I've read a bit on how other writers do it, I was curious as to how FPW does it. Does one person write a bit, give the pages to the other and the other reads them and continues writing? Does one person write something and the other reads it, edits out some things and edits in others? Does one person write an outline and the other flesh it out? Do you always do the same process or is it different when you work with different people?

I've read a bit on how other writers do it, I was curious as to how FPW does it. Does one person write a bit, give the pages to the other and the other reads them and continues writing? Does one person write something and the other reads it, edits out some things and edits in others? Does one person write an outline and the other flesh it out? Do you always do the same process or is it different when you work with different people?

I suppose there are a lot of different ways for people to collaborate on a novel.

One instance I know of is where one individual comes up with an idea for a story, and the other does the actual writing.

One example is where Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith collaborated on the novel HOPE. Aaron came up with the story and Neil did the writing.

Ken V.

That's how I understand all of the novels that say "James Patterson and ..." are written. Patterson just comes up with the ideas behind the novels.

I think in the last few science fiction novels that went out as "collaborations" with Arthur C. Clarke, the only thing Clarke wrote was the release allowing the use of his name on the cover and permission to use concepts and characters he'd originally created, like HAL and RAMA.

I collaborated with Matthew Costello on MASQUE and MIRAGE, both of which are miles apart in style, theme, and content. I wrote NIGHTKILL with Steven Spruill. Matt and I were old hands at collaborating after FTL. With Steve, I was supposed to write the first and third quarters, but my schedule got in the way and I wound up writing the first and last quarters.

As for collaborating, I found it fun and stimulating. The novels started with an outline we both agreed on, and that was the fun part: each half bringing things to the table where they'd be batted around until they fit the story. But when it came to the actual writing, I kept finding myself yearning to wrest control from the other half of the team. I'd feel they were either overdoing or underdoing a scene - in other words, they weren't doing it as I

Which wasn't fair, of course. The whole point of a collaboration is a blending of styles and sensibilities in the quest for a whole that will be greater than the sum of its parts.

That rarely happens, as the King / Straub collaborations prove.

In all 3 cases I insisted on doing the final polish. I confess to being a control freak in the writing game.

I collaborated with Matthew Costello on MASQUE and MIRAGE, both of which are miles apart in style, theme, and content. I wrote NIGHTKILL with Steven Spruill. Matt and I were old hands at collaborating after FTL. With Steve, I was supposed to write the first and third quarters, but my schedule got in the way and I wound up writing the first and last quarters.

As for collaborating, I found it fun and stimulating. The novels started with an outline we both agreed on, and that was the fun part: each half bringing things to the table where they'd be batted around until they fit the story. But when it came to the actual writing, I kept finding myself yearning to wrest control from the other half of the team. I'd feel they were either overdoing or underdoing a scene - in other words, they weren't doing it as I

Which wasn't fair, of course. The whole point of a collaboration is a blending of styles and sensibilities in the quest for a whole that will be greater than the sum of its parts.

That rarely happens, as the King / Straub collaborations prove.

In all 3 cases I insisted on doing the final polish. I confess to being a control freak in the writing game.

I could have sworn you had four collabotations? Let me see...what WAS that fourth one? Hmm....... Oh yeah! it was "Artifact". Now, why would you have forgotten that one?

I could have sworn you had four collabotations? Let me see...what WAS that fourth one? Hmm....... Oh yeah! it was "Artifact". Now, why would you have forgotten that one?

I had NO control over that one. Must have repressed the memory.

I could have sworn you had four collabotations? Let me see...what WAS that fourth one? Hmm....... Oh yeah! it was "Artifact". Now, why would you have forgotten that one?

Traumatic Amnesia?

In all 3 cases I insisted on doing the final polish. I confess to being a control freak in the writing game.

Control freak or perfectionist?

Considering the research you do, I'd say perfectionist would be more accurate.

And if you had had control of the final polish of ARTIFACT, I doubt that the boat would "rear up like Trigger in a Lone Ranger movie."

Ken V.

I've read a bit on how other writers do it, I was curious as to how FPW does it. Does one person write a bit, give the pages to the other and the other reads them and continues writing? Does one person write something and the other reads it, edits out some things and edits in others? Does one person write an outline and the other flesh it out? Do you always do the same process or is it different when you work with different people?

Well, I've been involved in many scientific papers with many authors, and have not published anything as the sole author. If it's a short paper, one person will write it and the others will tear it to shreds. If it's a long paper, each section may be written by a different person, then the other authors will tear it to shreds.

I remember one paper that was to be submitted to Physical Review Letters, considered to be the world's most prestigious physics journal, which has a strict length limit. Two very smart guys argued for a month over a comma and the word "or". Should it be "comma or" just "comma", just "or" or neither. Eventually, they cornered me for an opinion. I said, "guys, it's not the comma or the or. You just have different opinions about what the conclusion should be. why not each write a paragraph with your own interpertation." They looked at me as if I had two heads (at the time I was working at a reactor, so maybe I did) and together said "but, Ron, then it will bo too big for Physical Review Letters!"