4 Cons to Co-Writing a Story

Sadly, yes, there are cons to co-writing. Maybe not so much cons as possible problems you might encounter. These can be worked around and overcome with humility and determination.

Overstepping the Bounds

I was the first one to do this in our co-writing. Basically, I went on an editing craze, and then Sarah went onto the doc and was like "You just completely re-wrote my chapter!"

Whoops.

I needed to take a step back and realize that what I was changing wasn't wrong or badly-written, it simply wasn't how I personally would have written it. And since it was in a chapter with Sarah's POV character, I should have let it shine in Sarah's writing style.

Thankfully Sarah was very gracious and we set out some more obvious boundaries and moved on.

Different Plans and Desires

I might want one thing to happen in the story. Sarah might think that's ridiculous.

We gotta talk it out and decide how to work in the things we both want to see in the story. One of us might have to give up or give in. We set down the idea we have, and discuss it. But ultimately, we may have to let our idea rest.

It's Not All Your Story

Simply put, this isn't just your story. You are sharing it. You can't claim all the credit. You don't have the final say in what happens to the plot and characters. It may be tough to get used to, especially if you've been writing on your own for years. And you might accidentally anger or annoy your co-writer if you do major (or even minor) changes without discussing things with them first.

Technical Difficulties

Working with another person aside, co-writing has it's own challenges in regards to how in the world you are going to write your story. Do you email a Word Doc back and forth? What if one person prefers Scrivener and the other uses Shaxpir? What if one person uses a different font? What if one prefers handwriting? How are edits going to be addressed?

It's complicated enough to have lots of drafts and Pinterest boards and plot charts and character sheets for one person, but now these all have to be shared with two people. And kept up to date. And yeah, it's a pain.

Still want to try co-writing? Next week I have an exciting announcement, and then I'll be back with some helpful tips and tricks!