Collaboration, Science Fiction Style

For the past few months I have been involved in the writing of a collaborative novel. This is the first collaboration I've worked on, and for me it has proven to be a true learning experience. I've decided to share some of my experiences for those of you are thinking about becoming involved in a collaborative writing effort or are just interested in seeing how the process works.

Why This Project is Unique

The Resolution Project, the title of the collaborative effort I am working on, is a little bit different than most collaborations because it involves many different authors, each writing a piece of this story. In most cases collaborations involve two or maybe three authors.

Another key difference is the fact that this is envisioned as an entire package as opposed to merely a novel. Writing the novel is the primary goal, but the project's organizer also envisions an interactive website, a soundtrack, and eventually a movie version. This is all pretty ambitious for something still in the design stages. I am curious to see how this will turn out.

Unlike some collaborations this is not an in-person deal, but something conducted entirely via the internet and email. So far, this format seems to work well.

Staying On Track

This project has been moving along pretty slowly, and one of the major reasons is that we keep losing writers. Three people have dropped out of the project already, and two of those people were slated to write the first two chapters. This has involved some rearranging of assignments.

The other thing that keeps things from moving along at a healthy pace is that we all have other commitments such as jobs, family, and other writing projects. Balancing time, always a big issue for writers, has been a problem as we try to write this novel chapter by chapter.

Disputes Within the Group

We've all heard the phrase twos company but threes a crowd. Well, there are more than three people in the group, and at times things get a little tense and tempers flare. At least one of the members dropped out because of the criticism received from another member of the group. Other arguments have been over ideas for the novel and even rude and offensive comments that have been posted to the discussion. I have a feeling there will be many more disputes before the project is complete, and successful completion will mean working through these disputes and ironing out differences.