Co-writing—Double the Fun or Double the Trouble?

The Write Way Café welcomes Zoe Tasia. She opens up about writing as a member of a team.

My friend, Minette says: “Wanna write a book together?”

I say: “Cool. Sure.”

 Then we skipped off singing, 

“Ho height!  Ho height! It’s off we go to write, la-la-la-la!”

Okay, that’s not how it started. I complained to Minette about writing (rather, about NOT writing), so she sent me a few paragraphs encouraging me to add to the story. Yeah, right, I thought. (I got the inside track on snark. *wink*) After numerous nudges, I did. This exercise resulted in our first book, Daisy Dukes ’n Cowboy Boots.  We didn’t stop there. We now have three published books, two completed manuscripts awaiting editing, and are currently working on a time travel romance.

Two! Two! Two writers for the price of one! (I’m the emo one.)

How do you write together? This is the most common question I get. Easy, we bounce the story back and forth like a tennis ball. Really, it’s a challenge and I love that.  The story may (and probably, in our case, will) take weird, unexpected turns. The tricky part is keeping the story going and your writing interesting.

 (I write much better than I play tennis. I swear!)

Our first book is a romance. I don’t read or write romances, typically. I had a character visit the bathroom. No pooping in romance, Minette, who does enjoy romance, told me. (Hey, I live with guys. Potty humor abounds.)

You’d never see this in a bookstore window. 

(Nothing was said about no poop in this article.)

Then, I killed someone. Oopsies, sorry—not sorry. Too grim for a light-hearted romance, Minette said, so that scene was deleted.  (He didn’t die, but the poor guy went through a lot.)

As much as I love it, problems with writing together do exist. Showing instead of telling in a book is crucial. We have to work on this during edits because during writing, we try to get across what we have in mind through prose and dialogue. Telling = bad. It’s tough.

Now this book REALLY is good at showing, not telling.

We don’t want to limit each other creatively. On the other hand, if one of us has a direction we want to go and think would be absolutely cool for the story, it can be very frustrating when that path is cut off.

Let’s go THIS WAY. Follow me!

With co-writing, communication is key. We’re pantsers when we write together up to midway through the book. NOT the way I write alone. But I feel shifting gears and working in a different way makes my writing, overall, much better.

We basically take turns and write approximately 1K words each turn. We’ve tried longer and shorter and just feel this works best for us. We trust each other and we are willing to compromise. Since one of us is always waiting for the other to send the manuscript back, we try to be very respectful of each other’s time. Pantsing is like tightrope walking without a net and kinda scary for me, since I don’t do it. But I tend to be more adventurous when writing as Zari Reede. I’m secure that WE can write anything.

It’s a little nerve-wracking, but I’m doing it!

There are many ways to collaborate. I know people who get on Google Docs (these days, there are numerous options for simultaneous writing on one document} and work at the same time. Slinging dialogue at each other—sounds fun.

Convo nugget comin’ your way!

Other authors agree that each will write one character’s POV (point of view) and alternate chapters. This works very well for romance that often has two POVs, one for each lover. I’ve also seen authors who have one person write the first draft and the other edits. Wowzers, that must entail much co-outlining, discussion, and planning.

I won’t lie. Co-writing isn’t for everyone. But you’ll never know if you don’t try. So, tap a fellow author. Dare ‘em. I’m betting they’ll step up to the plate.

Batter, batter, batter, SWING!

About Zoe Tasia:
As a child, Zoe Tasia idolized Barbara Eden, star of I Dream of Jeannie, however, she would have ditched the astronaut and married Captain Kirk. She can’t blink and make magic nor did she wed a Starfleet officer. Instead, life had something better in store for her. She explores her imagination as a writer, is married to an understanding Greek, has two grown sons, and a crazy cat that thinks it’s a dog. Zoe grew up in Oklahoma and lived over seven years in Scotland. Now she resides in the great state of Texas, where everything’s bigger and better, or so she’s told by the natives. When she’s not giving her make-believe friends full rein, she enjoys the opera, ballet, well-chilled champagne, and reading, lots and lots of reading. Her first book is Kilts and Catnip ~ The Shrouded Isle Book 1. She co-writes books with Minette Lauren as Zari Reede.

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Magical danger lurks in the forest.

But Greg Gillie, a handsome Scot with a mysterious past, protects the Shrouded Isle and the lands beyond from the mischievous, dangerous fae.

A woman arrives disturbing the wee folk.

Greg’s task becomes harder when American widow, Becca Shaw and her two daughters vacation there. As each day passes, more fae steal away from the forest hill and menace the people in the village, Thistle.

Can this exodus be stopped? 

As Becca encounters an array of magical creatures, she strives to repair her relationship with her two still-grieving girls and befriend the suspicious villagers. Greg and Becca must work together to solve the mystery of why the fae are escaping and discover how to prevent it while they struggle with their blossoming feelings for one another.

For their sake and the sake of the world, let’s hope they’re up to the task.

Kilts and Catnip, the first book in a new fantasy series, is filled with sweet romance, delightful humor, and exciting adventure.

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