I just started writing with a friend of mine who also loves to write and we came up with the idea of starting a novel together. So far, we are having loads of fun and we're actually getting a lot done. I think this may be one of the best things I have done recently. I was just wondering if any of you guys have done collabs before and what your take/experience was like. Just thought it'd be an interesting topic to talk about! -Steph
There's another writing site (not going to name it here) where collaborational work are the default. I've participated in a few. They're not that easy when you and the people you're working with has wildly different views, as you might expect, but if you both agree on a plot before you start writing they're plain sailing.
I was going to work on a collaboration with a guy once, but then he ended up relying on me to create all the bits and pieces of the story line and world behind it, you know? It was ridiculous. I could have done it on my own. The problem with collaborations is that you need to find someone that it WORKS with. You can't just do it with any old random person. Something needs to click. It's like a relationship. It won't work with anyone if you have any dignity about you.
I had a co-writer once. She stole our work. A friend of mine co-wrote with one of her friends, and her friend tried to steal their work. Not saying there's a pattern here, only that you should be careful who you write with.
There are plenty of threads on this forum that discuss collaborations with respect to writing, especially novels. The first thing that you should do before you go further with your friend, Stephie Kaye, is to get an agreement (contract) in place, if it's your goal to get the work published--or even if it might be. If one of you fizzles on the project (it takes a long time to get a work completed and ready to submit for representation/publication), can the other one move forward alone even though they are not the soul creator of the project? This could get messy when only one of the indivduals tries to sign a contract. Some of the clauses would be troublesome. If you work together to the end and it is accepted by a publisher, how are the royalties to be split? What if one did 3/4 of the work and the other only did 1/4? How will it be determined if the contract is favorable to be signed, or if the publisher isn't the right one...what rights will be granted to the publisher, etc.? Will one of the authors be able to spin off in the series alone and use one or more of the characters or settings from the original novel? Yes, what I am suggesting is a long way off, if it ever happens. But better to have everything established up front than have very hurt feelings later on. Very often in these ventures, one partner does fall away...and then what does the other one do? Just my two cents.
i always counsel writers to never write a single word in partnership with another writer, until they have a good collaboration agreement signed and sealed... as a writing mentor of many years standing, i can attest to the hideous consequences of going forward without one... one of my mentees didn't take my advice and ended up losing all rights to a work she had actually originated and done most of the writing for, when her trusted partner sold it as his own... with no agreement in writing, she had no way to prove it wasn't... and she's only one of the horror stories i've come across... go to the link below and use the form there... it's for screenwriters, but all you need do is change a bit of the wording to make it fit any kind of writing project... and it's the best, tightest, most protective collaboration contract you can find... http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=1027
