Collaboration

By Bette Golden Lamb & J. J. Lamb

Collaboration.

Nice word. Solid sound. Good potential.

You know how it goes – spouse, sibling, parent, child, aunt, uncle, grandparent, significant other, friend, or acquaintance says the brain-freeze words, "I have this great idea; all you have to do is write it."

Remember that old song, "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover?" Well, substitute collaborator for lover and you have an inkling of all the things that could go wrong. If you're not familiar with the lyrics, trust us – have an escape plan.

If you decide to try collaboration, first find a mutually suitable approach to the mechanics of writing a novel, or anything else. We tried writing every other chapter, writing about certain characters, doing individual scenes, and writing virtually every word together. None of these worked particularly well.

Final answer? One of us comes up with a mutually agreeable story idea; that partner writes the first draft, with input from the other with respect to plotting and character development.

We switch off for the second draft and then actually sit down at the keyboard, side by side, to create the final draft(s).

We also belong to a serious and dedicated critique group that provides invaluable assistance.

From out first brave start with Bone Dry (Five Star Mysteries, 2003)  we've now written and published six novels, the latest being Bone of Contention, the fourth in our “Bone” series of medical thrillers.

We would suggest that one of the first things collaborators should agree on is a mutual goal, beyond sharing in all the fame and fortune, of course.

Perhaps collaboration simply sounds like a fun thing to do.

Maybe there's something going on in the world that you both feel strongly about and want to comment on through fiction.

Maybe there are certain genres of fiction you both enjoy reading and would like to try your hand at writing – mystery, sci-fi, horror, romance, humor, or whatever.

Our literary collaboration started by merging a career writer ‒ fiction and non-fiction ‒ with a practicing registered nurse and artist. While our reading tastes were quite similar, there was initial disagreement about what genre we wanted to write in ‒ sci-fi, mysteries, thrillers. Plus, should the stories have medical- or journalism-related backgrounds?

Out of this consternation came Bone Dry, the first of our Gina Mazzio medical thriller series, followed by Heir Today...,a suspense adventure about a husband-wife team of investigative journalists.  Compromise? Absolutely!

While we've found soaring together exhilarating, every now and then we do like to fly solo. Bette has an award-winning sci-fi novel, Rx Denied, coming from Assent Publishing later this year; J.J. recently published No Pat Hands, a 2014 nominee for a Shamus Award from Private Eye Writers of America.

First, if you're part of a writing team, regardless of whether you're writing together or individually, we think there's an implicit responsibility needed to keep each other from crashing and burning.

That's collaboration.

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Bette Golden Lamb, a feisty ex-Bronxite, writes crime novels and plays with clay. Her sculptures and other artistic creations appear in exhibitions, galleries, and stores. She also hangs out with her 50+ rose bushes, or sneaks out to movies when she should be writing. Being an RN is a huge clue as to why she writes medical thrillers and Sci-Fi novels. Award-winning Rx Denied, is due out from Assent Publishing later this year. J. J. Lamb intended to become an aeronautical engineer/pilot, but was seduced by journalism. An AP career was interrupted by the Army, which gave him a Top Secret clearance; a locked room with table, chair, and typewriter; and the time to write short stories. A paperback PI series followed, the most recent of which, No Pat Hands, a 2014 Shamus Award nominee from Private Eye Writers of America. The Lambs, who live in Northern California, have co-authored five medical thrillers - Bone Dry, Sisters in Silence, Sin & Bone, Bone Pit and Bone of Contention - and a suspense-adventure-romance novel, Heir Today. Website:  www.twobacksheep.us Blog: www.bettelamb,wordpress.com

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Three Reasons Writers Need a BFF

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


From Casper the Friendly Ghost to flying the friendly skies, from "You've Got a Friend" to "Friends are Friends Forever", everyone acknowledges the value of a good friendship.  But writers receive some unique, specific rewards from that coveted alliance.  Be a pal and check them out.

1. EXPOSITION 
In fiction, a writer's best friend can be the friend they give their protagonist.  Far from playing second fiddle in the story, a well-crafted companion can open the door for revealing interaction and dialogue. Instead of banging the audience over the head with facts, details conveyed comfortably in a conversation feel perfectly natural, and can even disguise their eventual importance to the story.

In Veronica Roth's blockbuster Divergent series, the first friend Tris makes when entering the intimidating new world she has chosen is Christina.  Roth cleverly chose to make Christina a "Candor", whose outspoken observations are a steady source of revelation and discovery.

2. ASSOCIATION
"No man is an island," said poet John Donne (whose name not only rhymes, but who gave us another famous saying in the same discourse, the one about for whom the bell tolls).  His point was, of course, that we are social creatures who need each other.  Those of us writers who thrive on creative isolation and would rather take a road trip to Alaska alone than attend a spouse's Christmas party may find it against the grain to do the people thing, but a good writers group is the ideal way to step off the island and get one's feet wet.

Communing one-on-one with others of the same intention is inspiring and eye-opening.  Besides sharing the contagious writing bug, the variety of fresh perspectives in a writers group is limited only by the the imaginations of the attendees.  If your group offers critique sessions, take advantage of them, and offer your own constructive criticism.  Friends don't let friends write junk.

To be an even steeper leaper into literacy, check out writers conferences. The many offered each year means there's one coming to a city near you.  An intensive weekend of focused enlightenment in the company of peers and professionals is something all serious writers should experience for themselves, and those who do it once will often become regular attendees. You'll find many of this year's conferences on the Southern Writers website at: 
http://www.southernwritersmagazine.com/2014-conferences.html 

3. COLLABORATION
If we're honest with ourselves, not all of us are meant to collaborate.  Depending on our personality type, we may indeed flourish in a literary partnership, or we may require the satisfaction of knowing every single word was our own.  But regardless of how we approach our prose, we are all collaborators in the sense that we learn from and echo each other.

One of my favorite collaborative teams is that of Lisa Wingate and Julie Cantrell. Highly-regarded authors in their own right, these longtime friends are an example of the support and productivity that like-minded wordsmiths can gain from one another.

Far from keeping this valuable gift all to themselves, they reach out to all writers via their Facebook page, The Writer's Jar, a place where you can take part in the writing conversation.  And we're very proud to announce that Julie and Lisa will now be allying with Southern Writers Magazine via a new feature debuting in the July issue, in which we get to eavesdrop on their private conversations with other leading authors.

As writers, we share the enviable mission of capturing the world as we see it and translating it for those who walk this earth with us. As C.S. Lewis said, "Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'"

Divide the Work; Multiply the Joy!

by Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers

Have you ever thought it might be nice to just write half of a book? Have you ever had occasion to celebrate a writing success and wanted to share the joy?  Collaboration might be for you. As sisters and collaborators we have completed five books together and continue working as a team.

Our first collaboration included our mother and the two of us.  We were used to writing individually and wondered how to make it work.  Our different voices would make a traditional novel disjointed, and a round robin novel seemed problematic. (We each like to have the last word, and it would never end!)  Finally an idea surfaced that was perfect for collaboration, MY DOG, MY HERO.  Each chapter would be told from a different point of view.  This meant our different voices would be an advantage rather than a problem.

           

We worked individually on our chapters and then met together, sitting around Mom’s kitchen table where we wrote the first and last chapters to tie the book together.  This worked well for us and we did three more books the same way. When our mother stopped writing we continued collaborating as sisters and have enjoyed the benefits of sharing the work.

Have you ever been “stuck” with no clue how to proceed with a story? One of the best parts of collaborating is that you have someone else to help work out those gnarly problems. We often say to each other, “Would you work on Chapter Six, I’ve done all I can do for now?” or “Chapter One needs to be stronger, will you take a look?” It is a relief to share the challenges with someone else.

           

Brainstorming with your collaborator is fun.We meet one day a week at a coffee shop in a town halfway between us. There is nothing quite so stimulating as sitting with our coffee and scones talking about stories and possibilities. There is always excitement and laughter.

           

The downside of collaboration comes from unclear expectations and boundaries.This can be avoided by being intentional about defining the relationship. Ask the questions up front. How will royalties be split? Who will correspond with agents and editors? How will we deal with disagreements? In the beginning we both decided we would not proceed on the writing or publishing until both of us were in total agreement. This decision has served us well in the writing and in decisions about submissions.

Collaboration only works when we come to each other with respect and trust. There is no room in the relationship for being territorial, defensive or resistant to change. We both wrote for fifteen years before we ever collaborated and this has helped. We were accustomed to change and revision from having editors and critique groups give input to our work.

The pitfalls of collaboration can be avoided with good planning and open communication. Then the benefits can be realized: sharing the load and experiencing the joy together.

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Writing Sisters, Laurie Myers and Betsy Duffey, have been writing for children for over twenty years, publishing with Viking, Clarion, Simon & Schuster, Henry Holt and Harper Collins.  They have published over thirty-five chapter books for children and have had books on master lists in over twenty states.  Laurie and Betsy are now focused on writing Bible stories in fresh ways for the chapter book audience.

Visit them on Facebook, Twitter, their website or  their blog. 

Do You Play Well With Others?

by Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief

Remember when you were little playing with your friends?  Were you the kid who shared their toys willingly or were you the kid that didn’t want anyone to play with your toys? I will admit there were times when friends came over to play that I was willing for them to play with my toys, at first, but later during their visit, I would want the toy back and didn’t want them to play with it anymore.

The other day while watching two children sitting on the floor playing with each other, I noticed the little host was handing his toys to his friend, and both were chattering away to each other and glowing with smiles and laughter while playing with the toys and with each other. However, the child who was playing host tired of playing with the toy he had and decided he wanted his other toy, the one his friend was playing with. So of course, he reached over, grabbed it out of the kids’ hand, and told his friend it was his toy and he wanted it. The little kid went bonkers. He began crying in such a way that startled the customers; even the server dropped a cup onto the floor shattering it. Thank goodness, it was empty. Then the kid started screaming “Mine, mine, he took mine. Get it. I want it back, Mommy.”

I watched the mothers of the two kids. They both turned around, at the same time…smiled at their kids, and both said in unison, “play nice boys” and turned back to continue their conversation, which of course was so much more important and continued drinking their ‘vanilla latte and caramel ice coffee’. Naturally, the children minded the mothers–wrong. They continued to fight over it until it escalated and one of the children hit the other. You know the scene you’ve seen it too.

While watching this vignette with the four characters play out I couldn’t help but wonder why it is we humans have such a hard time sharing and helping each other sometimes. It’s as if we revert to the days of childhood, we don’t want the other person to get what we have.

If what we have is great, how can we not pass it on to others? How can we not shout from the rooftops, “Here it is, come get it?” If I know how to do something and it will help someone, I should be glad to show him or her how to do it.

When I share with someone my knowledge and my experience, I do help them, but I also help myself. I get better. The old adage practice makes perfect is very true. I become more experienced and if I keep on, eventually not only will I be a master at it, but people everywhere will know that I, me, am the master and I create a following that will carry me to new heights. Fortunately, because I learned to share my toys I won’t be alone on those heights.