okay but y'all I read the last chap of call me that @rmd-writes wrote and sheeeeessshhh 🔥🔥🔥 truly there is somehow so much sex in this fic and somehow also so many feelings (also this is why co-writing is awesome because you wake up and your own fic magically has more words)
Hello Lola! This your nice ask week ask! I want to know the origin story of you as a fic writer! What was it that drove you into this life? And I'd also love to know: A someone who collaborates with other writers, what is it like to develop a story and work on it with someone else? How is that organised and scheduled? Not to get too col and corporate about it, but I was to know the strategy lol
hey cig, you know there's nothing i like more than corporate catch phrases, so i couldn't help but circle back to this ask 💜
i started writing fic when i was about 14, although none of those stories exist on the internet anymore (thankfully). truthfully, i've dabbled in creative writing my entire life - i remember sitting out the front of my parents' campervan on holiday and scribbling stories as a six or seven year old - so fic writing was a natural extension of that.
as for co-writing fic - i'd encourage everyone to give it a go if you haven't already. imo it's an incredibly rewarding experience (way better than group projects at school or team building games on corporate retreats). i think the number one thing to remember is that co-writing requires more flexibility - you have to give up any timing expectations and some creative control. but if it works, if the vibe is good, you'll end up with something even better than you could have written yourself.
one of my favourite parts of the experience is bouncing ideas back and forth and getting increasingly ridiculous. seeing the original aquarium rock disaster idea come to life in the rainbow fish was one in a long line of incredibly fun moments writing with jen (@strandnreyes). similarly, the owen strand fire safety agenda in (un)professional services was something that rae (@rmd-writes) and i laughed over for DAYS and kept bringing back in as we wrote successive parts. i also count all my rosie (@dustratcentral) fics as co-writes even though she will fight me (cursed is a state of mind, the ring-in, phonography, the morning (part 2), carlos and the baby c- omg sorry, spoiler) because writing someone else's brilliant idea is a task in itself and i'm so lucky that she lets me do that from time to time 💜
i think the easiest way to do it is to each pick a pov and go from there. a structure/outline will definitely help you, which is most commonly established by dumping all of the ridiculous messages from a chat into a google doc. then it's a matter of writing, reading what the other person has written and constantly checking in to make sure that you understand where the fic is going.
to be honest, every finished co-write i've done (and some are fleeting and don't quite get off the ground and you have to be okay with that) has been very, very easy. i actually think that they're easier to write than solo fics (but that might just be me). something about the shared experience really gets me going!
if anyone else has any experience, please feel free to jump in!
thanks for the ask, cig 💜
