Planning is key

As you can imagine, co-writing a book can get pretty disorganized if you don’t spend some time planning first. You’re likely used to just being able to write on your own schedule when inspiration strikes, but now you’re sharing the writing with someone else. It’s crucial, before you even begin this endeavor, to thoroughly lay out what you both envision for the book’s characters, direction, and plot. That way you can hash out the details right away and then, once they’re agreed upon, you can divvy up the writing in whatever way best suits you both.

Let go of ego

Similarly to your editor, you have to go into co-writing with the expectation that your partner isn’t going to think everything you write is 100% perfect (and vice versa). It’s not easy to take criticism about something so personal to us, but take a step back and try to remember that your partner is just trying to help the book realize its full potential. And part of the beauty of writing with a co-writer is it gives you the ability to learn new styles and improve your own craft as well.

Pick your battles

Going along with our previous point, when those points of criticism or contention come up (and we guarantee they will), it’s extremely important that you choose your battles wisely. The process will be less creatively enjoyable for both you and your partner if you’re arguing with them on every little thing they’d like to change (or again vice versa). If they ask you to edit or rewrite a part that you know truly isn’t crucial to the overall message or character arc of the story, give in or make a compromise. You can absolutely stick up for parts you feel are  essential, but don’t bog down the writing process by putting up a fight over every little thing.

Communication & Collaboration

The process of co-writing works best when you have clear communication throughout the process. The easiest way to ensure that you’re both on the same page (literally) is by conducting your writing through a program like Google docs. This allows you to both share one document for the writing so that you can each work on the book as needed without having to wait for the other to email you the latest draft. In addition, as we stated earlier, it’s important to establish how you’d like to collaborate on the writing. Some co-writers will each write separate versions of each chapter and come together to pick out the pieces they like from each one. Others will write on and off section by section, picking up where the other left off and simply trying to use the same voice. Find out what works best for you and your co-writer and go for it!

Hold each other accountable

One of the greatest benefits of co-writing with someone is that you’re able to hold one another accountable. When you’re writing a book on your own, it’s easy to let yourself get overwhelmed and slip away from the project for weeks or even months at a time. It’s harder to do this when you’re co-writing a book because you don’t want to let your partner down. This pushes you to stay consistent with your writing and, if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed with the project, you can have a brainstorming session to get the creative juices flowing again. When you’re in the planning stage of the project, make sure you set realistic scheduling goals that work well for each of your schedules. This will alleviate late deadline frustrations that you could be facing as the project continues. The last thing you want is for your co-writer to feel more like a publisher than a partner, right?

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STEP ONE: GET THE WORD OUT

The first step to successfully starting a Writers’ Group is to send out the bat signal to some fellow writers. Community websites like meetup.com or NextDoor are great ways to find local writers who may be interested in joining your group. Also, more obviously, check with any of your friends who are interested in writing. They may know people who would also want to join a potential group in the area. In addition, if you went to college for writing, don’t be afraid to reach back out to some of your old classmates. It may feel like a long shot, but they may be just as starved of a way to consistently practice their craft as you. Prior to reaching out to people, however, make sure you have a clear mission statement or goal for the group– whether it be focusing on a specific genre or improving a specific part of the writing craft. This way, potential group members will know what they’re getting into right away and whether the group is the right fit for them.

STEP TWO: ESTABLISH A LINE OF COMMUNICATION AND MAKE A SCHEDULE

Once you’ve collected a list of people who are interested, you’ll need to create a clear line of communication for the group. Whether that’s by starting a group text or creating a private Facebook group, you’ll need an easy way for everyone to talk to each other, share ideas, schedules, etc. Once you’ve created this and everyone is on the same page, it would probably be smart to gauge their level of availability for the group. For example, if you’re trying to host a group to write short fiction, ask your group how often they’d be able to write a new piece. In addition, ask what their availability would be for meetings. Depending on their responses and how you’re planning to structure your workshop, you will be able to determine how often it would be prudent for the group to meet.

STEP THREE: ESTABLISH A MEETING FORMAT

There are a few different ways you could format a workshop group. The first would be to have everyone bring a piece of writing to each meeting (whether that be a short story, chapter of a book, etc). If you want the group to encompass multiple genres, the type of writing doesn’t need to be specified, but you should put a limit on the relative length of the piece so the critiques don’t take up too much time. For a group working in 1-2 hour increments, pieces should be roughly between 20-30 pages. Have the group break into smaller groups of two or three, passing their work to the person next to them. Give the group a period of 30 minutes to read each other’s work and make notes. Then have them pass the work back to the person who wrote it and give them any critiques or notes they had.

Another possible format would be for the whole group to focus on 1-2 pieces per night. In this format, you’ll have 1-2 of the writers send their pieces to the members of the group a week in advance of the group meeting. The members are expected to prepare a few paragraphs of notes and critiques to present, giving the group more of a round table discussion format for 1-2 hours. We recommend, at least for the beginning, starting with this format simply because when you start a writing group you have no idea what each person’s critiquing style will be. This way, rather than relying on one person to give each writer an unbiased critique, they get the opinions of the whole group. However, with this format, you’ll likely want to meet every 2 weeks instead of once a month; otherwise, it will take a while to get to each person’s work depending on how many members you have.

STEP FOUR: USE FRAMED CRITIQUES

Regardless of which format you choose, there’s one thing that’s absolutely crucial: frame your critiques. What really sets Writing Groups apart from something like a book club is that the author isn’t some famous person who will never hear your opinions…they’re a human being sitting right there in front of you. And, as a writer, you know how personal the art is and how easy it is to be sensitive about your work. Therefore, the best way to critique is to frame each criticism with a positive comment at the beginning and the end. For example, “I loved the characters in this piece, they were really unique and made me laugh a lot. I thought the piece got a bit confusing toward the end, but I liked the narrator as well.” That’s obviously a shortened version of what you’ll be doing. You can get more in-depth into the criticism side of things, just make sure you’re framing it with positive statements. In addition, when you’re voicing a criticism, make sure you’re using ‘I’ statements. For example, saying, “I thought the middle section could be shortened,” instead of, “The middle section should be shortened.” Remember, you’re not the ultimate authority on what each piece should look like so the writer should know that your statements are solely based on your educated opinion– which they can take or leave.

STEP FIVE: MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS HEARD AND STAY ORGANIZED

Similar to Book Clubs, one of the most important aspects of the group is to make sure each and every member is heard. In order to do this, it helps to designate a host for each session. This could be you each time because you are the founder of the group or you could rotate. Either way, make sure the host is asking questions to get the group talking and calling on any members who haven’t made their opinions heard.

As the founder of the group, you’ll likely be the one in charge of staying organized and keeping everyone on task. For example, if you decide to go with the group discussion format, you’ll want to make a clear schedule in terms of a) when each person has a piece due, b) when each person’s piece will be discussed, and c) when each person will be hosting the group discussion. This way each person will know when to bring their critiques for specific pieces, when to prepare discussion questions, and when their own work is due.

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