The Merry Writer: Do you Even Collaborative Write Bro?

image provided by open clipart.org by Firkin

The Merry Writer has a fun daily question for writers I wanted to try getting in on.  Check out Ari Meghlen's blog and Twitter along with the Hashtags #themerrywriter where you can see everyone's responses.

Have you ever/would you ever collaborate with another writer?

Yes.  I LOVE collaborative writing.  Starting in fourth grade, I created skits and scripts with a group of friends.  In high school two friends and I had a series of notebooks where we told each other ridiculous stories and would try to take over the story.   During college, I wrote poems, scripts, and short stories with friends and assigned partners.

In writers' group we have an exercise where one person starts a prompt and after fifteen minutes someone else has to take it over. It's silly fun, and it pushes story creation forward faster than I could produce on my own.  If you can find a friend, associate, or partner you trust, then working together and letting them steer the parts you don't know how to navigate is perfect.

We always talk about how writing is solitary, but I don't think it is.  Even stuff I "write" on my own, someone else proofreads, edits, and suggests.  One day, I hope someone else will publish it for me so I don't have to shoulder that burden and someone else will help me market the story.  Working with others to achieve a mutual goal is a collaboration and all of it qualifies as a writing project.  

Co-writing something helps prepare a writer for the kinds of cooperative relationships he or she will need to create, edit, and sell a book.  It shows you know how to be a good part of a team and it may help you develop new skill sets.

Would I work with someone else on a future endeavor?  I'd love too.  One reason I'm taking over the "face" of my writers group is because I like reaching out and helping others.  I like hearing about others creative works, asking questions, making suggestions, and when others let me, I'm happy to leave a fingerprint or two.

Talk to me.  Do you like collaborating with others, or do you keep you work to yourself? I want to hear about your process ^_^