On a trip to Amsterdam, a friend and I created a character - an affable but incompetent police officer. Over the last year or so, we'd talk about this character, so he's survived the haze of that vacation.
I'd like to try my hand at serialized fiction, or at the very least a series of short stories based on the character. My traveling partner wants to be a part of it, and to be fair, he was part of the brainstorming and he's at the very least a co-creator.
I just booked a train to NYC for the weekend before Thanksgiving. We're going to try to brainstorm and hammer down some characters, plot points, etc, etc over a 48 hr period.
My question is - how do I make this work? Or what are some tips when working with someone else? How do we stay productive (aside from the usual distractions of booze, NYC nights - all of which I've done plenty of times before so I don't see the allure of NYC being an issue)
I've already said that I'd be the writer - meaning the prose is all me. I'll have the final say in that department (although, just like workshopping, he'd have plenty of input into the drafts).
I imagine this is just going to be a big brainstorming session and then figuring out loose plot points, but any advice to anyone who's done this sort of thing would be greatly appreciated. What can we do in the month leading up to the weekend over emails, phone, text so we can best capitalize on our time?
(as an aside, I've already done some pre-lim work - I've figured out the main conflict and power struggles at play within the character's world)
I did a poetry collaboration, and it worked out a few times, but it was fun reading the not-so-fun ones. We laughed anyway. If two people create one character, maybe it adds an unusually high amount of depth?
Outline.
unusually high
I like this advice.
Woody Allen said, "80 percent of success is showing up." And I've found that is a very ture statement. You need to make sure you working with someone who will do the basics of giving it a effort (return calls and emails, does work something close to on time, doesn't act to crazy).
I assume you'll use an online system for writing or posting. Google Docs would allow you both to work in the same file, but be sure to coordinate who "owns" the document at any given time (I haven't collaborated with Google Docs, so it may already have features to prevent someone overwriting someone else's writing/edits).
If you're the primary writer, then hammer out the plot with your friend, and then start writing and posting and tell your friend s/he can add content along the way. Don't wait for them. Just write. Either they'll jump in or not.
Wrote a story recently that way. I did 98% of the writing, but my friend still got in there on occassion and wrote a few lines here and there. Outside of the writing, we built the story together and then constantly bounced ideas off each other.
