Tolstoy

The opening line of Anna Karenina famously declares that all happy families are alike, while each unhappy one is unhappy in its own way. Writing partnerships are the opposite: the failed ones are all the same in the end, but each successful one is unique.

We haven’t rambled about what makes a good writing partner lately. It’s overdue.

Some teams gel because of the similarities between the partners, which makes sense because they have common ground. Not everyone gets along with other people who are too much like themselves, though, so some partnerships thrive because the members are different. Also, differences broaden a partnership by letting you each draw from the other’s expertise. More than that, some occasional friction can be invigorating. It is a signal that your partner cares about the project enough to get worked up over it.

All relationships take a certain amount of work, and a writing collaboration is no exception. The thing to watch out for is how much of your energies are going into not strangling each other, because that’s energy that could be better spent on something else. The same reasoning applies when there’s too little passion. If you’re exhausting yourself trying to build up your partner’s enthusiasm, that’s not good either.

Every writing team needs to find its own groove, and sometimes it takes a different groove from one project to the next. Work at it, and find a shared voice you love, and your partnership will be happy in its own unique way.

Happy Winter Solstice!

As His Rage Subsided

  1. Character – the Grim Reaper
  2. Setting – pool hall
  3. Object – bull whip
  4. Situation – last date

As his rage subsided and the flashing red haze cleared from his vision, Tony saw Carmen.

She was sprawled across one of the tables, seeming to study the 8-ball with unblinking eyes. A braided leather cord was cinched tight around her throat, its length trailing over the side of the table to the stout handle Tony grasped.

He could remember a fight, his stupid jealousy. Carmen wasn’t moving.

A dark figure drifted in through a solid wall. He was cloaked and carried a scythe. He drifted over to Carmen, and a translucent copy of her took his hand and sat up.

“It’s like I tried to explain,” she said as she stroked the Reaper’s cheek, “I’m going with somebody else now.”

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“I Knew I Should Have”

  1. by jenCharacter – Typhoid Stanley
  2. Setting – the caves of Neptune
  3. Object – scissors
  4. Situation – lost

“I knew I should have taken that left turn at Albuquerque,” muttered Stanley.

He peered through the windshield at the luminous blue-green walls surrounding the hoppercraft.

Mary sighed heavily. He knew what she was thinking. Another Typhoid family vacation ruined.

“I’ll ask where we are,” he said, and stepped outside. He stretched his tentacles and floobled over to the information kiosk.

“The Caves of Neptune Welcome You,” he translated the sign.

Stanley sighed and floobled back to the hopper.

“We’re lost,” he said. “That’s the last time we let Junior play with the scissors and the map.”

What’s in a name?

We’re trying to come up with a name for the city where our story takes place.

The novel before this one is set in Manhattan, so there was very little naming of places required. The neighborhoods and streets all have names already, and there are myriad restaurants, boutiques, businesses, and landmarks to call on for flavor. That’s not to say that we didn’t have to make anything up. We invented a few locations to suit our purposes and then we had to name them.

This time, though, we’re back to founding our own city, which gives us the fun honor (or dreaded chore, you decide) of naming absolutely everything.

Naming is a special art, whether it’s characters or places or the story itself. Not everyone has the gift for it. In our case, Jen definitely has the touch. So in our workaday partnership activities, naming stuff is one of her primary duties. (Kent has other talents. Honest.)

But for whatever reason, in this case we’re teaming up on the toponym issue. Jen named the whole cast already, so maybe she was just tuckered out. It’s neat to kick ideas back and forth and watch how your partner reacts. It’s a good way to tell if you’re on the same page in regards to the flavor. If one of you wants to call the place Kitten Basket* while the other favors Death River*, there’s a disconnect somewhere and it’s better to get that sorted out early on. One of the beneficial side-effects to our collaboration and brainstorming has been that the place’s history is starting to take shape, because some of the name concepts are so evocative. But we still haven’t chosen a name!

*Not actually under consideration. Feel free to use it yourself.

Two Figures Move Along The Catwalk

  1. Character – judge
  2. Setting – zeppelin
  3. Object – nail-gun
  4. Situation – hiccups

Two figures move along the catwalk, one in black robes and one in blue overalls. With his hands up, the robed man turns to face his captor.

“This won’t solve anything,” the judge says to the roofer.

“You put me away for a long <hic!> time,” drawls the man in overalls, menacing the judge wit his nail-gun.

Not long enough, thinks the judge. A low groaning sound permeates the superstructure as the Zeppelin Chambers – literally the highest court in the land – banks slightly to port.

“Careful with that. You’ll kill us all!” the judge implores.

“May <hic!>, maybe <hic!> that wouldn’t <hic!> be such a <hic!> bad thing!”

Oh why didn’t I take my gavel with me at recess? the judge lamented.

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Xyblorgyz Peered At His Ticket

  1. by jenCharacter – alien
  2. Setting – dry dock
  3. Object – one-way plane ticket
  4. Situation – obscene phone call

Xyblorgyz peered at his ticket. Murmansk. One way. It was the closest he could get to Tunguska. He hoped he wouldn’t miss his train connection. The shuttle to the mother-ship wouldn’t wait for stragglers.

But where was Niplodiuma? She should have been here by now.

Xyblorgyz’s digits fumbled with the tiny buttons as he tried to reach her on her Earthling cellphone.

“Hello?” said the female voice that answered.

“Plody, it’s me. Where are you?” he said in their native Centroplaxis tongue.

“Oh gross!” the female voice said. “You obscene phone callers need to get lives!”

That definitely wasn’t Plody. Xyblorgyz looked around at his fellow passengers. They were all brawny, sweaty, and wearing work gloves. How odd. His phone rang and Xyblorgyz answered it.

“Blorgy! Where are you?” It was Plody. “They’ve begun boarding!”

Xyblorgyz looked around.

“Not where I am.”

“Where are you?” She sounded frantic.

Xyblorgyz checked his translator. “Dry dock.”

“Blorgy! I told you to get that thing fixed! A dry dock is not the same as an airport!”

Xyblorgyz looked around in shocked horror.

“Oh, frazglark!”

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We <3 Outlines!

Kent made an interesting observation the other day. He speculated that when authors say they don’t like the outlining process, what they’re really saying is that they don’t like to be reminded of how much work is ahead of them. Novel writing is a lot of work, there’s no getting around it. But to us it makes all the sense in the world to start with a thorough outline. It may seem like an extra step, but it will save you a ton of time in the long run.

As we mentioned last time, we created a multicolored visual representation of our new plot and spent a few hours studying it. Then we went back to brainstorming and long conversations, and we discovered a new wrinkle for one of our characters, a wrinkle that we wanted to incorporate from the very beginning of the story. If we had simply plunged in and written the first draft, when we discovered that this guy needed a little something extra we would have needed to go back and rewrite all of his scenes. Since we’re taking the time to outline, all we had to do was replace a few of our dark green paper squares, and shuffle a few of the others around. Other characters got notes added to their squares where they intersected with Dark Green, et voila! — heartache, recriminations, and carpal tunnel syndrome averted. Go team!

Alas, the ending is still proving elusive. We have something sketched in that feels right, most of the time. Other times it feels too simple. This has led to an entire week of throwing possible endings back and forth at each other. Most are utter crap, but the ones that pass the first nose-wrinkle test get a full discussion. This entails referring to the plot rainbow so often that we’ve just left it out on the floor all week. We’ll need to pick it up before the Pulitzer Committee comes over for tea.

Steve Walked Up To The Counter

  1. Character – interior designer
  2. Setting – shopping mall
  3. Object – lunar rock
  4. Situation – dropped a contact

Steve walked up to the counter with his purchases – a “moon rock” and two hand-crafted replica ceremonial masks “from Honduras.” These seasonal stores at the mall sure made his job simpler.

“Forty-three Seventy-five. Charge? Okay.”

Steve ran his hands through his long hair while the cashier waited for her machine. She was an older unit – the cashier, not the machine – but had a tattoo peeking out over her low collar.

“So you collect this stuff?”

“It’s for a client. I’m an interior designer.”

“Hey! My nephew would love to meet you.”

Steve pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes tightly, causing his right contact to pop out. “I’m not gay, alright? Just because a guy has long hair and decorates for a living doesn’t automatically make him gay!”

The cashier wilted. “Jimmy’s not gay either. He just bought a new house, though.”

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Lolita Panned Around The Garden

  1. by jenCharacter – retired pearl diver
  2. Setting – botanical garden
  3. Object – camcorder
  4. Situation – quitting the order

Lolita panned around the garden with the camcorder, looking for the best view. The orchid display was exceptional, the delicate white and pink flowers providing startling contrast to the black rubber worn by all of today’s participants.

Lolita made sure the camera was white-balanced properly and sat back to wait.

Gustav and Yoko were finally ready. Their wetsuits got harder for them to struggle into each year.

After the swearing in of the initiates, it was finally time for the retirement ceremony. Lolita started filming, then left the tripod. Gustav and Yoko looked warmly at her, extending their hands for the ritual handshake.

Lolita choked back tears as they removed her triple-strand pearl necklace and oxygen tank. After the ceremonial returning of the flippers, it was all over.

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The Plot Thickens

Our walking conferences have continued (when the weather is suitable), and we spend most evenings camped out on the big leather sofa playing “what if.” The results are looking good. We have a plot that flows nicely from beginning, through the middle, and most of the way to the end.

A problem we dealt with on our previous novel was the fear that we did not have enough plot, and we’re grappling with that again. Since the last novel’s first draft wound up at 150,000 words, we’re trying not to worry too much this time. Chances are we do have enough story.

Once we talked through the arcs for all the characters, and sketched in their major actions, we switched from open-ended discussions to a more structured approach. Jen brought out the color-coded note pads (because Kent has a phobia about index cards) and assigned each character a color. Then she wrote out each character action, one per note, and Kent arranged them in a grid.

Kent’s grid quickly outgrew the ottoman, and he had to move to the floor. The sprawling patchwork rainbow of paper squares made a nice visual representation of the plot.

Each character had their own column, with the rows denoting the passage of time. Anytime characters interact, those actions go in the same row. This leaves blank areas when a character isn’t up to anything interesting, and it allowed us to see if we’re staying away from any story lines for too long.

Switching to a different, visual mode of brainstorming is a great way to spot inconsistencies or other problems lurking in what you’ve already come up with. It also has a way of lighting up the creative faculties, which can accelerate things and open up new avenues to explore. It’s a go-to methodology for getting unstuck.

We spent an evening studying the grid and making notes, and now we’re back to brainstorming to flesh out the thin spots. We will probably cycle through the process another time or two before we’re ready to write up an actual outline.

In a co-writing relationship it’s vital that the partners share an understanding of all aspects of plot and character so that they can write toward the same goal, seamlessly.