As the kind of person who's always loathed any sort of "group" project, it strikes me as pretty funny that I would even consider collaborating on a novel. I've always thought of myself as a solo flyer when it came to writing, yet here I sit, bouncing ideas off my partner in crime - and now my partner in writing.
I know Sassy Man thought I was being paranoid, but mixing business with romance makes me edgy. So, after considerable research on collaboration (and the people crazy enough to try it with fiction), we laid down some very clear - one might even say contractual - boundaries. (BTW, thank you Booklife for your great series on this very topic.) Now I'm breathing a big sigh of creative relief, which makes me realize just how much the ambiguity of who's-gonna-do-what was bothering me.
Interesting, though, how the discussions SM and I had on idea ownership, oral versus written storytelling, authorship, bylines, writing ability, work styles, etc., led to some deep thinking on my part about how I view myself as a writer, and what I'm willing to do (collaborate on ideas/story/plot) and not willing to do (take dictation/write someone else's story for him/her).
I know Sassy Man thought I was being paranoid, but mixing business with romance makes me edgy. So, after considerable research on collaboration (and the people crazy enough to try it with fiction), we laid down some very clear - one might even say contractual - boundaries. (BTW, thank you Booklife for your great series on this very topic.) Now I'm breathing a big sigh of creative relief, which makes me realize just how much the ambiguity of who's-gonna-do-what was bothering me.
Interesting, though, how the discussions SM and I had on idea ownership, oral versus written storytelling, authorship, bylines, writing ability, work styles, etc., led to some deep thinking on my part about how I view myself as a writer, and what I'm willing to do (collaborate on ideas/story/plot) and not willing to do (take dictation/write someone else's story for him/her).
Art: Record cover by Jim Flora.
1 comment:
My thoughts - nothing ventured nothing gained.
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