Go Team or No Team: Thoughts and Advice on Writing Collaborations

By Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne

One of the biggest drawbacks of the writing life for most authors is that it’s by and large a lonely profession. Unless you count conversations with fictional people, most of an author’s career is spent alone in front of a computer . . . which is perhaps why many authors become intrigued when we mention that we’ve co-written several books together. A litany of questions inevitably follows, these other authors clearly testing the waters: How did you know that you would work well together? How do you divide the writing? How do you determine whose idea “wins out” if you don’t agree?

We ourselves started toying with the prospect of co-writing seven years ago, having met and both debuted with our own solo novels in 2015 (Jenn has published several novels in the horror and YA spaces; and Lee, several titles in the speculative fiction genre). We had met through a writing retreat around that time and had both noted our instant personal and professional synergy: turned out we grew up about twenty minutes from each other, were the same age, had the same number of kids, and had similar stints living in NYC and LA (and at the same time!). We also shared a trove of cultural interests and fascinations, as well as a similar working style and approach to brainstorming. Jenn floated the idea of potentially collaborating on something in late 2017, and a couple of Skype calls later, we were off and running. The back and forth just clicked. 

We just turned in the revision for our fourth co-written novel last week (a title scheduled for 2026), and wholeheartedly agree that co-writing can be a wildly rewarding endeavor, as well as a fantastic complement to the solo writing experience. Publishing highs are celebrated as team victories; bad reviews are weathered together; and book events are so much more enjoyable. 

Still, all that said, it’s not for everyone. Even if you’re the type of writer who plays well with others, there are several factors to consider when determining whether to team up with someone. We’ve got some thoughts and tips:

• Test the Waters

Say you have a longtime author friend who you get along with brilliantly and you’ve both always wanted to write a romance, but are each afraid to take the leap alone. She’s a little worried about committing to another writing project given her already full publishing schedule; you’re unsure if you’ll even like the co-writing process, but you’re definitely curious. Hot tip: don’t sign your name in blood before taking one another for a test drive. Give yourselves the freedom to explore the possibility via a few introductory, test-the-water calls, paying attention to how the synergy goes as you come up with concepts. Are you enjoying the back and forth with this person? Beyond their writing style, are your ideas in the same ballpark? And do you have the kind of natural rapport that’s going to keep you allied through years in the publication timeline? Honesty with yourself, and with each other, is key.

• Flexibility and Adaptability are Crucial

Speaking of honesty, during this suggested test run, is it . . . bothering you when your ideas aren’t being accepted and used wholesale? Are you annoyed when an idea that you suggest evolves throughout the conversation? The bedrock of collaboration is that two heads are better than one, and that the book you’re planning to create together could not have been written by either of you alone. If you do not agree with this statement, then cowriting likely isn’t your jam. Control freaks and those with rigid visions aren’t great candidates for collaborating (no shame there, it’s just the truth). And just like with any creative endeavor, a co-written project is going to involve trial and error, multiple drafts, dead ends, and iterative thinking . . . which might also require pivoting on the process, and the way you and your partner approach and draft the project. Staying nimble is key.

• Brainstorming Should be a Safe Space

Say you and your writing partner have decided to take the leap and are off and running. Hooray! Crucial piece of advice as you build out your project: give each other permission to be too dumb, too wacky, too dark, too weird. Afford yourself and your writing partner the space to throw out all the ideas, even the bad ones, same as you would if working solo. Never close the door on someone’s line of thought with “that’s ridiculous.” Perhaps that “off-the-wall” idea won’t be the answer you’re looking for, but the suggestion could trigger another better idea, or throw light on a story problem or plot hole, and lead to a stronger draft down the road. 

• Remember Your Co-Writer is a Human Being

Perhaps the most important tip (more important than having a similar writing style or process or what-not): mutual respect. This is key! Respect for their ideas and process, as mentioned above, but also respect for their time and for all they might be dealing with outside the pages of your novel. We all have multifaceted, complicated lives, and affording one another grace and understanding is crucial for any long-term relationship, but extra important in a creative endeavor requiring deep thought and innovative thinking. And the flip side of that coin–don’t be afraid to get personal. Things come up, life has twists and turns, and the more your writing partner is aware of what’s going on with you outside of your shared document, the stronger your working relationship will be.

Co-writing is such a unique and rewarding endeavor–if you do begin testing the waters, we hope you’ll find your simpatico collaborator, and that you find the process just as rewarding.

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The Starlets

One perfect island. Two rivals. A star-studded cast.

But underneath the glitter, disaster is brewing.

Summer, 1958. Vivienne Rhodes thinks she’s finally landed her break playing Helen of Troy in Apex Pictures’ big-budget epic, A Thousand Ships, an anticipated blockbuster meant to resurrect the failing studio. Naturally, she’s devastated when she arrives on the remote Italian island of Tavalli and finds herself cast as the secondary character, Cassandra—while her nemesis, the fiancé-stealing Lottie Lawrence, America’s supposed “sweetheart,” is playing the lead role instead.

The tension on set, though, turns deadly when the ladies discover that members of the crew are using the production as a front for something decidedly illegal—and that they are willing to kill to keep their dealings under wraps. When the two women find themselves on the run and holding key evidence, Vivienne and Lottie frantically agree to work together to deliver the proof to Interpol, hoping to protect both their lives and their careers.

Staying one step ahead of corrupt cops and looming mobsters, the archrivals flee across the seas. Their journey leads them into Monaco’s casinos, Grace Kelly’s palace, on a road trip through the Alps—even onto another film set, before a final showdown back on Tavalli, where the lives of the entire cast and crew hang in the balance. Vivienne and Lottie finally have the chance to be real heroines—to save the day, the film, maybe even each other—but only if they can first figure out how to share the spotlight.

BUY HERE

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Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne are a writing duo specializing in historical fiction with attitude. Longtime friends, they’ve spent the past several years collaborating across the Atlantic Ocean, Kelly based in Pennsylvania and Thorne in the English countryside. Though they grew up mere minutes from each other, graduating from rival high schools the same year and later both living in New York City and Los Angeles (at the same times!), it wasn’t until their debut novels were released that they met online and formed a fast friendship, and later, a writing partnership. Today, their families are online friends as well, their Google Meet screens forming a virtual hallway into each others’ homes during work sessions. 

Kelly and Thorne are the co-authors of archaeology adventure The Antiquity Affair and this autumn’s Old Hollywood mystery-romp The Starlets. Separately, Kelly is the author of the speculative fiction novels City of Savages, A Criminal Magic, and With Regrets., Thorne is the author of recent horror novels Lute and Diavola, as well as several YA novels under the name Jenn Marie Thorne.

 

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: How To and Tips, On Writing