So Last Night

Ann Dee and I went to dinner with a bunch of amazing women and while we were there I said, “I think our book is almost done.”

And Ann Dee said, “No it isn’t.”

And I said, “You don’t think so?”

And she said, “No, I don’t.”

And I said, “Yes it is.”

And she shook her head and the people who were listening to us looked at us like, “Are they gonna fight?”
We weren’t. ‘Cause Ann Dee would win.

 

This conversation shows you how you can work on the same project, for the same amount of time, reading the same words, and see something differently.

“It’s about family,” I said.

“It’s a mystery,” Ann Dee said.

“There’s a sorta mystery in it.”

“You keep saying it’s about fathers.”

“It is.”

(Sigh)

 

In a little bit, I’ll write the next section of our book about families. Before the book comes out, Ann Dee and I will come up with a less-than-25-word explanation of the novel. It may or may not include fathers and a mystery.

 

As you work with your partner–don’t worry.

Write with faith.

Push yourself.

Do things you would never do on your own.

Love it.

Hate it.

Just do it.

 

If anyone has written with someone this week, please feel free to talk about it here.

We wanna know if YOU know what you’re writing.

😀

Ann Dee and I Have Been

working on a  novel together. You know that. We’ve talked of it.

We’ve done a draft and a half.

I love the book and my agent feels like we can  sell it. (Where to go, where to go?)

But, there are hard things to writing together. This week, Ann Dee and I will chat back and forth about the pros and cons of writing with a partner.

I’ll start:

#1 PRO  When you find someone easy to work with (Ann Dee and I work well together. Cheri Pray Earl and I work well together. Laura Williams and I work well together. I have written with several people that I had a hard time with. Too bossy. Didn’t get back. Wanted things one way and wouldn’t listen to my ideas . . . .), you write half the words you’d normally write. And that is cool.

By the time we had finished the first draft–neither of us knowing where the book was going at first–I felt like it had been a  far easier process than writing a book on my own.

#1 CON: Finding time to write is hard enough. Put two busy schedules together and it can take a long time to get a draft. So, Ann Dee and I were pretty fast–when we wrote. However, we dealt with each of us buying a house, me moving, her remodeling a home, caring for children, teenagers, terrible news, having a beautiful baby, our callings in the LDS church, teaching schedules, normal life’s wear and tear, family matters and etc. This was tough. We’d go a week or two or longer without writing. And then we’d write four or five chapters in a day.

I know for a fact Ann Dee was worried about the novel not having enough and I was always saying, let’s keep going and just see. That might be something she can talk about.

So–here’s your challenge–for the rest of May write with someone else. You can work on a picture book, mid grade novel, YA–whatever. Maybe your partner will never have written before. Maybe you will write in very different ways. Maybe you’ll want to pull your hair out. Still, set some rules for yourself and see if you can find an idea, a writing partner and a first paragraph by the end of this week.

We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Monday, Monday

Just a moment to write today.

Ann Dee and I finished our novel.

Here’s what I hope–that it sells.

And that we do well with the book.

Because Ann Dee was so much fun to write with.

She knows so much.

She had a baby and is moving and still finished this project with me.

So I want to be able to write with her again and again.

 

Challenge:

Find someone to write with.

Someone who isn’t a control freak or doesn’t expect perfection right away or who doesn’t have to have everything his way.

Make a plan.

Meet at McDonald’s and go in the play area and take turns writing or never meet and write chapter by chapter a book you have no idea anything about.

Follow the lead of your partner.

Have her follow your lead.

Hansel and Gretal it to the end.

 

As you write, you’ll both be dropping hints that the other has to figure out.

Just like you do when you write anything on your own.

 

Have fun.

Play.

Experiment.

Try a genre you wouldn’t normally write.

Don’t stress.

Stress.

Love it.

Trust each other.

 

Let me know how it goes.