Two Authors Are Better Than One

8/6/2019 Two Authors Are Better Than One

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romance authorshave turned to cowriting as a

meansof escape. t can be a fun, refreshingproc

that yields results unique to both authors'usualstyles.

TheBeginning f a Beautiful artnershi

Key elementsmust be in placebeforeyou emba

on a partnership: equal commitment, a compatib

writing pace,and a matchedunderstandingof cr

and style.Also helpful are similar tastes.Do you

have similar tastes n romances,movies, and/or

celebrities?That's a start.But dig deeper.What i

about a certainmovie that excitesyou both? If o

person oves Pride and Prejudice for the quiet,

reserved omance sharedby Janeand Mr. Bingle

while the other can't get enough of brooding Mr.

Darcy and sharp-tonguedLizzie,your ideasmay

nevergel.

What we find romantic and sexy is as varied

each ndividual. Agreeing what constitutesa gre

romance s ust as mportant asyour skill sets or

how many hours a day you can commit to a

project.Thus,many successful rofessional

partnershipsbeganas friendships-the

commonality of taste.This energy evealed tsel

for the writing pair of Moira Rogers(Sabine).Tw

friends, Donna and Bree, had spentyears plottin

romances ogether,but the processof writing so

never appealed.After much practice ointly

learning their style andcraft, they realized

partnershipwas the key that had been missing fr

their previous attempts o write on their own.

TWOAUT|IORSARBY CARRIE OFTY

Howdo you writewith another

authorandmaintainour

friendship?One-half f a cowriting

teamexplainshe nsandoutsof

the process

In the summerof 2008, my friend Ann Aguirre had

a dreamabout a girl who turned into a Doberman.

Becauseof other writing commitments,Ann didn't

feel prepared o give the idea a try on her own. Our

frequent nstant messagingchats ed to something

sheand I are very good inflicting on one another:a

dare.She would write the heroine'spoint-of-view,

and I would write the big, bad hero. For the

exciting weeksthat followed, we exploreda dark,

apocalypticworld of our own creation which was

new to me, sincemy solo work is historical

romance.

And, almostby accident,we became

cowriters.

Now when I mention our oint pseudonym,

Ellen Connor,and our DarkAge Dawning trilogy,

I'm askedone nvariable question rom authors and

readersalike: How do you write with apafiner? I

could only answer rom my experience,which led

me to wonder aboutother successfulcowriting

partnerships.The entire dea seems

counterintuitive.We authorsare stereotypically

known for being control-freakmastersof our

fictional worlds. Sharing hose deas-especially

suchpersonal deas about ove, sex,and romance-

can be a little intimidatins. But a number of



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Method to the Madness

Every author eitherhas an established rocessor isstill defining what that means. magine,now,

leaming that processwith another ndividual!

Ann and I have always split our assignments

along character ines. For example, wrote the

heroes or Nightfall andMidnight and the heroine

for Daybreak This assignmentof characters

became soprofound that one of us might IM the

other to ask, "What would she say n this scene?

What is she eeling?" The exchangeof ideas means

a near-constantevel of communicationaswe write

to ensurecontinuity and the development of a solid

characterarc especiallyas we work toward the

finale.

While the chapter-by-chapter ystemworks for

many, the writing partnershipof Isabel Roman

(Dark Desires oJ he Druids) uses an even moreorganicapproach. Christinedoes99 percentofthe

typing and grammar,while Marissa does 99

percentof the fine-tuning of the plot. We both love

to do research.When we write, we do so while on

the phone so that all chaptershave both our hands

in them."

Moira Rogers alsotakes heir cooperation ight

down to every line. "Instead of trading off the

manuscript every chapteror so, we do it constantly,

back and forth. Thereprobably isn't a paragraph

we don't both have a hand n."

The oft-discussedopic of voice s not asmuch

of an issue as many might assume.Ann says, As

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writerly

o at the daor.You

be so in ovewith

wn w*rk that

u refuseo allow

- SummerDevor.;

long asyou split up point of view, different voices

can work becausehat can be attributed o the

characters."Our processhas been o go over one

another'sportions during revisions,which helps

tone down stylistic differences.That smoothingout

process elpsmake t a cohesivewhole.

However, everyonecame o one agreement:a

loose dea seryesas he startingpoint, followed by

frequentconferences.A11of thesewriting partners

consider hemselves pantsers" o varying degrees.

StephanieTyler, who writes with Larissa one as

SydneyCroft(TakenbyFire), says, ...Theconstant ack and orlh...gels he story ogether-

and oncewe start, t's really exciting becausewe're

bouncing ideasand scenesand dialogue.We never

know what kind of sceneor twist we'll get to work

with."

This canbe an obvious hindrance o anyone

who wantsto control every aspectof their

storytelling. Bonnie Dee, who has written with

many paftners,says, One challenge s letting go of

preconceived otionsofhow a story shouldgo.

You have to be readyto be surprised hat when the

piececomesback to you, it might not be the way

you'd do t. "

SummerDevon, with whom Dee writes

historical erotica (Houseof Mirrors), adds,"Check

your writerly ego at the door.You can't be so in

love with your own work that you refuse o allow

changes." f you cannotroll with the punch your

partneroccasionally hrows, you shouldnot

considercowriting.

Of TimingandTrust

A11writing pairs face the obvious challengeof

working aroundone another's schedulesand

realizing a unified vision. Ione says, Trying to

find time betweenour individual projects and home

life can be a seriouschallenge. t wasn't hard in the

beginning,but onceour individual careers ook off,

we began o really have to scramble o find time."

This is, helpfully, offset by the fact that anyproject's workload is reducedby half. As the

manuscript akes shape,momentum speedshe

processconsiderably.Sharing deas and seeing

them expandwith the help of a trustedparhrer s

rewarding treat in a business hat requiresa lot of

time alone with one'sthoughts.

Trust is the key word. LaurenDane, who'has

cowritten severalbooks with Megan Hart, sugge

that the worst problemsare avoidedby respectin

one anotheras artists."I trust her to speakup,"

Dane says. And, also, that I can speakup if I haa problemor question.Eachof us knows we'd do

what we promised, and that the other would hold

us to a certain standard. f it was crap, know sh

have saidso."

This goes or both content and commitment

Hart says, Work ethic absolutelyneeds o be in

line. Nothing else matters.Anything can be dealt

with."

Ione recommends hat writers working

togethermust be at similar points in terms of bot

their craft and careers.The goal is not to have on

partner pulling the other along in terms of

proficiency and motivation. It's not aboutgetting

your way or making too many unwanted

concessionshat leadto bearing grudges.This

meansmaintaining respect or one anotheras

creative orces, with surprisingbenefits.

Tyler says, Everything you do has to be for

the good of the book. In a way, working with

Larissa really helpedprepareme for working wit

an editor, because hat's simply another orm of

collaboration."

IndustryNittyGritty

What about he basics ike pseudonlrnsand age

and working with an editor?

For Megan Hart and Lauren Dane, here wa

never any thought toward taking a pseudonyrn,

mostly because t seemedunnecessary nd even

counterproductive.Hart says, We write in a gef



both of us were alreadyknown in, sowe didn't seea need o write with a pseudonym."

WhenAnn and I decided o adoPta

pseudonl'rn,we did so for a number of reasons, he

foremostbeing that I primarily write historical

romance.My nameon a paranorlnal apocalyptic

romancewould not have doneany favors when

promoting our trilogy. Plus, we wantedthe books

to be regardedas a cohesivewhole-something

very different from what either of us had written.

Thesedecisionscanbe madepersonally,before the

beginning the submissionprocess,or they canbe

made by industry professionalssuch asagentsand

editorsat a later stage.

But, what aboutagentsand editors?Agent

Kevan Lyon says, Ideally, the coauthorsare both

clients of the agency,which tends o make the

whole processnm a bit more smoothly." If the

authorsare represented y two separate gents,

evetyoneneeds o ampup the communication."I

frnd it is best to speakwith the otheragentearly in

theprocess nd ry to diwy up thework (i.e', pitch

letter,editor submission,subsidiaryrights sales,

etc.) and decideearly how the submissionprocesswi l l be managed."

Becausean agent s essentiallyworking for

half her usual fee, shemay have somereservations'

Agent LauraBradfordsays, On paper t doesn't

sound uper xcitingunder hose ircumstances.

but representingsomeones not somuch about

looking out for your own bottom line-or certainly

not only aboutthat. If a coauthor/multiauthor

opportunity is good for your authorand her career,

well, you take one for the tea.m."

But, ultimately, both agentsagreed hat the

right story makes his processworthwhile. Lyon

says, As long as love the book, I am willing to

work to make a coauthorsituationwork. There

really is no reason t can't."

Editors, too, may have few reservationsas

long as he manuscript s worlhwhile and the

authors'processandworking relationshipare

stable.Moira Rogers'seditor at Samhain,Anne

Scott-says, Any time I've workedwith a pair of

authors, t's beena very smoothprocess. 'm sure

there could be issues,but to my mind thesewould

be as varied as hosewith single-authoredworks."

Taking th e Leap

When Ann and I first beganwriting Nightfall,we

did so for fun. It was ust for us-and sometimes

the best storiesemerge rom such ow expectations.

We never expected o sell, hardly knowing what

future it had. We evenagreed hat shouldour

friendshipbegin to suffer underthe strainofourpartnership,we would back away from cowriting

altogether.Three books later, we have been ucky

in discovering the magic comesback every time

we sit down to begin a new tale.And in an industry

that canoften seempetty and filled with tiny

jealousies,a cowriting paftner is a marvelous

indulgence.After all, when our books sold and

when our gorgeouscoversarrived, we were ableto

rejoice for one anotherwholeheartedly.Therewas

an intensesatisfaction n having accomplished t

together.Donna (Moira Rogers)says, The writing life

isn't nearly so onely for us becausewe canalways

talk to eachother We both have someoneelsewho

is 100percent nvested n-and dependenton-our

career."Her partner,Bree,adds, . '.We havebuilt-

in critique partners.We stopa lot of silly plotlines

because neor the otherof us says, No, I don't

think so."'

I love cowriting. It may nevertake the placeof

sitting down with my own thoughtsand plinking

out my next historical romance,but it is a cool,

fast, and exciting break from a business hat can

become ntensely ntroverled. As in life, making it

happen s all about frnding the right person.

As StephanieTyler says, If you're not having

fun or you're fighting too much, it's not meantto

be. When you click with someonecowriting, it

shouldbe someof the easiestwriting you've ever

done."@

"As ongas , love

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wOrl{o frta&e

*aaut-*ar itiletion

work.Theiereally

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- K*van

June2011 Fl,4/R

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Two Authors Are Better Than One