An Equal And Opposite Reaction

Every writer has to deal with occasional bouts of writer’s block, or lack of motivation, or distractibility.

Squirrel!

This week has been just such a week for Jen. She wants to keep the project moving, but can’t seem to find her way into any of the scenes that are already in stub form. Usually that would mean that it’s time to write more stubs, but we are currently well-stocked. More of the scenes need to be fully written so that we can make sure we’re still heading where the outline says we are.

Luckily for Jen, she has a writing partner. Kent is not suffering from the same malaise as Jen, and has been writing some great stuff, if he does say so himself. Jen happens to agree. But that’s part of the problem, actually. Lately Jen feels like Kent has been using all the good sentences and she’s just randomly smashing the keyboard.

This compare and contrast mindset can be one of the downsides to collaboration. When the stars align, the co-authors drive each other to brilliance. Other times, someone feels like they’ve been left in the dust. Right now it’s Jen’s turn, but Kent had a similar episode as we were finishing up the rewrites on the previous project.

The two of us trust each other enough to talk about these feelings and reassure one another that everything’s golden. As you embark on a collaboration with a new partner it’s something you should keep an eye out for. Collaboration is not competition. You and your co-writer should cover for each other when necessary, and celebrate when everything goes smoothly.