Creating characters often involves carving out a part of your mind and giving it over to a totally different personality. When successful, you create believable characters who live and breathe (because they are in fact living inside you). When you fail, well, let’s just say that it isn’t pretty.

Tandem-writing doubles the chance for failure because two minds need to grasp that character. It’s one of the most difficult skills to pick up in the crafting of fiction. That’s probably why there are so few successful collaborators…

Jamie Grove – How Not To Write´s last blog post…Help Me With My 2009 Clarion West Choices Maybe Win A Book

@ Tony – The good part about Escaping Reality is that we don’t allow players to use other players’ characters in any way. The collaboration is simply that we build a story together. Every action, thought and dialogue is completely single-player.

You should try it. I’d have fun with you.

Everyday should be playday, no?

Patrick

Very Evolved´s last blog post…Why it’s hard to change bad habits, and what you can do about it

You know the old “Lead, follow or get out of the way” ? Mine is “Do whatever you want: I’m doing THIS!”

I come by it honestly: my dad was the same way..

When you announced your collaborative writing project, I was interested but I knew I could never do it..

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@ Karen – While writing this post, I was thinking about authors and related fanfiction sites. How do they feel seeing their characters tossed around? Do they feel great because it’s a high form of praise? Do they love that their readers love their characters that much that they want to keep them going? Or do they think the opposite, that they wished it didn’t exist?

@ Robyn – When Harry and I share a character, it’s always one that we really have no personal interest in, the NPCs, as it were. “Lady in the shop” isn’t someone we created with a ton of love, so it’s easier to pass back and forth.

@ Iain – Did you each write specific scenes and then swap to edit and check, or did you go as far as full chapters?

@ Note – Hm… I find I don’t say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” but rather, “Great idea! (now how to use it…)” So you find suggestions and guidelines limit your creativity instead of helping it?

Patrick

Very Evolved´s last blog post…Why it’s hard to change bad habits, and what you can do about it

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