What are your thoughts on collaborations? Do you tend to take part in them?I enjoy collaborating! Which is weird, because I always hated group projects and working together when I was in school. I was the type of kid who would rather work alone, because it went faster that way and because sometimes I just knew I'd do a better job on my own.
(Elitist snob, I know.) But most of my experiences writing fanfics with other people have been good. It just depends on who your cowriters are. Like Rose said, you just have to find the right person to collab with.
What I like about collaborating is that it gives me more confidence to tackle bigger ideas that I probably wouldn't try to write on my own, and it's easy to stay inspired when you have someone with whom to bounce ideas around and share in the writing.
What I don't like about collaborating is flaky co-authors who don't write their share. That's why finding the right person to write with is so important to the success of the collab.
Do you enjoy reading them? Is is something you even notice when you are reading a story?When I think of collaborations that I've read, the ones that come to mind have been really good - "Come Together" by Izzy and Cecilia, "Survivor" by Cecilia and Janie, the "Swollen Issues" series by Jenna and Swenglish, the "Nick and Lizz" series by Jenna and Auctor, the "Backstreet General" series by Kat and Amy. So I guess, yes, I do enjoy reading them, although to be honest, it's not something I really even pay much attention to. Of the stories I listed, the only one where I could really tell the difference between the two authors' writing was Swollen Issues, and only because Swenglish isn't a native English speaker, and it showed sometimes in her parts. But I was completely addicted to that series as it was being written, so it wasn't something that took away from my enjoyment of it at all.
How many people is too many when working in a collaboration?If everyone's on the same page and equally committed to the project... the more, the merrier! Realistically, though... three's a crowd, and with more than three, it's tough to keep everyone on the same page. Two is the ideal. The only collaborated stories I've finished have been with just one co-writer. The biggest collaboration failures have been with two co-writers (so three people writing together). The BIG collabs, with lots of co-writers, tend to work out for awhile, at first, when everyone's excited, and then fizzle out.
Who would be your ideal collaborating partner?Rose! Rose is the best co-writer I've ever had, for these reasons:
1) She can write, and her writing meshes well with mine.
2) She's not self-absorbed - she doesn't want to take control of everything, she doesn't have to be right all the time, and she doesn't only want to write self-inserts.
3) She also doesn't let or make me control everything and make all the decisions. We share that part.
4) She is usually on the same page as me, idea-wise, but even when we disagree, we always come to a compromise or agreement quickly and civilly.
5) She doesn't flake out on her commitments. When she says she's going to write something, she follows through.
This is why I still like collaborating, even though most collaborations I start don't get finished.
Author
Topic: now let's talk about collaborations (Read 10547 times)