Tales From the Dark Side

So far we’ve done nothing but extoll the virtues of writing collaborations. But surely it’s not all rainbow muffins and puppy baskets, right? If you’re used to thinking of writing as a solitary pursuit, shifting gears to work with a partner can be jarring. If you’ve chosen the right partner, the adjustment period should pass rather quickly. But for people who just aren’t compatible, working together will always seem hard.

The major obstacle to a successful writing partnership is the need for compromise. You and your partner have to agree. About everything. Perhaps that should more accurately be stated as you and your partner have to be able to come to an agreement about everything. It’s highly unlikely that you will be in complete concordance from the get-go on every issue, so the two of you need to be able to work together to make the finished product the best it can be.

There’s no one piece of advice that covers how to successfully compromise. You will each need to yield a bit sometimes, but that’s not always how to make the writing better. Sometimes you need to take a stand and persuade your partner to do things your way. The trick is finding the right balance of give and take, and doing them at the right times.

These moments of conflict can occur at any phase of a project, and on any level of detail. You need to agree on the big picture, and even something as fundamental as genre might create a snag. The story’s overall structure, point of view, and pacing need to come together seamlessly to create a unified voice. Right down to the nitty gritty of line editing and word picks, you and your partner will not always want the same things, but only if you can compromise is any of it going to work.

The need for skillful compromise is perhaps the most fundamental difference between working solo and with a partner, but there are other pitfalls to beware. There are logistical considerations, like schedules and file formats. How will you decide whose name comes first on the cover? (We suggest sharing a non de plume.) Many of the same things that are strengths in a healthy collaboration can become sources of trouble if you’re not careful. We can’t tell you how to resolve these conflicts, we can just warn you that you’re going to have to.

From time to time we’ll revisit the Dark Side of collaboration, and delve into these hazards in a bit more detail.