So I'm currently finishing my first novel, but I have another project that I wrote the beginning 3000ish words for and I think it would be a really good idea for a serial. I know there are a lot of people getting into serials and the most successful ones are collaborating with one or two other people to get the most out of the range of characters and events. I think this would be really fun, and I know this might seem like a dumb question on this forum, but where would I go to find someone interested in doing something like collaborating? I'm sure that I could find it here maybe, but is there another community or maybe another site for finding partners like this specifically?
Just to clarify...I DO have friends people. I just don't know any other writers on a personal level. Lol.
Writers have friends? Could have fooled me. No honestly, there is an app called MeetUp, and there are local groups for virtually EVERY kind of human being, including writers. Download it, and find a local writing group.
Ohmagod, great idea, but I hate my town. The closest writers group is like 40 miles away. I just probably need to start my own on there. That'd be cool.
Oh man, that sucks. I forget that not everyone lives in a metropolitan area. You should totally start one!
I know...I mean, I'm like an hour from Chicago and the closest one is in Lansing, IL. Dallas must be flush with any group you could want.
"How was that meditation for you?" "You mean, did the earth move?" To the OP, what's your "serial-opener" about?
Speaking as a total non-collaborator (I can't imagine wanting to do this myself) why not ask around online? Is collaboration in writing something you could do with somebody you have never met face-to-face? I know I've made several good friends on this forum alone, whom I feel close enough to for collaboration, if that was my thing. Going online would certainly give you a bigger group of writers to choose from. And if you got one whom you could at least talk to on the phone, that would be helpful as well? I do think I'd ask myself 'why' if I were you, though. Collaboration is fine, but it can be a lot of hassle as well, and always involves compromise if you don't agree 100% with what the other person wants to do with your joint story. And, as @Mckk says below, your name will be attached to the final result. Are you wanting to collaborate just for the fun of it? Or is it because you are worried about some aspects of your writing? If that's the case, it might be a better idea to work on these things that bother you, rather than depending on somebody else to do it better. MOST authors do work on their own. Even the ones who collaborate (Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett) usually have a back catalogue of stuff they've written on their own. I wouldn't say all authors are better on their own, but certainly most of them are.
I collaborated once and the whole thing was done entirely through Facebook - you can very much collaborate remotely All you need to do is email the document back and forth, after all. However, collaborative partners are hard to find because you need to find someone ehowse ideas mesh well with yours, whose writing style is one you enjoy and preferably appreciate, a writer whom you respect. Because without all these elements, you'll be always rejecting or doubting their ideas and feedback, and it'll get nowhere. However, to find someone like this means actually getting to know the person first - so it's best if you already have someone in mind whom you want to ask, as opposed to go online searching for one actively, if that makes sense. I mean, I didn't even manage to collaborate again with my co-author because her writing changed and I no longer liked it. 'Cause you gotta remember, your name is attached to their work also! If they write bad work, it's your name on the line too If I were you, I'd get involved in writing communities like this one and others, online as well as in real life, and if someone suitable comes along, ask them
I do not have much in the way of friends but my wife does write, that can be a very good thing or, usually, a very bad thing.
I've looked around the internet to try and find online collaborators in the past but I haven't had much luck with it. I found lots of writing communities and lots of sites where people could post their work online, but I never actually managed to find a community geared specifically toward collaboration. There was one possible exception called Skrawl, but that seemed to be less direct collaboration and more just writing the next chunk of story which readers would then vote on. I guess its good for practice, but I don't know how effective it is for actual collaboration on a serious joint project. Other than that one, most writer sites I've found have been targeted toward people doing their own thing and either looking for feedback, community or a platform to publish from. I've seen a couple of collaborations on Wattpad, usually where people have set up joint accounts and published together, though how they find each other to start with I don't know. And I think writing.com allows you to start multi-author stories, though I'm not sure how popular they are or how easy it is to find participants. Offline, I guess finding fellow writers in your town would be the best shot, as others have said. You might have some success finding people on various writing sites by poking around and asking on their forums for interested parties. But then, if you're going to do that you might have just as much luck here.
Someone on the app invited me to the group and at first I thought, "surely that's just a matter of speech ... " then I read the description. Nope. It means exactly what it says -- a group focusing on the practice of meditation as a way to reach orgasm. Needless to say, I opted not to join. Lol.
@Shadowfax, PM me if you'd like to read it. It sounds like most people are skeptical to the idea of collaborating. While I understand that there is always a risk of someone stealing your ideas and publishing on their own or something, I don't get the idea that you'd be worried your name would be on it. If I felt like it wasn't that good, I would back out of the project and either give the idea to my partner fully or keep it depending on what we agreed. The main reason I would want to do this is the fact that there would be a lot of events and many different characters, which would be easier to cover between two people. It would also help shake things up because we could bounce ideas off each other. Sometimes opposites attract too. I feel like if you end up working with someone whose voice is very different and style is maybe different, it could actually be beneficial as long as both parties are open to compromise. Writers have a problem with egos for sure and I feel like that would be the only thing that might get in the way. If both parties are open to working with each other and accepting each other's voices and styles, it could make for a very versatile and interesting piece.
And I would definitely be open to not having to meet the person. Telecommuting would work, but I would at least have to have Skype conversations or something to keep the communication thorough (since I think someone above asked that). Also, someone that works with Scrivener is probably a must because passing the file back and forth would make it sooo much easier.
OP a couple of thoughts for you: 1--- I have the same issue with geography, and meetup has nothing for me unless I drive 90 miles. But I posted on craigslist for my town and got a response fairly fast, so maybe that is an option for you too? I posted the same ad in three different sections on CL in case someone may miss it elsewhere. 2--- Is there a small college in your town? Hit up the English teacher there and I bet there's already a group going under the radar with regular times. Just a quick phone call may yield results with this. Our two-year college has a cozy little group that meets regularly, but they don't advertise it so you'd never know unless you asked outright. 3--- Writers conferences are great for meeting collaborators. And it's cool because you're with your own "kind" (other writers I mean) and it's easier (IMO) to build rapport which can continue online after everyone goes home from the conference. Good way to spark up a little connection with one or more people interested in the same thing. I bet there's a weekend conference coming up in January or February within a short drive from you. Have you ever checked out shawguides? I will try to post the link but I am not sure that is allowed here so they may delete my post. But here goes: http://writing.shawguides.com/ ...you can toggle for month of the year or a specific state to refine the search. Best wishes to you.
I could never collaborate on a writing project (too full of myself), but thanks for the link. I've been looking for a listing of writing conferences. To the OP, our public library has a bulletin board in the entrance lobby, and there are often announcements of writing groups being formed. There is a Writers Guild Meetup group here, but it didn't start until last March and has 230 members. We have 125K people in the city though, and ~250k in the metro area, which includes a major university. Their library would also have some information I'd guess. Here in the heartland, we also handle orgasms the old-fashioned way(s).