By Peggy Williams & Mary Joy Johnson
Ever want to kill your partner? Life partner? Business partner? Bridge
partner?
Instead of wanting to kill each other, the writing partnership M. J.
Williams regularly kills off other people--three last year, three more this
year! We are mystery writing partners.
Mary Joy brought to the relationship years of teaching writing on the
college level. She's written several long technical tomes, but this was her
first attempt at novel writing. She's also an avid reader of mysteries. Peggy's background includes freelance
writing--everything from video scriptwriting to feature articles in magazines
to online content. She reads mysteries
among other genres, but what she brings to partnership is her knowledge of
story structure as developed through screenwriting.
Most writers, when we tell them we work as a team, are astonished. They say they could never write with someone
else, and they wouldn't want to. We
admit collaborative writing is not for everyone. There are some disadvantages,
but there are advantages as well. And there are some things writing teams can
do to keep the experience from turning into a murderous affair.
Advantages of
Writing with a Partner
·
We
build on one another's strengths.
·
We
bounce ideas off one another and brainstorm together.
·
We help
one another through blocks or slumps--that is, if one of us can't think of
anything to write about a scene, the other usually can, and then the first
develops and expands on that.
·
We push each other by assigning deadlines and
holding each other accountable.
·
We share the marketing and utilize each other's
strengths. For instance Peggy enjoys
working social media outlets. Mary Joy
prefers person-to-person selling. When
something is tough or onerous, such as approaching a bookstore to take books on
consignment, we can ho and hum together and then finally go together to get the
job done.
·
When we do book/author events, we have a traveling
partner who gets what we're going through and how we are feeling (both positive
and negative).
·
When one of us is feeling insecure, either writing
the story or marketing, we can turn to the other to bolster us up.
·
We have someone to share bragging rights with,
someone to turn to when our egos have been stomped on.
Disadvantages
of Writing with a Partner
·
We have to defer to one another's vision for
the story, characters, or details; this requires constant negotiating and
compromise.
·
We have to work around another person's
personal schedule (what do you mean she's too busy quilting this week to get
her chapter done?).
·
The biggest disadvantage? We have to share the royalties!
Tips for
Successful Writing Partnerships
·
Be
humble. Sometimes that bit of prose you think was brilliant, your partner hates--and she's probably right.
·
Communicate
often, either meeting in person, on the phone, or by e-mail.
·
Outline the book thoroughly.
This will be the road map and the working agreement for the story.
However, be flexible and be willing to change the outline as need dictates.
·
Establish
deadlines for one another.
·
Revise
lots because that's where your voices blend and become one. Sit together, read the story chapter by
chapter together, and negotiate changes to story, dialogue, and details.
·
Recognized
individual strengths and utilize them. Peggy always defers to Mary Joy when it comes
to plotting a mystery; Mary Joy trusts Peggy's need for logic and sense of story
pacing. Peggy loves writing and shaping
dialogue. Mary Joy loves describing people and settings (including home
interiors!).
·
Laugh a
lot! Have fun with the experience.
Peggy Williams and Mary Joy Johnson write under the penname M. J.
Williams. Their On the Road mystery series features Emily and Stan Remington
who travel in a used RV and encounter murder and mayhem wherever they go. Their first novel, On the Road to Death's Door, takes the couple to Wisconsin's Door County, a popular vacation spot surrounded
on three sides by Lake Michigan.
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