Collaboration
I don't know if I mentioned it, but my ghost hunter story is part of a series of books I'm writing with my cps. It's my first time to collaborate, though all of them have done it before. Funny all the things you have to think about.
You have to make sure your characters' names and personalities aren't too similar (the women all work together, so wouldn't do to have too many spunky kids, bosses or free spirits.)
You have to let your collaborating buddies know what your heroine looks and acts like, since she'll be in their books.
You have to have the same understanding of the overarching characters. I thought I had a handle on him till the first author sent her chapter with him and - whoa. Not at ALL how I saw it.
You have to research things that may not be of particular interest to you.
You have to maintain a certain tone. I don't write particularly light, but these books are meant to be lighter than, well, the direction this story was going.
I don't know if I'm really cut out for this collaboration thing, but it's an incredible opportunity. My cps, all published, are VERY excited about it, and it's really up my alley. Except for the, you know, working with other people ;) I don't do that well at school either. It's kind of, sure, sure, then I close my door and do my own thing ;) So have you ever collaborated on a writing project? How did that work for you?
I bought my dad and stepmom's gifts today, have an idea for my cousin, and if I get out of jury duty early, I'm going to Target and get Cindi and her kids something. (I would love to get her a digital camera, but dude, I don't even have one right now!)
Goodreads
Good Reads
About Me
- MJFredrick
- I'm a mom, a wife, a teacher and a writer. I have five cats and a dog to keep me company. I love bookstores and libraries and Netflix - movies are my greatest weakness.
Beneath the Surface
Breaking Daylight
Breaking Daylight Review
Where There's Smoke
Where There's Smoke Review
Bull by the Horns
Hot Shot Reviews
Hot Shot
9 comments:
I've not done collborations before (other than that one eHarlequin round robin), but I've always thought it'd be interesting.
Cindy Dees and Evelyn Vaughn do a great workshop on collaborations! Good luck hon!
I don't know if interesting is the word....stressful, maybe ;)
Amie, is that from a National workshop, do you know?
I did a collaboration last year with four other authors, only ours all revolved around two particular nights, one 20 years ago and one in the present. (It's a series of novellas called Blue Silver if anyone is interested--five women are determined to get the night they were denied 20 years ago when the band Blue Silver came to town--only now it's the grownup version *g*)
Geez, Natalie, enough with the shameful promotion on someone else's blog. Sheesh.
Anyway, we had a lot of back-and-forth like this:
"Cassie would never look dreamy."
"Faith's shirt is white with pink glitter, not pink"
"Georgie can't wait months and months to see Julian again or it totally messes up my last scene between Cassie and Seth, and I LOVE that scene!"
"No one ate French toast at brunch."
"Troy's hand never touches Marci's breast in the menage a quad."
And so on.
Amie, that's a really cool cover!
I did a collaboration last year with four other authors, only ours all revolved around two particular nights, one 20 years ago and one in the present. (It's a series of novellas called Blue Silver if anyone is interested--five women are determined to get the night they were denied 20 years ago when the band Blue Silver came to town--only now it's the grownup version *g*)
Geez, Natalie, enough with the shameful promotion on someone else's blog. Sheesh.
Anyway, we had a lot of back-and-forth like this:
"Cassie would never look dreamy."
"Faith's shirt is white with pink glitter, not pink"
"Georgie can't wait months and months to see Julian again or it totally messes up my last scene between Cassie and Seth, and I LOVE that scene!"
"No one ate French toast at brunch."
"Troy's hand never touches Marci's breast in the menage a quad."
And so on.
Amie, that's a really cool cover!
LOL, Natalie! I can already see myself saying the first. I read the first author's opening scene, kind of making fun of the way the women are dressed, and I'm like, "But Maggie DOESN'T dress like that!"
Oh, and I HOPE I never have to say the last ;) Yours sounds way more involved than mine - and this is involved enough for me!
Dammit, it double posted here, too. I'm sorry! :(
Luckily, I didn't have to say the last, either. LOL The menage was in two other stories. :)
But yeah, that gets tricky when people envision your character differently than you do. Everyone has to be really open to change and keep in mind that they control their character(s), but you control yours.
Good point, Natalie. We're having our first meeting Saturday since we started writing the books. It will be interesting.
Post a Comment