One of the best things about writing a book is that you are your own boss. You sit in a room–or a coffee shop, or outside on a patio, or wherever–and come up with the words and sentences that help others reconstruct the ideas that are festering in your mind. It’s a challenge, but it’s your own personal challenge.
But the bad part of that is the job can be a very lonely one. Some people relish working alone, and there are times when I enjoy it, when I savor ruminating on my own ideas and crafting something out of nothing while nobody watches me. But I am at nature a social creature, and eventually I need some interaction with those beings called humans. That’s the advantage of collaboration.
I’ve had the benefit of two collaborative buddies. The first, Celeste Perrino, is another author that I have known for many years. Back when I was a magazine editor, she wrote for two different magazines I worked on, and later I edited some books she wrote. At the time, I thought, it might be interesting to co-author something with her someday.
A couple of decades later, we got the chance. We started a series entitled the Foundation Series, about a group of people working for a Foundation that collected Biblical artifacts, and in the process got into mischief. Celeste wrote from her home in Vermont, and I wrote from mine in Texas. We mainly communicated via email but talked on the phone several times during the book-writing process. We plotted out the book by chapters, then by scenes, with each of us responsible for certain scenes that featured certain characters.
The system worked for us, but that didn’t mean there weren’t hiccups. She and I didn’t always see eye to eye. I write quickly and dirty, with the intention of coming back and fixing things later. She was more deliberate and a more detail-focused person. But just the fact that we had mutual respect for each other’s writing ability made it all work. We’ve written two books that way, and I am currently working on the fourth book in the series.
Another type of collaboration is what I am doing with my son, Matthew Robinson. He’s a filmmaker, and we are making short films with the help of AI. We just finished the third one this year, basing them on short stories I have written. The first thing we have to do is adapt the short story into a script, which I am able to do, since I am teaching a scriptwriting class each spring. Then we need to agree on what story is appropriate to proceed with. Not all stories are good for making into a film, and not all stories are good for AI-assisted filmmaking. My job–after the initial story and script–is to act as producer and a second pair of eyes. I make suggestions on character development, musical score, setting, and things like that. I leave the technical stuff to my son. It works well, and he and I enjoy it. It’s especially rewarding to see something that was just words become visual.
Collaboration isn’t for everyone, but it does have it’s rewards. You might try it.
The Great Adventure 