no, 'cope' does not have the same meaning... to 'cope' with something/someone, means to deal with it/them... 'handle' the situation... not to work together, or 'collaborate' which is what you seem to mean...
I am not sure how to answer your poll - I am not against the idea of working with another writer to produce something. And certainly I beg, borrow and steal help from wherever I can get it on my own work. However doubt another writer could work with me lol I have a brain like a helicopter that whirls round with ideas blowing them every which way. I write and rewrite, then rewrite some more. I will delete thousands and thousands of words to get it just right etc.
I've co-authored one novel with someone and am now doing another. But I wouldn't do it with just anyone. I do it with my mother. She wrote the original novels and eventually asked me to rewrite them--basically take the same plot & characters & write a whole new version. I often get from people "Really? You can do that, and still get along?" Yes, we can... people seem to think it would be harder with your mother, but I wonder if it wouldn't be harder with a stranger or friend. I mean, I came from my mother. She's proud of me, and I'm respectful of her. It's a good combo. It means that she gives me a lot of free rein because she believes I'll get somewhere good with it in the end, and I don't criticize what she wrote, and if I feel like a change is really needed I ask nicely and we talk about it. So I can't say I love to co-write in general. It's been a good experience, but I'm not going to go out and find myself a new co-author when we're done with our series, I'm most likely going to write alone. Collaborating is kind of a unique thing that should be undertaken with caution. I'd say don't collaborate on a story with someone unless you have a really good relationship!
I don't co-write, but my cousin and I have a loose collaboration going that works well. I edited two of her children's books, plus adapted two more into English for her over the last four years. She is not a native English speaker and I don't speak her language, so it gave me the room to write them 'how I want to', very instinctively, based on her overall outline and having seen her illustrations. First time I've done something like that but it was a nice challenge. She on the other hand has been my 'sounding board' as I aim to complete my novel, and if I decide to self publish, she has got some beautiful designs/illustrations in the offing that are tailored to what I'm writing. (She's a professional illustrator, none of that photoshop rubbish...) Other than that, I'm not sure I would co-write with someone at the moment. I think I need my own space and freedom to express myself the way I want to, without compromise.
I prefer to work on my own. Once I really get my head into a story, I start to slowly get a sense of where I want things to go... I'm not sure I could handle somebody being able to change that or take things into another direction. I guess if you had the same ideas and mentality as the person you're working with it might be a good thing, but it's not something I'm even tempted to try. Now, as for input, I'm always happy to have somebody read my work and have them give me feedback.
anyone who's even thinking about co-writing/collaborating should never exchange an idea or write a word before having a collaboration contract in place... i know you'll say you're the best of friends, or that you trust each other implicitly, but believe me, there are lots of horror stories out there to prove that doesn't hold when money is involved, or even just the idea of money comes up... some of my mentees are cases in point, because they either came to me too late, or ignored my advice... one chose not to believe me and actually ended up losing all rights to a screenplay that was 80% her own work, when her trusted partner sold it out from under her... since she had no legally valid proof that she'd done most of the writing and it was her idea from the first, he got away with it... here's the best collaboration agreement you'll find anywhere: http://wga.org/uploadedFiles/writers_resources/contracts/collaboration.pdf it only takes the changing of a few words to adapt it from scripts to books...
Personally I have never collaborated with anyone before, I'm too much of a control freak to let that ever happen, haha. Still, it could be an interesting experience to at least try once or twice. Perhaps I'll look into it once I finish Transcendence... if I finish it that is.
I've only collaborated on fanfiction with my bff. She's dyslexic, so even though she has a lot of great and fun ideas, she has trouble when writing them down. So I'll write while she comes up with most of the things (I have some ideas though).
I think that writing a story cooperatively with someone can do wonders for the creative process. I attempted to write a story with someone and it was going great I'd say my biggest piece of advice would be to know the person you are writing with...know what they like to talk about, their strengths/weaknesses as a writer. If you can complement eachother's writing skills, then go ahead with the project. If not...then it's best to go your separate ways.
