I'm not quite sure if this fits in here, but I can't think of where else to put it. My best friend and I are working on a story together. We had the dynamic idea to each take a main character, and write all the going's-on in our characters point of view. At first, The writing moved along wonderfully. It was a perfect set up, because we couldn't get writers block, having one-anothwer to bounce ideas off of. Also, We have several studies in school where we had nothing to do, so we'd write our POV and then build off of one another in that extra time. Still, now, almost all of our conversations are about this story. Scenes, ideas, plans, and I'm all-to-excited about it. Unfortunately, I can no longer motivate her to write any more. She talks about it passionately, and the story line isn't tired, but she refuses to continue. She says things like "I was too tired to write" or "I have to much homework" or "I was on the phone". All of these things aren't true, or at least wouldn't handicap all of her writing time. Anyways, I love this story with all of my heart. I've tried coming up with other stories to work on until she gets her motivation back, but they all lead back to the original story. I can't work on it without her, But I miss it so much. What should I do?
You've already answered your own question. You cant force her to write, and if she doesnt have the will, then it wont turn out to well, anyway. So, abandon the story until she comes back around. Write your own. If you cant write something besides something like or pertaining to this story (which you totally can, if you put enough effort into it and throw yourself into it as hard as you did with the story with your friend --it's the hardest part of writing, developing your ideas, but it's also the most exciting), try working on a prequel or a sequel to the story.
Do something else until your friend finds the will/time to write again. If it turns out that she just isn't into the story as you are (which may or may not be the case; I can't say for sure, since I don't know this person, but she may just be putting on a face to avoid possibly hurting your feelings), then just carry on without her. A legion of warriors may embark on a journey together, and yet maybe only one will see the journey through. You can't just quit because a comrade takes a different path. "I can't" is an excuse. You don't need excuses, unless they're excuses to keep going. If you love the story enough, you will find a way to make it work, with or without your co-author. So take that "I can't" to the nearest river, tie a boulder to its little feetses, and toss it in. That's exactly where it belongs.
Haha, I love your metaphors, thank you guys so much. The thing is that Since a good half or so of the ideas in the storys are hers, So i can't keep going without hurting her feelings :\ So I guess you're right, I'll have to come up with something else to occupy myself for the time being 3
Well, here's the first thing I would do. I would confront her, find out whether she's actually still interested or just doesn't have time or whatever. If she's not interested, I would ask her if it would be alright to continue the story with her ideas. If not, that's when I would move on to something else. But again, I don't know your situation as well as you do, so you ultimately know better than any of us would. As unhelpful as this is, you should do whatever seems best to you.
Mmm, no, you're right. I think I knew that I have to ask her about it, I've just been putting it off haha. I don't want to like offend her, as weird as that would sound. But, yeah, I should ask. Thanks once again!
There's a recent thread in Writing Issues -> General Writing about Collaboration. It seems to come down to a short cut to pain and frustration. Your best bet is probably to shelf the current collaborative piece and begin a new work that is all your own. I see tat is the advise others have given, but I'll post this anyway,
It sounds like your friend is more interested in just talking about writing than in doing the actual work. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but many people are like that. It's what separates writers from wannabe writers. If you love the idea this badly, I'd first try asking her if it's okay with her if you start writing on the story on your own, since she's not feeling up to it at the moment. If she says that's fine, then good luck. If it's not fine with her, you can either 1. modify the ideas enough so that they're more your own (even though there's really no law against using someone else's ideas, you say you don't wish to hurt her feelings) or 2. work on something else. The main fantasy story I've been working on for almost the past decade started out as a collaboration story long, long ago with a best friend who moved away and lost interest in writing. So I understand partly where you're coming from, though I didn't have to deal with hurting my friend's feelings when I continued without her. I think that if you love the story enough, you'll be able to continue it on your own. So the main issue is whether your friend will take offense or not. If she's a true friend, it seems she should be willing to let you continue with something you love, since her heart doesn't seem to be in it. If she still wants to be involved, but not to write, perhaps she can come up with ideas and you can write them? Either way, best of luck. I hope you manage to come out with both the story and your friendship intact.
don't destroy a friendship over this... let your friend do whatever she wants to, without making her feel badly about it... to do anything else but honor her decision at this point is to be a poor friend, plain and simple... consider this a good lesson in why collaboration is most often a blueprint for disaster and be grateful that you both got out of it before feelings were hurt and worse... if you really want to be a writer, you don't need a co-writer and shouldn't rely on the crutch of having one... tell your friend you enjoyed working with her, thank her for the time she spent on the story with you and then LET IT GO!
