Two Brains Are Better Than One

So we’re motoring right along, finishing scenes at a healthy clip, when Jen suddenly pulls the handle on the emergency brake and we come clattering to a halt. The problem? Oh, only a fairly significant plot hole. Nothing major.

It wasn’t as bad as “plot hole” might make it sound. We knew where the characters were, and we knew where they were going to end up, and here in the writing cave we knew that it would work just fine. But on the page we left a couple of steps out of the journey and someone was bound to notice. Luckily for us (this time) it was Jen that did the noticing, which gave us the opportunity to backtrack a little bit and throw in some road signs to help the reader understand how the characters end up in the right place.

Having a writing partner is a distinct advantage. Our problem would have been harder to fix if it hadn’t been discovered until the draft was finished and in the hands of test readers. Or even worse, what if it managed to sneak through the whole editorial process only to snag paying customers?

As authors it’s our job to make the story world feel as real as possible, and it’s a job that’s a lot easier to do when you have access to two brains.