• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
    • About WHW
    • Press Kit
    • Resident Writing Coaches
    • Contact Us
    • Podcasts & Interviews
    • Master Storytelling Newsletter
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
    • Charities & Support
  • Bookstore
    • Bookstore
    • Foreign Editions
    • Book Reviews
    • Free Thesaurus Sampler
  • Blog
  • Software
  • Workshops
  • Resources
    • List of Resources
    • Recommended Writing Books
    • WHW Descriptive Thesaurus Collection
    • Free Tools & Worksheets
    • Grab A Free Show-Dont-Tell Pro Pack
  • WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Helping writers become bestselling authors

Three Components to Writing a Successful Collaborative Novel

August 5, 2015 by BECCA PUGLISI

As you can guess, Angela and I are passionate about the value of collaborative writing and how it can be done successfully. Our experience lies mostly, though, with nonfiction. So I was excited when Kathrin Hutson approached us with a post outlining some tried-and-true techniques for co-writing a fiction book. I’m sure many of you have wondered about the possibility of co-authoring a story and the best way of making a go of it. So read on for some great tips!

us-566321_1280
photo credit: Pixabay

Collaborative fiction has received a lot more recognition in the writing community, especially now that some groups have figured out just how to make it work.

The problems I have found with online collaborative forums are that a few people are really dedicated to the project, but most who signed up to participate get burned out, bored, or distracted by life and disappear. Sometimes one person overrides the creative expression of other writers, and a clash of visions for the story ensues. Ideas get lost behind a strong personality, and frustrations arise when an agreement cannot be made on characterization or plot.

All writers have different styles, ideas, and visions for a story. But the whole point of collaborating is to work with other talented writers who want to hone their skills and embrace teamwork. An effective collaboration will create an imaginative, exciting, entertaining work of fiction that is much different than what any one writer could create alone.

Working with the online collaborative fiction community Collaborative Writing Challenge (CWC) as both Chief Editor and Story Coordinator has exposed me to a successful, supportive community of writers who create full-length fiction novels together one week at a time. Our pilot novel was published this June and has received wonderful reviews. In only one short year, CWC has formed a collaborative system with three major components that embrace author uniqueness and encourage open communication and teamwork.

These three ‘must have’ components, when used correctly, ensure that every collaboration flows from section to section, and most importantly that it gets completed.

#1: Teamwork and Always Saying Yes

The whole point of a collaboration is not having to write an entire novel yourself, and not having to formulate all characters and story lines on your own. Adding one, two, or twenty other creative minds to a project makes for incalculable possibilities, and never knowing exactly what’s coming next is half the fun.

Always Saying Yes means that participants accept each writer’s section as it is. If the plot twist is conceivable, if the character could make that decision, if the conflict resolution is not impossible, let it stand. Changing the story’s elements simply because you don’t agree with another collaborator’s choices or wouldn’t have written it that way yourself does not make for happy collaborators, nor for the most imaginative version of the project.

Teamwork at this point takes all the credit for a great collaboration, and for writers who will return time and time again. A writer may submit a confusing section that pulls the story in a new direction, or has details inconsistent with previous submissions. When this happens, do not simply reject the section altogether. No writer wants to hear that their submission just didn’t work, nor see someone else completely rewriting all their hard work. Instead, reach out to these writers, ask questions, give suggestions.

“You wrote that Character X carried a 50-pound box of groceries for his neighbor, but two chapters ago he broke his arm skateboarding. It’s not quite believable that he carries that box with a badly broken arm. Would you like to rewrite that section with those details, or would you like me to try it for you?”          

This open communication is key. Remember to be courteous, to acknowledge that they worked hard for a section of which they were proud enough to submit, and that they still want to contribute. Everybody needs a little reminder of the details or intention of a project.

#2: Keep the Facts Organized

 CWC has a fantastic system of consistently updating its writers with the important details of the stories they’re working on. Every week, a 400-500 word summary of the new chapter is written, as well as a detailed list of characters, locations, and highlights, in order of appearance. We call these the “reference notes”. These give a one or two sentence description of each character and their relationship to the other characters. The same is done with each new location, and the “highlights” are constantly updated.

Highlights are short descriptions of a plot line that has been left open and can be picked back up later, such as: ‘Character Y had only finished applying half of her makeup before she got the call about her grandmother and rushed to the hospital.’ This ensures that the next writer can choose to pick up this vein about Character Y’s unkempt appearance.

Creating detailed summaries and reference notes also makes it easier for writers to get the information they need to continue the story without having to read through every previous chapter. Make sure these are always accessible to every collaborator.

#3: Create a Schedule – And Stick to It

 Having a schedule detailing when each writer is due to submit their section, and when the collaboration is expected to start and finish, is a powerful way to keep the project on track. Agree on a certain length, like 30 chapters or 60,000 words; give each writer one week or two weeks to submit their section; choose the target length of submissions; and decide who writes which chapter(s). Then hold each other accountable to this schedule.

Of course, sometimes life gets in the way and a contribution is late, or a writer cannot finish. Sometimes participants drop out altogether. This is why #1 and #2 are so important – if a collaboration finds these minor obstacles, open communication with one another allows writers to pick up an open chapter, to help a struggling collaborator, and to have all the details at their fingertips, no matter where the finished sections are kept.

You may find yourself part of a collaborative system like CWC’s, with a designated Story Coordinator who updates the information, contacts writers, and ensures each submission is consistent with the story and schedule. Or you and your fellow collaborators may have outlined the novel from beginning to end and cannot wait to fill in the blanks together. Either way, Teamwork, Organized Facts, and a Detailed Schedule are three invaluable tools to keep your project consistent, entertaining for writers and readers alike, and will get the project finished.

Kathrin Hutson Headshot

Kathrin Hutson is the owner of KLH CreateWorks (www.klhcreateworks.com), and offers free tips affordable editing services to writers of all skill levels and in all genres. The first book of her fantasy series, Daughter of the Drackan, will be published this October. She is also Chief Editor and Story Coordinator for Collaborative Writing Challenge (www.collaborativewritingchallenge.com), and enjoys nothing more than working on all of these projects from her home in Grass Valley, CA. Kathrin can be contacted at Kathrin.Hutson@KLHCreateWorks.com.

BECCA PUGLISI
BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Guest Post

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alyssa Hollingsworth says

    August 17, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    This is great. I’ve worked on a few collaboration projects in the past, and always ended up being The One Who Cared More. But I’ve found a friend from my master’s course who is just as crazy as me, and our project is going really well! When it works right, it’s so motivating and fun. We may or may not have written over two hundred pages in two weeks of coming up with the concept…

  2. susan J berger says

    August 5, 2015 at 11:18 pm

    Thank you. I just interviewed another duo of writers on my blog athree weeks ago. this gives me more answers.

    • Kat Hutson says

      August 6, 2015 at 12:46 am

      Wonderful! So glad it can give some extra insight!

  3. Traci Kenworth says

    August 5, 2015 at 8:23 pm

    I think with the write person, it’d be great, but I don’t think more that two would be ideal for me. I can see the competition in something like that.

    • Kat Hutson says

      August 5, 2015 at 10:56 pm

      If you can find the right people, even two or less, who are more focused on encouraging each other as writers and on nurturing the project as a whole, you may just find that the competitive aspect of writing disappears. I’ve seen even naturally competitive people lift other writers up and support them through an entire collaboration, all because the intention behind it was the same for everyone – hone our skills, and finish a collaborative novel.

      Don’t let “competition” keep you back from trying it, at the very least!

  4. Nicole Czarnomski says

    August 5, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    Hi,
    I love this blog post and the idea of collaborating. How does one go about finding other writers who want to collaborate?

    Thanks,
    Nicole

    • Kat Hutson says

      August 5, 2015 at 5:34 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, Nicole!

      Honestly, the potential to find other collaborators is far greater than I even realized before I started working with Collaborative Writing Challenge. It depends on what kind of collaboration you want. At CWC we have 40-50 different writers all scheduled to submit different chapters of a particular book project. Some people (myself included with one of my very good writing friends) get in touch with one or two other people, share excerpts, decide on a section to become “Chapter 1” and go from there. It doesn’t matter what number of collaborators, nor is it that hard to find tons of people willing and excited to participate.

      The best way to find these writers, in my opinion, is just to ask. If you read a blog post by a fiction writer that you like, get in touch, ask if they’ve considered it. Join Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Google+, whatever – try to find those geared towards your preferred genre of writing and with mentions of collaboration. I’ve found that most local communities also have some sort of writing group, critique group, etc. Reach out, see who’s who. All you have to do is ask.

      If you’d like to look at the collaborative organization I work with, go to http://www.collaborativewritingchallenge.com. We have a Facebook page as well, and I recommend the Facebook groups An Author’s Tale and Writing Fiction. You don’t need to do anything other than reach out and express your interest to become a “member”, and there are so many fantastic, supportive, creative people who would either love to start collaborations, or who could point you to someone who does. It just takes a little bit of connection. Maybe I’ll see you in one of these groups!

  5. ANGELA ACKERMAN says

    August 5, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Collaboration is so very rewarding. It’s all about finding the right fit–someone who has a good communication style, work ethic and is willing to listen and compromise. Becca and I are a great fit, and I would love for us to write a fiction book together one day. 🙂 Thanks so much for visiting us today!

    • Kat Hutson says

      August 5, 2015 at 5:36 pm

      Thank you so much for having me, Angela! This was a treat.

      I’d love to read a fiction collaboration by you two!

      • ANGELA ACKERMAN says

        August 5, 2015 at 7:19 pm

        I think it would be epic. If we could settle on a genre, lol!

  6. JC Martell says

    August 5, 2015 at 10:52 am

    How interesting! Would also be nice to see an article on collaboration by two writers on a fiction novel. Maybe writer and editor team?

    As always thanks for your helpful and varied help articles.

    • Kat Hutson says

      August 5, 2015 at 11:07 am

      Those definitely sound like good future articles! I’ll start working on those. I’m pleased to hear you say that you’d like to read about collaborations between “writer and editor”. A lot of people aren’t aware of the fact that a good editor can be an actual collaborator, and can have as much investment and passion about a novel as the author (instead of just wielding the red pen and going back into the cave haha).

Trackbacks

  1. Last Weeks Links For 10/19-10/24 | B. Shaun Smith says:
    October 26, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    […] Three Components to Writing a Successful Collaborative Novel […]

  2. 6 Tips to Get You Writing (and Keep You There) | Writing Services says:
    September 3, 2015 at 11:18 pm

    […] is something I feel every author should experience at least once. Take a look at my article on The Three Components to Writing a Successful Collaborative Novel to kick off your collaboration with a bang. And if you really want to experience a treat in […]

  3. Friday Finds: Week 46 | Avid Reader says:
    August 14, 2015 at 8:05 pm

    […] Three Components To Writing A Successful Collaborative Novel […]

  4. Guest Post on Writer’s Helping Writers | Writing Services says:
    August 5, 2015 at 10:38 am

    […] ahead, check out my post there today! Leave a comment, ask questions, and check out the Writers Helping Writers Thesaurus […]

Primary Sidebar


Welcome!

Writing is hard. Angela & Becca make it easier. Get ready to level up your fiction with game-changing tools, resources, and advice.

Follow Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe to the Blog

Check your inbox to confirm! If gremlins tried to eat it, you might have to check your spam folder.

Read by Category

Grab Our Button

Writers Helping Writers

Software that Will Change the Writing Game

One Stop for Writers

WRITERS HELPING WRITERS® · Copyright © 2023 · WEBSITE DESIGN BY LAUGH EAT LEARN

Cookies are delicious and ours help make your experience here better. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with our cookie use. Cookie settingsGOT IT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. More on our Privacy Policy here.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...