Have you ever considered writing a book with another
author? Today in The Loft, we’re going to discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of writing with another partner. Joining me are the husband-wife
team who write as Adriana Kraft, Lee Collins and Jane Collman, and Jo Tannah—who has co-authored books with Lynn Michaels and
Ann Mickan.
S:
Good morning, everyone!
Let’s start by breaking down your
relationship with your writing partner. When did you decide to write a book(s)
with your writing partner? How did you know that they would be a good fit? Was
the partnership for only one book or was it ongoing? Have you worked with other
writing partners in the past?
AK (her):
My relationship? He’s my husband! We met in academia
and co-authored a few academic publications, so we knew we could write together
and we trusted each other’s skills. It’s been two decades since we made that
decision and began our first romance manuscript together. Those were the days
of sending printed query letters and – when we were lucky – hard copy chapters
or manuscripts.
AK (him):
The decision evolved over time. We wanted to make sure
that female and male perspectives informed the writing. Having written
non-fiction together, we were fairly confident we could also do so writing
fiction. Even then, it was a process that evolved as we gained experience with
the first few books. A writing partnership requires commitment to each other,
to the characters and issues that shape the writing, and to creating the best
final product we can manage.
LC:
Jane has been actively involved in the last nine books
I have published, and based on her invaluable input, I knew she would be a good
fit to collaborate with on "An Unethical Practice." Given I didn’t propose to
publish the book through my publisher, eXtasy Books, because it doesn’t fit in
with their well-established genres, I wanted to get Jane even more involved in
this book. I have only ever collaborated with Jane because I know her well on a
personal level, and she understands what I’m trying to achieve, especially the
underlying messages that I want to transmit in my books. We have more books
planned for the No Plain Jane PI series, and we will, without a shadow of a
doubt, be working together on those books together. Jane not only helps so much
with the writing process, but she drives me during times when I need a kick up
the rear end.
JC:
We have been working together for the past three years
on Lee’s books, and I have read and thoroughly enjoyed all 17 of them,
so I knew there would be a good fit for this book. I have learned so much from
him about the complexities of the writing process, and now we have established
a way of working together—who does what, etc. Lee is the only person I
would dream of collaborating with because I know his works and writing style so
well, and what high expectations he has of me. But I’ve never been able to
resist a challenge to learn and improve.
JT: With Ann Mickan, we’d
been friends online and off for over two years before we decided to write
together. It was an experiment of sorts. We would brainstorm over plots
together and once we got this prompt for a summer short, we said, why not? It
was easy and I would liken the work experience to chatting and brainstorming.
With Lynn Michaels, it was a call to arms, I guess. There was a need for one more
book and there were no takers because of commitments. Like Ann, Lynn and I had
known each other online and became friends. We would chat and brainstorm. So
when the opportunity came, we took it and wrote together. We finished the story
in a week. I would send over a chapter, Lynn would read and react by writing
from the other main character's point-of-view and once done, send it back over to me. It was a short
story, so writing about 2,000 words daily each, we got to the limit
fairly quickly. Writing with Ann and Lynn was fun and inspirational. It
showed me that getting a story out there need not be stressful. Ever since my
experience writing with them, I changed my method of writing on my solo works.
I pretend to chat with myself and the rest follows. So far, Ann and I are still
writing together and have brainstormed another story we’re releasing by next
year. With Lynn, we’re both very busy and she’s a prolific writer. I’m sure
when the opportunity comes, we’ll be writing again.
S: Obviously, you all have varying reasons for
collaborating. I am seeing two themes here. One is the quality of the personal
relationship between the parties, and the second is the ability to collaborate
in a way that takes advantage of each other’s strengths. Obviously, together
you are stronger.
I’m curious about your writing process. Who
does what? For example, how is the story line developed? Does one person flesh
it out and the other work off of that? Or do you split up the chapters? How do
you handle differences of opinion about the story? Is it an equal partnership
or does one partner bear more responsibility?
AK (her): Time wise, the production process is pretty equal. Once we have the germ of an idea
for a new book, we spend a lot of time talking together and hammering out the broad
strokes of plot, identifying the themes, fleshing out the setting, developing
the characters and their backgrounds, and of course deciding on the obstacles
we think we’ll throw at them. He is the one who sits down at the blank page and
starts putting words on it. When scene or a segment is finished, he reads that
out loud, we discuss it, and we start to plan what’s coming next. Then he goes
back to that blank page…
AK (him):
I would simply add that the characters play an
important role in the development of the plot, story line, and outcome. We can
never anticipate all the challenges and hurdles thrown their way. When we get stuck as to where the story goes next, it’s usually because we have not
listened well enough to the characters. They do seem to have veto power over
their own stories.
AK (her):
That answer pivots right into how do we handle
differences of opinion. When we get stuck or reach an impasse, we’ve learned
to sit back and wait and invariably, within a day or two, some aspect of the
characters’ dilemma will emerge in our own experience and show us the way out.
That’s when our time-consuming and careful work developing an in-depth
understanding of our main characters at the very beginning pays off. Once we
have a complete draft, we trade back and forth with seemingly endless rounds of
editing. Here’s where having a partner is especially helpful--two sets of eyes
to fine tune everything, two opinions to weigh in on what does or doesn’t work.
S:
(Nods.) To me that would be one of the greatest advantages of
collaboration—having someone to brainstorm with. When you write as a single
author, it’s not always easy to know what’s working and what’s not. It’s very
frustrating to get to the end of the story and realize your plot dove off the
deep end somewhere in the middle of the story.
Lee and Jane, how do you work together?
LC:
Given that "An Unethical Practice" has been published
under my name and Jane’s, there is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between us. I generally come up with the idea for a book and write a one-page
synopsis which I send to Jane to review and comment on. Once we’re happy with
the idea, I write the first draft of the book, then go through it two or three
times to add more layers, such as detail, description, show more and tell less,
etc. Once I’m happy with it, I send it to Jane for a harsh review. She
really does get the claws out, and invariably, I have to do a fairly major
rewrite. Once that’s done, I send it back to Jane and it goes back and forth
until we are both happy with it. Then it goes off to the editor and I work with
them to polish and fine tune the book.
JC: "An Unethical
Practice" is a crime suspense/mystery/thriller novel, so I wrote some small
parts, especially regarding police and private investigator practices. Given my
background as a police constable, I did a lot of desk research on Lee’s behalf
and talked to my ex-colleagues in the police force to ensure the book was as
credible and realistic as possible before we published it. Having had experience
of dealing with real crimes, I do a thorough sense check on the books,
question and challenge some of what Lee has written, and offer advice as to how
he can rectify it. I know from previous conversations I’ve had with Lee that he
wants me to play an integral role in the writing process. We very rarely
have a difference of opinion, because Lee invariably runs with my feedback, but
he will put his foot down and disagree with me at times—for justified reasons,
of course. Bottom line is, Lee has the final word, because he has a lot more
writing experience than I do, but thankfully, he is very receptive to my ideas
and suggestions.
S: That’s interesting. Lee, you began your
career as a solo author, but you seem to have adjusted well to collaboration.
You two have done a good job of melding your strengths.
Jo, what about you? You have collaborated
with two different authors. I imagine there was some adjustments that had to be
made for working with each.
JT:
Basically, I do one character and Ann or Lynn does the
other. We exchange chapters so the story flows. In the process, we flesh out
each others’ work which can be educational. English is my first language, but
I’m Filipino and I grew up speaking a language that is a combination of English
and American English. My spellings and use of words can be confusing, so I
welcome it when Lynn corrects and Ann edits. Ann is an editor, so yes, I do
listen to her. For differences in opinions? I’m not sure I ever encountered
that problem with either Ann or Lynn. Working with these two women was fun and
I cannot emphasize that more. I think that’s the secret. Our work was fun, not
stressful and we do love our brainstorming.
S:
Wow, I am really impressed at how teaming up with others strengthens the
end product.
That leads me to my next question. How
does working with a partner benefit you as a writer? How do you decide a story is better suited to collaborating with writing a partner?
LC: As previously mentioned, Jane has the practical experience of dealing with crimes,
so that is a major benefit to me. She understands more than I do about the
restrictions of what a private investigator can do in comparison to what the
police can do. Given the book revolves around a private investigator, Jane, it
was very important to be clear about what her limitations were. Jane
therefore helped us make the book more realistic and credible. Indirectly, I
have collaborated with Jane on the last nine books I have written. I relied on
my editor to help me polish and perfect the other eight books. My first eight
books were very personal to me, so writing with a partner was out of the
question. However, with the last nine books, I felt that I could benefit from Jane’s
input, and she didn’t let me down. But I only invited her to provide input to my books
because she really liked my books and the style of writing. We built up an
understanding and trust, which I believe is really important before you bring
another author into your writing world.
JT:
For me, the most beneficial aspect of writing with a
partner is the speed of it. There are two minds. I focus on one character, my
partners focus on theirs, so I don’t have to shift my way of thinking when
writing different point-of-views. I’ve written two books with Ann Mickan, The Boys Next
Door series. With Lynn, one. A vampire story "Unchained" for the Love At Stake
collection. For my solo works, I’ve got over 25, I think…
Together
we are able to consider more angles, ideas, characters and so on as they
emerge. Reading aloud to a partner not only keeps both partners engaged but
also allows both to hear the voices of the characters. I’m never sure whether
they are our characters or if we are their” mouthpieces. We also seem to have
an evolving partnership with our characters.
AK (her):
Enrichment is the word that comes to me. Though we’ve known each other a long
time and have grown together over the years, we still have different life
perspectives, so our writing continues to be enhanced and expanded by the
melding of those differences.
S: That’s something solo writers probably don’t
consider. We are locked into one perspective and often fail to realize that
others may view the world through another lens. It must be refreshing to have your
world view supported or challenged.
If someone is interested in collaborating
with another author, what factors should they consider? What qualities make
someone a bad choice? Have you ever abandoned a project because you and a
partner were a bad fit?
JT: For me, selecting a writing
partner is equivalent to selecting who is or is not my friend. I need the meeting
of the minds. Getting into arguments over mundane issues is not for me. I like
the peaceful and stress-free relationships. And yes, I have abandoned a project
with another author because not only were we a bad fit, but I found out she stole
my story and published it for her own. Legit true and that’s all I’m going to
say about that one.
S:
That's alarming and an obvious concern. However, it is important to own up
to a bad fit and “break up” when necessary. Sometimes, that can be difficult.
I imagine that’s one benefit the Krafts
have as married collaborators!
AK (her):
Neither of us has tried writing fiction with any other partner, so much of this
question is a moot point. Both of us have co-authored with others in
non-fiction, sometimes happily, sometimes not. The qualities I think matter are
shared goals, shared values, commitment to work hard, mutual trust, and clarity
about the skills and problem areas each partner brings to the project.
AK (him):
Our experience writing non-fiction with other partners certainly influenced how
we write together. For example, we don’t try alternating chapters or scenes and
such, which we know works for others. Having written together before tackling
fiction meant we already had a high degree of trust in working together,
although even the working together process changes with experience.
S:
Trust seems to be a key issue. Lee and Jane, what advice would you offer
to authors considering collaboration?
LC:
For me, personally, it is not so much about qualities, but what they can bring
to the table. For example, specialized experience relating to the nature of the
book--what they can do for the book that you can’t do yourself? Their fan base
and how they can help promote the book, etc. For me, it is not just about how
well they can write, because I can always help with that, but what value they
can add to the book. I once considered writing a book with another author, but
when I got to know their personality/domineering attitude, I knew I wouldn’t be
able to work with them, so I dropped the idea.
JC:
Having worked with Lee for a long time, I have learned that you need to pair up
with someone who can write as well as you, or better. If you are a new author,
as I am, you need an author who can guide and teach you the writing
process—a mentor who will help you recognize your strengths and bring those
out. If you are an established/experienced author you probably don’t even need
to read this interview, but if you are, and are proposing to work with a less
experienced author, you need to make sure that they are willing to take your
guidance onboard and trust your judgment.
S:
Any other advice you’d care to offer?
AK (him): Try to find someone you respect and trust. Be
open about what you are looking for. Be clear that you will need to hold each
other accountable as you try to discover what works best for you. There is no
one way for writing partnerships to work. Hopefully, it will be a satisfying
and mutually uplifting experience. If not, it’s probably time to dissolve the
partnership.
AK (her): I think he said it. First, get clear within yourself
what you are looking for and what you believe you can contribute, and continue
to develop the process openly and honestly.
LC:
Familiarize yourself with their books and style of
writing first to ensure there would be compatibility. Make sure you get to know
the writer on a personal level before committing to a major project with them.
Perhaps offer to beta read each other’s books to begin with, so you can see how
they write, react to your comments and suggestions, and see how you react to
theirs. If that ends ugly, then you are hardly going to be able to write a book
together. If it goes well, and you can see the value that each of you has added
to the other one’s book, then write a short story
together to test the water. If that goes well, then you can move onto bigger
things. That is more or less how Jane and I started out—getting to know each
other before we dived into the deep end. As mentioned above—when you get to
know an author you may decide that they are not the one for you. You also need
to establish a trusting relationship because there may be differences and
squabbles during the writing process. You need to question if your relationship
would survive those, otherwise you may get some ways into the book and then you
both decide to write it off as a mistake. That's a waste of time for both of
you.
JT:
As I said, choosing a writing partner is
equivalent to finding a friend. For both Ann and Lynn, through our
interactions, talks, and I guess supporting each other both mentally and
emotionally in real life dramas, we grew to trust each other. Trust is the
most important thing to consider.
S:
This has certainly been an enlightening conversation. Any parting words?
AK (her): I just want to add that
not only has our partnership enriched our writing, writing together has
enriched and strengthened our relationship. Characters throw things at us that
we have to be able to resolve, not only for them, but for ourselves, and it’s
turned into an incredible ride.
S:
Thank you all for participating in my first roundtable. If you would
like to learn more about these writers and their books, please visit—
