Author Collaboration: The Lone Wolf Joins The Pack

When I was asked to join the Realm Raiders project, the serialised web novel where nine authors write two chapters each of a fantasy novel (Dickens format, Tolkien genre), I couldn’t say no but immediately, like Banquo at the feast, the ghosts of my neuroses came floating up to disturb my main course: what if they don’t like my ideas? What if I have to compromise my style? What if we can’t agree? And so on and so forth.

In the event, it has proved to be immensely satisfying creatively and collaboratively, and reminded me of three of the biggest benefits in creative collaboration, at least in writing. 

First, creating a plot by bouncing ideas off a group of other authors, when done right and with the best of intentions, can be immensely rewarding and fascinating to see how the plot evolves. True collaboration is not rejecting ideas and replacing them but absorbing into the whole, like a well-intentioned Blob from the B movie, and sanding off the edges that don’t fit.

Second, mixing with others’ writing styles is a wonderful reminder of how something can be cohesive while varied. In the Realm Raiders project there are mixed tones of comedy, grimdark, romance, action and more, coexisting with shared characters yet not feeling fragmented. It’s a tricky thing to pull of, like walking a tightrope while being tickled, but shows that great work can come from tonal variety.

Third, the art of imitation in writing is underrated. The first chapter I wrote in the Realm Raiders project had already been half written by another author who had to pull out; a brilliant writer with a style not dissimilar to mine. I decided to mimic their style for the rest of the chapter and build on their work rather than starting for scratch, and it was more fun than a gold Easter egg hunt, reminding me that for all that we worship originality as writers, sometimes equal pleasure can be found in imitation. 

Of course, there are dangers with writing collaboration. Working with inflexible people who’ve already decided their approach before you start planning is like trying to eat bolognaise with a whisk; it gets messy and you end up cleaning parmesan off the floor. One of those at least. Inattention to detail can also lead to messy convoluted writing that doesn’t stick together. You need people who are good at listening and good at picking out the threads of narrative, like a detective surrounded by post-it notes who swears these killings are connected. Not all writers have these skills Luckily, I avoided these pitfalls; all the writers on the Realm Raiders project have been brilliant, supernaturally so. But perhaps I’ll encounter these challenges in the future. But for now my fear of collaboration has gone the way of my fear of spiders (watch jumping spider videos, it helps, honestly) and now I’ll go into future collaborative projects expecting the best and not fearing the worst.

Article by Ed Crocker