Books written by two or more authors seem far and few. Nowadays only a number of us can relate to the Carolyn Keene-esque struggles and props of writing alongside a friend.
My and my co-writer’s composition style is different: we each have jurisdiction over particular characters and make the call on how those characters will act. Needless to say, it adds quite an element of surprise into our writing.
Nonetheless, the adventure comes at a price. Fellow co-writers out there, please enjoy my co-writer and my top “co-writer probs”:
- Your co-writer wants your character to do something that they wouldn’t do. It’s a lot harder than you’d think to get your characters to do what they need to do to advance a plot movement. You gotta’ stay within their character and their own moral boundaries. “He’s not going to argue with her about it.” “But we need them to fight!” “IT’S OUT OF CHARACTER FOR HIM YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.”
- Waiting for your co-writer to finish typing on Google docs. Especially in a tense fight scene where your co-writer has to be visualizing it. *painfully watches as co-writer types three words in one minute*
- When you do get your characters to fight, and it becomes a real argument. Things get personal when you take loyalty to your characters. “You don’t get Oscar’s perspective! He did it for you!—I mean for your character!” “YOU HAD HIM DO IT FOR HIMSELF AND YOU KNOW IT.”
- When your co-writer sees your spelling struggles. “His pronounciation-” backspace backspace backspace. “Was embaras…embearus…embarrassing.” *deletes sentence anyway*
- Being short on sleep because your co-writer had the best plot twist plan ever last night at 11pm. Or because you decided to make one of your sleepovers into an all-nighter and write for seven hours straight. Was it worth it? Yes. Yes it was.
