Comments on: Miriam Goderich chats about collaboration

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By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:31:00 +0000

Miriam, wonderful post on collaborative writing! Insightful and informative for those who've never tried or imagined collaborative writing. It is a technique that can work exceedingly well for the right pair using the right method and that’s where the real challenge exists. As you might remember, my collaborator, Rob had at least 38 books published when we chose to collaborate while I, a newbie to fiction and publishing, was a tech writer with many years of experience of tight deadlines, putting ego aside for content/accuracy, and all the other joys of high-tech documentation. We chose who would do what, outside the writing itself, based on who had the most appropriate skills. I did research; he handled all publishing. Each sentence was written by both on us on cell phones at our computers (he in Chicago, me in Atlanta: one had the master copy, the other the ‘let’s try this’ copy). We worked hard (and I had catchup to do in the craft of creative writing), argued fiercely at times (unresolved issues were put aside for discussion in a few hrs or the next day), and loved the stimulation and magic as our two different minds/voices merged into one in our final words. We started each day prepared to work and ended each session with a schedule of when to begin again. We gave ourselves the right to ask each other to 'kill our darlings,' ask if ego was the source of contention, and give the other a scene on faith that it would work out with the right to scrap it if it didn't move the action forward or add substantially to the storyline or the characters. Those rules, the agreement that our friendship came first, and really listening to what the other had to say proved to be the right method for us. While that book has yet to sell, it has never received a negative review from an acquisition editor (two minds are better than one? *G*). For us, that freedom to write together 5-8 hrs/5-6 days/wk has not recurred — we both miss it.

Again, wonderful post!

Lyn P.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:07:00 +0000

I always wonder about the voice of the writer getting muddled when there are two. All the collaborations that I've known have gone sour.

Better to plug away by yourself!

By: Joelle

Joelle — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:12:00 +0000

I too am glad to see this post. I think it occurs to many people what a great idea this would be without really thinking it through. I have a friend who writes YA too and she loves to get the story down and hates to revise. I’m the opposite…getting the story down kills me, but revising is great fun. We’ve discussed this idea of writing a YA together before, she would write the first draft, I would revise, but we’re not serious, I don’t think. I love a good critique, but I’m not so sure about working with another person for real! I think for now I better stick to my own writing. Thanks!

By: Sara Z.

Sara Z. — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:37:00 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I keep seeing more and more collaborative novels in YA and have been curious about all the implications…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:31:00 +0000

I work alone, but I have a miserable collaboration...

The right and left sides of my brain don't get along -- same with the front and back.

It's one constant thunderstorm up there. Oh well, keeps my ears clean!

Haste yee back ;-)

By: Wanda B. Ontheshelves

Wanda B. Ontheshelves — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Not a horror story, but I chuckle when I think about it:

In college I was "collaborating" on a book with a friend. Once in a while she would ask:

"How's the book coming along?"

By: jessica lipnack

jessica lipnack — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:31:00 +0000

Miriam, great post. I have a Google alert set to "collaboration" as I've written a bunch of books about this *in* collaboration with my husband. Normally, the alerts point to articles and posts about some new technology for collaboration or some technologist's brilliant exegesis on how to collaborate. This is the first post I've seen from an agent. Good for you. You're hitting all the points. When we got started, we fought like crazy; then at a certain point, three books down the line, I think, we realized that each of us was better at something than the other (duh) and that when one of us got stuck, the easiest thing was to just hand it off to the other. Now we each claim credit for the truly brilliant sentences. I just cross-posted to my blog. And what a coincidence that you're handling my Zoetrope friend Lisa McMann's Wake. Congrats.