't make sense. I remember one outburst over the drunken night scene. "Samantha simply doesn't do THAT", I told Wendy. It took us an hour to come to an agreement.

It was an experience I'd absolutely have again. And should you have the opportunity to do some collaborative writing, go for it. It'll help you grow as a writer.