I recently decided to work on a collaborative story with another author. Neither of us have done a collaboration before, but it seemed like it might be fun to try. However, each of us has a different narrative voice when telling a story. We're looking for tips or advice from others who have collaborated on stories about how to integrate or blend two distinct writing styles into a single narrative voice. Thanks for any suggestions.
Post-avant-retro-demelodicized-electro-yodel-core is my jam.
I've collaborated with 5 different writers, composing 15 stories. These stories have resulted in about a dozen RR's, an EP and an outstanding series. The credit for most of that I'll give to my wonderful co writers.
The first thing you'll need to do is leave any ego you might have about your writing at home. You have to respect your co writer as you want them to respect you. This really becomes important during editing. What I have found works best is to write my section and allow my cowriter to 'polish' it, to make subtle changes that make it as much theirs as it is yours. Conversely, the same applies to their sections. In this way, each line potentially becomes part of both of you. It is difficult to explain until you do it. I just know that most of the time, the readers say they cannot tell who wrote what.
Well said. I have collaborated with several and found everyone has their own blend. If one is patient and communicates, words will conjugate.
I've authored three novellas with a writing partner which I can't post on Lush, but which are published elsewhere. It worked for us because we are both well-versed in the genre in which we write, and we were very excited about the subject matter. I found myself striving for excellence as we both tossed the story progression back and forth. Good communication when you plan, and clarity of the story draft are very important up front so you both know what the goal is, then you use all your creativity to get there. Being open to suggestions and mutual critiquing is also necessary.
Thanks everyone for the responses. We're figuring things out. We divided responsibility for different parts of the story, and after a full draft has been written, we'll pass it back and forth for editing, so hopefully that will work.
Post-avant-retro-demelodicized-electro-yodel-core is my jam.
