(That is Vira in the picture.)
Life is hectic guys, but one thing I miss is my consistent blog posts. It kept me motivated and accountable. So here goes. Co-Writing.
I'm been co-writing since I started writing, and though many of my WIPs are co-written I do have quite a few that are entirely my own. I have tried a lot of different forms of co-writing, and I almost prefer it to writing alone. I'm going to list a few ways you can co-write, ranked from easiest at the top and hardest at the bottom.
Co-write in the same world:
This can be so much fun and has to many opportunities for unique stories! You can built a world with someone and then write stories within that world that have nothing to do with each others, or you can hint at things the other person talks about in their book, or ones written in the future of the world and one in the past and so the future one references historical events that happened in the other. There are endless possibilities, you just need to get creative.
One thing that can be hard is agreeing on everything about your world, but typically you just have to be willing to compromise and say, "I really want this, and I know I don't like your idea for this other thing, but if you let me have my idea we can do yours also." type thing.
Alternate chapters for different characters:
This can be really awesome because you get to share the struggle of writing a book and it will probably go faster. Instead of you writing both characters (In say a book where you alternate between two characters point of views every other chapter, like I'm doing in The Eminence of Time) you and another person are each writing one, so you get to have really different character voices without the struggle of trying to make two of your own characters sound really different.
The hard part? You probably will have to be able to write the other persons character well, which can be really hard to make sure they act/sound right. But that's why you use a shared document and can talk about whats working well/badly as you go, or just edit it after it's done. Depends on how you like to do it. The other struggle, agreeing on the plot of the books.
One person write first half of the book, second person writes second half:
You really have to be willing to share this story and maybe not have control of what happens. You have to be really good at writing the character the same as someone else, you have to be willing to compromise. (Fanfiction writers would be good at this). You have to be able to match the other persons writing style pretty closely. It can be super cool, and I've heard of a lot of popular writers doing this. But it does make the work load easier and is a chance to experiment and see what you can do.
Both write your own characters in the same chapter and everything:
So basically what Vira and I do is I have total control over my character, and she has total control over hers, we chose if we are going to write in first person or third person POV, and either of us can do description and random side characters each of us has. When doing something like this you can chose to have one main character. So in Vira and my story she has the main character and I have another main character that is like.. Slightly less of a main character. So I write my characters dialogue and actions from her characters point of view (Which she sometimes changes to fit what her character would say.) It's really fun, and we always have a text chain going so we can talk about what happens next or a problem that comes up.
Both write all of it, either person can edit/add/change anything:
Okay, if you are a really easy going person who is willing to have things totally out of your control, try it out... If now idk, maybe try something else. It can be cool though, make feel more authentic, and if one person is stuck the other person can take control for a while. Try it out. It can be pretty fun.
Alternate chapters, same character pov:
This is hard.. Just because (tell me if this is just me) it's really really hard to write someone else's character well. But otherwise it's pretty similar to a few of the others. I haven't been brave enough to try this, so if any of you have, please shoot me a message or comment below. I'd be interested to hear how it went.
Write the whole book in 3rd person POV with kinda an omnipresent feel:
Okay, I'm going to have to explain this one, but it makes perfect sense and is a lot of fun, okay? Trust me on this.
So you both can write whatever, but from either a non specified kinda omnipresent pov, or from a narrators POV. You can do a whole host of things with this. I've heard of books where the author was the narrator and entered the book as a character half way through. So basically this is the crazy stuff that you should for sure try even through it will probably fail but if you succeed and make it amazing it will be truly amazing section.
Co-write a series:
This doesn't really fall into easy or hard because there are so many different ways you can do this. Vira and be kinda do a mix of a lot of different types of co-writing all within out co-written series. Some books we are doing every other chapter, some each others characters make appearances, and we have plans for a lot more. You can write anything, no matter how crazy, you want. Just do it.
If you have co-written I'd love to hear how you chose to do it and how it went, or if you hope to in the future, or are looking for someone to co-write with. Maybe someone else wants to also and will comment. Be brave and write epic stories people.
Much love,
Thane