Tips for Co-Writing

Soooooo you still want to try co-writing? Here's a few methods that Sarah and I have found to help. If you have any others, drop them in the comments below!

Shared Google Docs

These are a life-saver. I used to hate Google Docs, but now I probably spend more time there than anything else. Sarah and I can easily view, edit, and comment on the same document and it's all accessible from phone and laptops so I can read what Sarah is writing while I'm driving the tractor around the farm.

We now have this saying "just make a shared doc for it".

For each WIP, we have a number of shared docs:

-A doc for the current draft
-A doc with an outline
-A doc where we originally brainstormed ideas

Sometimes the outline and ideas docs are combined into one. Sometimes we'll have old drafts saved as well. And we also have a doc with pictures that we shared with our illustrator.

Phone Calls

Sometimes an email won't just cut it. After doing random edits on our own, Sarah and I finally figured out a good way to do editing together. Twice a week, during lunch breaks at work, we would pull out our laptops and open the shared doc. Then we would simple take turns reading out loud and suggesting changes and discussing the scene/chapter/character.

We usually got 1-3 chapters done during a session. Once we were finished with the edits, and were working on brainstorming the next book, we continued the phone calls to discuss ideas and plots and themes out loud.

Emails and comments can easily be misread/misinterpreted. But if you can't talk in person, a phone call is the next best thing. Just put it on speaker, pull up that shared doc, and fangirl away! Any awkwardness will pass, I promise!

Define Goals

When we get together with our phone calls, we quickly set down what we hope to accomplish within the allotted time. Edit 2-3 chapters? Finish the blurb? Plan out next month's goals?

Thankfully Sarah and I both work with a "monthly goal" mindset. We have a Google Doc where we keep an outline of things that need to be done each month, and then we'll assign certain projects to each other.

Read-Through for Edits

Took us a while to figure this out, but it is the best.

When we started editing our first book, it was kind of this "jump on and fix things that you notice need to be changed" and then we'd literally be changing the same thing back and forth and missing stuff and it was basically chaos.

Then we tried something new: we got together via phone twice a week and took turns reading aloud each chapter. Not only did we get the added benefit of reading aloud (which really helps show weird sentence/grammar structure) but we could then talk over suggested edits.

Sarah would be reading, and I'd interrupt and say "oh, wait, that's weird, let's change it" and we'd discuss and make changes. I'd be reading and Sarah would stop me and say "I think this needs more description" and we'd talk about how we both imagined the scene and how to convey that.

It really works, y'all. 

Humility and Grace

You need to be willing to let things slide.

Maybe you're convinced a sentence sounds weird, but your co-writer thinks it sounds great? Just take a breath and let it slide. Are you willing to start a fight over a sentence?

Maybe your friend wants to go overboard and write some wild multi-plot-twisty story, but you want to write something simpler, especially for the first attempt at co-writing? Set out your concerns and wishes and politely ask for them to be respected.

Share Your Ideas

You may want to surprise your readers with a new character or plot twist, but do not surprise your co-writer. Instead, share you ideas and plans. They may help may them better -- or be the voice of reason that says no, don't do it.

Spend time discussing the characters and plot together. Make sure you are both on the same page. If you are constantly at odds in regards to something, it'll be a nightmare.

Also, don't just assume the other person knows what you want them to do, or what you want to happen. Err on the side of annoying over-communication instead of leaving things unsaid.

Set Aside Time to Fangirl

Usually we had set plans for our phone calls, but every now and then we'll just give ourselves permission to just scream at each other and make weird noises and shed some tears about what we'd been writing or editing or planning.

It really helps you get motivated to continue. :)

So??? Anyone else sold on co-writing??? GRAB A WRITING BUDDY AND TRY IT!!