He writes: And the warship went into hyped-up overdrive, giving pursuit to the mortal enemies of his nation. With blasters on kill, Captain Tom grinned, his hand twitching while he waited for the moment to come when he could sear them all to hell.

She writes: Meanwhile, Sarah prepared a round of mint tea, taking care to clean the ship’s tiny galley. “I must speak with Tom,” she thought. “There must be another way to negotiate with this enemy.”

He writes: Tom flipped on the intercom. “Prepare for battle. We’re about to come out of hyped-up overdrive.”

She writes: Sarah rushed from the galley, balancing the cup in front of her. “Tom, I made you some tea,” she said as she rushed into the control room. “I thought we might have a chat.”

He writes: “Not now, Sarah. I’m about the blast those Godforsaken Trintars to smithereens.”

She writes: “Yes, I know. Here, have a sip of tea, you’ll feel better. I’ve been thinking, perhaps if we just spoke with the Trintars one more time…”


Karen’s thoughts

Though the above is an obvious exaggeration and quite stereotyped in its wording, we use it to illustrate a point. We know that all men do not write one way, and all women another. In fact, I too like to blow things up sometimes (read my third novel, Mindspark). The point is, any two writers, any two people, think about things from different angles. So what happens when you want to try and write a collaboration with someone?

Before JD Williams and I agreed to begin our collaborative effort, Reflections of Eden, we discussed some basic ground rules. One, we formed and signed a contract (taken almost word for word from How to Write With a Collaborator by Hal Zina Bennett). Then our first decision was that we would each write from the angle that was our usual style — mine more spiritual, his more scientific. We decided to use our differences to our advantage. How? The most obvious choice was that for the most part we would each write different characters. I wrote the prologue, JD wrote the first two chapters, then I wrote two, etc. My personal reasons for doing this were several. One, I already knew from editing JD’s work that I liked his writing style. And I knew he had a good knack for editing my work without trying to alter my voice, style. And I thought we had similar ways of saying things. In addition, JD likes to use outlines; I don’t outline at all. In that arena I purposely sought out our differences in order to force myself to work within areas that aren’t the norm for me. My thinking was that this would force me to become a better writer because I’d be pushed in new ways.

One of our other ground rules was that when I write a chapter, JD would get one pass through to do edits, no more. Final edits rest with the author of the chapter.

So far, so good. As of the writing of these words, we’re about six chapters into Reflections of Eden and I’ve found it quite interesting to have to use JD’s words as a springboard for what I write (he wrote the first two chapters). We’re still friends, we’re still moving along. I think one of the things that’s helped is that we did not set a timeline for completion, but rather understand that we each have our own individual writing projects as well. Life intervenes. So for myself, after I do my chapters and send them to JD, I move back to my own projects and invest my energy there so that I’m not constantly wondering how long it will take JD to write his next chapters.

The most important phase, it seems to me, is to really agree on the basic ground rules first and to accept that another person is going to write differently than you. But that’s what you want — to use the assets of both (not unlike a marriage), in order to diminish the weak areas. Though I have a science background, I don’t tend to be as interested in writing about that. JD does like to write about that. I know this will make the story stronger, and that also we will have a good amount of the spiritual side from my writing. In fact, we purposely picked a scenario that makes it necessary to “argue” both sides, to bring both sides out, so we can have the best of both worlds. In the end will it work? Well, that remains to be seen as the book isn’t done yet. But if I say so myself, I think it’s damn good.



JD’s Thoughts

Writing has many enjoyable parts, but it also has some downsides. One aspect that’s always been tough to deal with is, as a writer I know how my story’s going to turn out. When you watch a movie or TV show, or read a book, you don’t know for sure what’s going to happen until it does (unless it’s thoroughly predictable). Collaborating adds an edge to the usual writing process; you’re not sure how things are going to develop, and maybe you’re not sure how they’re going to end.

And something else: Ever feel torn over something, not sure which way to go or what to decide? In writing, creating characters gives an author the chance to work over dilemmas. Some are simple: “Do we attack the dragons? Lessee how many guns we have.” Others can be more complex: “Do we help the aliens, but in so doing give them technology they’re not ready for yet?” You use your prose to argue two sides of a predicament, but it’s still two sides of an argument in one mind — the writer’s.

The funny thing about collaborating is, it’s a type of ultimate teamwork, two writers sharing equally, together, in the story; but it’ll work even better if both writers bring different aspects to the story. It’ll work best if both writers bring some opposing elements into the project.

So Karen and I have, in our own ways, said pretty much the same thing in our comments on collaborating: A collaboration to us is interesting when we bring both common grounds and different approaches. It’s a very interesting ride.

And, since I’m doing the uploads to Karens’ site, I have to prep her text for HTML. It’s also going to be very interesting to see what Karen thinks of my edits on her comments. :-)


Copyright 2002 by Karen Daniels. All rights reserved. For copy or duplication, please contact the authors.




Recommended Reading:
How to Write With a Collaborator by Hal Zina Bennett with Michael Larson, Writer’s Digest Books, 1988.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King
New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1994