FIRST LIVE SUNDAY 29TH DECEMBER 2024

Theme: Co-writing

Key points: 

1. benefits

2. challenges

3. finding the right co-writer

4. co-writing across mediums

5. publishing and marketing

First, OUR JOURNEY:

MILA: First of all, I'd like for us to talk about our own personal journey with co-writing, before we delve into other more specific themes like its benefits, challenges, and so on.

As for me, it all started with poetry games. I used to join these online games with other poets and writers where we’d take turns completing verses. There was something magical about watching a single poem evolve through different voices, each line carrying a unique imprint yet blending seamlessly into the whole. It sparked an idea in me—what if writing together could go beyond poetry?

ELIZA: For me, my love for writing was born from stories. There's something magical about how stories can bridge gaps between people, connecting hearts and minds across time and space. When I met Camila, we firstly started to bond heavily over our ideas with each other,  writing experiences, poetry, anime, but we always craved something more, something that could unify our ideas together completely. 

MILA: That thought lingered until one day, I stumbled upon an Instagram filter featuring characters from Demon Slayer. Each randomized face sparked a storyline in my head, and I couldn’t help but create an entire backstory for the characters that appeared. When I shared this with  Eliza, she was hooked immediately. and she said,  “You should write a story about this,” she said. I replied, “Why don’t we write it together?”

ELIZA: From that moment, our journey as co-writers began. We created a Wattpad account and dove headfirst into outlining our story. The brainstorming sessions were electrifying, each chapter taking shape as we bounced ideas back and forth.

MILA: When it came to writing, we found a rhythm. I’d often start the chapters, writing until I hit a block. That’s when I’d reach out to Eliza, whose wild imagination always brought something unexpected and brilliant. She’d write without hesitation, pouring out ideas with raw energy, grammar and coherence be damned. Then, I’d step in to fine-tune—polishing her chaos into something that flowed, adding my touch, and continuing the narrative.

ELIZA: Sometimes I couldn’t write on some days with our weekly posting schedule, and camila would have to finish a chapter, so in the days i had a few extra minutes to crunch in a few texts I’d help send ideas that could make camila go running with them, and her of course being more logical than me was able to make my mess make sense.

MILA: Other times, Eliza would kick off a chapter with an outlandish premise that had me laughing as I tried to follow her lead. Her creativity pushed me to step outside my comfort zone, and I loved every minute of it. While I tended to play it “safe” with more structured ideas, I could surprise us both with moments of spontaneity—dropping a wild piece of dialogue or plot twist that Eliza eagerly ran with.

We complemented each other perfectly: my structured approach balanced her unfiltered creativity, and together, we built something neither of us could have created alone. Communication was our cornerstone. Whether it was through Instagram chats or comments in our shared Google Docs, we always listened to each other’s thoughts, refining and enhancing our work together.

I think that's what makes us write so well together. I am more of a risk taker especially in action packed writing, i love to think outside of the box and make the reader see something they have never seen before-even if it really is bizarre. However, sometimes I get too excited in the manner and I need some help making my ideas more fleshed out and coherent.

One of my favorite contributions was the idea of ending each chapter with a funny, unexpected image inspired by the events. Eliza loved it, and it became a quirky signature for our story.

ELIZA: Applause for your comedic graphic design skills, meanwhile I am a bit more serious when it comes to graphic designing things such as our book cover for the story, and after that I uploaded it to wattpad where any of you can read now. And if you want to see the cover let us know! We can send you the link later on :) 

MILA: Moving on,  we loved writing together so much and with the realisation that we had similar ideas and ambitions, we wanted to keep working together. Then Eliza popped the question: “What if we write a blog?” And I immediately, undoubtedly said yes, a hundred times yes. Then we started to FaceTime more and more in which we would start plotting what to do, throwing ideas around until we were pretty much decided on what to do. We first picked a name that vibed with us and what we wanted to share with others; then the both of us started creating possible logos, until together we came up with the perfect one. Then started the months full of work on creating a Wix page good enough for our standards that were as high as Cassian’s ego and wingspan. 

ELIZA: We spent days and nights coming up with everything and how those things should go. We prepared everything we could, until the very minor detail. For months we worked on that page, adding and adding new ideas that came along the way, until one day we realised we were ready. Ready as we could be. Together we created an Instagram page for it and shared the link to our creation, which is in our profile which we suggest looking at and also visit our website and see everything we have got there for you guys. 

MILA: Co-writing with Eliza has been a wild, hilarious, and rewarding adventure. It’s shown me the beauty of collaboration, the joy of merging voices, and the magic of creating something truly unique together. If you’ve ever thought about co-writing, I can’t recommend it enough—it’s a journey worth taking.

ELIZA: And I’d say co-writing with someone isn’t just co-writing. It’s an exchange of the souls, two arts intertwining into one in whatever fashion it occurs. For us it happened to be a fanfiction, which then blossomed into this blog, and who knows where it will take us in the future 

1. Benefits of Co-Writing

MILA: The first three that came in mind for me were: 

1. Diverse Perspectives: Discuss how combining unique styles and experiences can create richer narratives or content: 

MILA: Each person, each human being or even animals have their own perspective on things. And for writers this is a truth even more true, because what is writing and stories if not perspectives of the author? Each writer has its own unique styles, methods, goals and experiences that impact their writing. 

That being said, merging or combining all of those things with another writer can make for a much better experience and create a richer narrative or content. 

Like, imagine having a great idea but don’t know how to get it on paper. And then comes a person that can not only do that for you, but share their own experience and tactics so you can do it yourselves. Or think about those many times you got stuck on a scene and days or weeks passed and you would just stare at the words without knowing what to write next; making you have a crisis of “omg did I lose the ability to write!” Or maybe just having the desire to create something not alone. Well, in those scenarios and many more, having a co-writer is very recommendable. They can take your ideas and make them a reality for you to carry on writing together once it's already on paper, all while giving you advice from their own personal experience and learnings. So one thing is that you can share experiences and knowledge, which is a tremendously important thing in writing, because, like some famous authors have implied, the more you know the better writer you are; i would like to change it and say not better but the easier you can do your job.

Like I said before, they can get you out of the infamous writer's block by just carrying on with the scene until they arrive to a point where you can continue on writing with no problem. And you can do the same from them. I know Eliza did a lot with me. 

And we all know how lonely of a process is writing a novella, poem or a whole book. So imagine doing that with someone that is your friend or someone you found that understands you, that shares their tips, what they have learned and saves you from hard situations that alone would take you weeks to get over it. 

Also, by sharing all of those things and more, your conjoint creation is, naturally, richer in content and narrative. 

ELIZA: On the topic of different perspectives: I think writing together has really opened my eyes culturally, and even on a personal level. The conversations you have with co-writers, completely open your eyes to brand new things you’ve never heard of. 

I know me and Camila's main perspectives when it came to each other were the culture shocks, me being in America, and her in latin america, we grew up on two opposite worlds. Even with our upbringing alone, it brings a lot of variation when it comes to incorporating our experiences in our writing. Additionally, “Languages”. I’d constantly learn new words around her because her native language is Spanish and sometimes when she couldn’t think of the word in English she’d say it in Spanish and then I would learn a completely new word. Even writing, Camila once explained to me how in different languages you obviously have different expressions and sometimes they don’t always make sense in English or they do but they are just unusual to the average English speaker’s eye. These are some of the aspects that I have identified that help diversify and enrich stories even more. 

2. Secondly, which is a thing I really appreciated was the Shared Workload: Explore how co-writing can reduce pressure by dividing tasks like brainstorming, drafting, and editing: 

MILA: I’m not gonna lie, writing is a workload. You have to come up with ideas, brainstorming, join them together to form a decent plot, outline the characters and plot, do the necessary investigation, drafting, begin writing, sometimes even outline the plot of each chapter, and then the whole editing process. 

I am gonna say this short and simple: all that divided by two seems better than all for one. Like a great person said: One for all and not All for one. (If you guessed it was demon slayer I love you, let’s be friends). 

ELIZA: For us anyway, I was a full time student and working part time not to mention the time zone differences we’d have to make it work a lot of the time, and sometimes on days that I couldn't write camila would write more than i do that do but i made up for it in my ideas, a lot of the time she would get stuck and id come up with some wacky idea while i was at work and it would help her get unstuck. 

3. Thirdly, it is an Learning Opportunity: Highlight how writers can learn new techniques and gain insights from each other: 

MILA: This third one is kinda what I already said in the first point. By sharing your experiences and knowledge, you can share different techniques that could work best for your partner and you, or even for them alone, which can make them a better writer. You gain insights from each other that you wouldn’t get alone. 

ELIZA: For both me and Camila, we both are aimed at working in the publishing industry, or becoming published writers, those are our personal goals. However we both have different levels of knowledge on those aspects of our job market. For example Camila has written a few drafts already, and even started to query some agents. However, I had done some more research on the market in general as far as the specifics on how agents work in the usa because it was a job field that I was potentially interested in, but I am still writing my novel as we speak. Point being that we both are in different stages of our career, but these experiences can help each other learn and grow when advancing in our careers and in our writing. 

I know everyone has their own writing process, I know for me and camila it looks a tad bit different. For me anyway, I write somewhat chaotically then I go back later and fix the mistakes because doing it right there and then kind of messes me up in the process of my creativity. I think that grammar for me is almost like a prison for my creativity, so I try to just write write write and then edit edit edit much later so I can beautify things right there and then. However, camila’s way of writing is completely different, she is more of a perfectionist than me, part of the reason why we complement each other so well, she writes her first draft almost free from errors, which i think is almost extremely productive because it saves so much time and saves so many edits.

But in the end, it’s all about even if you are the opposite way you write with each other it ultimately will blend together, opposites to compliment each other well which i think is very important. 

Moving along, like everything in life, just as there are benefits, there are challenges.

2. Challenges of Co-Writing

MILA:I think every job or activity that you have to do along with another person or people has its challenges and difficulties. In co-writing I believe that the three biggest ones are: 

1. Creative Differences: Address conflicts that can arise when visions don’t align and provide strategies to navigate them. 

MILA: You are literally working with another person, and not any work, writing, which involves your own creativity, ideas and methods. And to share them with another person who has their own, and make them combine perfectly is a hard task. Some people can’t do it, and that is why co-writing isn’t for everyone, or anyone, because it can seem impossible at first but doable the next time if you find the perfect partner, which is a thing we’ll navigate next. 

Like so, conflicts can arise. Conflicts on the way to approach a situation, on what to write, how the plot is going to develop, how to write a scene, what narrative to use, how to make the dialogue, how to combine your ideas, and many more. This may happen when the co-writers visions don’t align, and that can happen in your journey. But don’t get discouraged, those problems are fixable with some strategies. 

ELIZA: 

-Writing with different voices: 

I know in the process of first starting to write together, me and camila were still learning things about each other, reading each other’s works. We went back in forth with many manuscripts, i was a beta reader for her book back in the summer time and she read some of my short stories here and there, and i think that reading her book really opened my eyes up to a whole new other writing style that i wanted to try. I have only been writing seriously since the pandemic times, so i really have only matured my writing voice in the past two years or so. They say you have to write at least two bad manuscripts before you actually start to get some where haha. But anyway I had always written very sloppliy in first person. Seeing how she wrote, in third person made my eyes open and realize it wasn’t that scary i just ahd to try it out and the more i tried it out i learned to lov eit more in more. Occasionally when we started to write together camila would start to mix third person into our first person writing fanfiction so then i had to tell her to go back and fix it, but also adjusting to writing in third person was huge for me. so i heavily encourage you to go and read other people’s work because it really opens up your eyes. 

talk about how I used to write in first person while Camila wrote in third person, talk about how sometimes we would mix them up but ultimately it taught us both how to write outside of our comfortable point of views. 

2. Division of Labor: Discuss how to ensure fairness and clarity in assigning responsibilities.

ELIZA:

-in cowriting sometimes one person can write more than the other, and may feel like they are doing everything, but to combat this it is important to ensure clear and defined roles, make sure you are delegating appropriate tasks so one person isn’t overwhelmed or overwhelmed. saying things like, “hey work on chapter 2 while i work on chapter 4 and then we can cross paths and read them over” 

-make a time table, especially if your co-writer is working or in school, or even in another time zone. Sorting timing out for you guys to talk and meet and discuss creative ideas are imperative. 

3. Maintaining Consistency: Share tips for keeping tone, style, and voice unified.

ELIZA: 

-being consistent with the tone and way the story flows-before you even write the story make sure you are discussing what point of view you want the story in so that the way the story is told is consistent. As far as style you need to discuss that too, identify the project you are working on, is it more comedic? just for fun? then you may have may short simple writing that has more emphasis on the plot. Are you publishing a book to a publisher? it may be more flowery writing, or poetic so to speak, discussing things up front in these initial meetings is crucial so your project gets off the ground smoothly. 

-i would also say having a dignified editor in the process helps maintain consistency as well. For example, Camila grew up learning British English meanwhile, I am American english. and while there is not a huge difference, in grammar there would be little lines on my laptop on British spelled words because I am in america. Establishing these things up front so that the grammar is consistent is very important. I also just cannot spell for the life of me-so having an extra hand really helps. 

-for consistency in the plot, you need to keep everything, never ever delete your story material, keeping it all in one place is super important so that you know where to find everything. I know for us, the way we wrote our fanfiction we would do it through instagram videos that would disappear, and knowing this we had to frantically write down the entire plot we were making with filters, and once we did this so it didn’t get lost in our dms we made a separate group chat specifically for our novel plot and ideas. But of course it doesn’t have to be as informal as an instagram group chat, it can be a google doc, or shared work document it is all up to your preference. 

MILA: Another key aspect that we have to talk about is finding the right co-writer. 

2. Finding the right Co-writer

   1. Compatibility: Talk about the importance of shared goals, work ethic, and communication styles.

ELIZA:

-WORK ETHIC: One of the biggest factors I would say is very important when working with someone is the same shared work ethic, same goals, same willingness to write. This was rocky a little bit in the beginning for me and Camila. I would start off strong but the moment I would get caught up with school or my job then I would sometimes slack off on whatever project we were working on and Camila would take over. We eventually had to talk this out, Camila obviously couldn’t do everything that wasn’t fair to her. But I also had other commitments so what did we do to solve it? We talked it out, made schedules, and asserted that night times were better times for us to work because I was free from my regular responsibilities. and this fixed most of our issues. In the end both me and her have a very similar work ethic and that is what drove us to create so many stories together. 

- COMMUNICATION STYLES: both me and cam pretty much communicate best over facetime, face to face as much as we can to talk things out organically has been the best and authentic way of keeping track of things. just for us personally 

• Platforms for Collaboration: Suggest places to meet potential co-writers, such as writing groups or online forums.

ELIZA: for online forums, back in 2020 i started on the NaNoWriMo forums, it’s a place where writers talk about publishing, or their own day to day writing problems. It was so long ago I barely remember much of it. However, nanowrimo stands for national novel writing month, and it's a great resource to make writer friends if you don’t have any, or just to track your word count with the challenge {talk about what nanowrimo is.

Then there is also the typical social media, instagram, you can join writer groups, normally when you join one you can be added to a bunch of random other ones and that’s where i found camila and thank the lord because this gal is amazing!!!! 

I also know there are facebook writing groups but I am not that familiar with them. Following discord, but I don’t use it anymore. 

MILA; What about co-writing across mediums?

4. Co-Writing Across Mediums

- Fiction and Nonfiction: Explore how co-writing techniques differ depending on the genre.

MILA: Eliza and I only have co-written in fiction, so we cannot tell you how it would go in nonfiction, but if you guys like this theme, we can do a part two where we could invite some authors we know that have been co-writing for a lot of time and in nonfiction. 

- Screenwriting, Songs, or Poetry: Expand into how collaborative writing works in other formats.

ELIZA: Both me and Camila kind of started our writing poetry, or at least the way we would exchange our writings was through poetry, we would share our poems to each other over text, discuss them, and their deep things and what we thought they meant to us. 

From there we bridged out from just poetry to writing fanfiction which is a really big jump, but ultimately it was a shared passion of demon slayer that drove us. And we ended up loving writing together so much, we started building a blog. From so many late night face times of me writing or her writing, and then us drawing we thought, why don’t we just combine those two art forms together? It all starts with an authentic idea and a shared passion. 

MILA: Lastly, before we read the comments, what about the publishing bit? How do you jointly query agents, submit manuscripts or self publish? In here we will talk about all that while also sharing tips for marketing and managing social media as a writing team. 

5. Publishing and Marketing

MILA: In co-writing, submitting your work to agents, publishers, or self-publishing requires clear agreements and teamwork. Here’s how you can handle each step:

1. Querying Agents Together

MILA:

• Unified Query Letter: Write a joint query letter that clearly introduces both co-authors, their backgrounds, and the unique strengths each brought to the project.

• Single Contact Point: Designate one person as the primary contact for communication with agents. This avoids confusion and streamlines responses. This means typically use ONE email, perhaps both of you can share that email, and it has both of your names, that also helps in creating a sense of a body of one communication but you both see where you are going. 

• Clarify Roles in the Query: Mention in your query how you worked together on the project (e.g., who handled plotting, editing, etc.). Make sure to be specific~

• Legal Agreement: Before querying, agree on how rights, royalties, and responsibilities will be split. Consider drafting a collaboration agreement. 

2. Submitting Manuscripts to Publishers-You need an agent to submit to publishers but for small presses-

ELIZA:

• Publisher Guidelines: Ensure the manuscript follows submission guidelines, particularly if they have preferences for co-written works. We recommend looking at their site THOURGHLY, maybe even email the staff some questions if you have questions about formatting. 

Submission Cover Email: The email should acknowledge the co-writing team, briefly explain how the collaboration worked, and confirm adherence to the publisher’s guidelines.

• Authorship Credit: Indicate both names on the manuscript title page. For example, “By [Name 1] and [Name 2].”

• Unified Presentation: Maintain a consistent voice when writing submission materials like synopses or bios. Such as a formal third person perspective, and use less of the informal language. 

3. Self-Publishing Together

MILA:

• Choosing a Platform: Select a platform that supports co-authors (e.g., Amazon KDP, Smashwords).

• Revenue Split: Agree on how to divide royalties. Many platforms require linking accounts or designating one author to receive payments to be redistributed later.

Revenue Split Example:

Platforms like Amazon KDP do not automatically divide royalties. Co-authors can:

• Use third-party tools like Draft2Digital to set up direct royalty splits.

• Designate one author to receive all payments, with a written agreement to divide royalties outside the platform.

• Shared Responsibilities:

  • One author can handle technical aspects like formatting and uploading.

  • The other can focus on marketing and promotional strategies.

• Credits: On the book cover, title page, and metadata, list both authors clearly.

Cover and Publishing Details:

• Add both names on the book’s cover and metadata (e.g., “By [Author 1] and [Author 2]”).

• Collaborate on promotional activities, ensuring a unified voice across social media and platforms.

• Marketing Together: 

ELIZA:

There are a variety of ways to create a marketing plan, and it will vary differently depending on the book, genre, and co-writing styles. 

However these are some general things to look for:

1. FIND A TARGET AUDIENCE:

Collaborate on Audience Research: Both authors should work together to define the target readers. Are you aiming for a specific niche, age group, or genre? Knowing this helps you tailor your marketing efforts.  For example if you are co writing  a book on a specific type of disease like, cystic fibrosis and the synopsis is generally to raise potential alternative treatment options, then your specific audience will not be a random guy on the street, it will be patients seeking out help for alternative treatments that are not as normally accessible. Knowing this niche of an audience, what can you do? follow social media accounts that sponsor those organizations, keep up to date with the news for breakthroughs in these subject areas. Attend conferences, if your target audience is patients, or health care, maybe there is a healthcare convention awareness group you can attend. There are many avenues in finding your target audience but the sooner you find out what it is the better. 

2. Shared Values and Interests: Consider the combined audience you both bring. How can you engage them together?

3. Create a Joint Author Brand:

4. Consistent Author Image: Develop a shared brand that reflects both authors. This includes creating a joint logo, author bios, and consistent social media profiles.

5. Co-Author Website: Build a professional website dedicated to the book, including individual pages for both authors, information about the collaboration, and details of the book’s themes and impact.

6. Co-Branding Across Platforms: Ensure that both authors promote the book under the same brand across social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn).

Start Building Your Email List Early-on your website etc

4. Collaborative Content Creation:

5. Behind-the-Scenes Content: Show your followers how the book was created. This could be joint interviews, blog posts, or even video diaries that share the process of writing together.

6. Guest Posts/Podcasts/Interviews: Both authors should participate in joint interviews, podcasts, or guest blog posts to reach diverse audiences.

These are just some of the beginning ways to create a marketing plan, but of course there are many more extensive factors to keep into play but these are just a few. 

4. Final General Tips for Collaboration

MILA:

• Document Everything: Keep track of agreements in writing, even if informally, to avoid disputes. Especially your precious keepsake ideas! They can so easily get lost in the stream of texts, i know the excitement in writing our fanfiction camila and i always had to go back and write down what we were saying, or late facetime calls go back and write down exactly what we were talking about, just so we could remember it the next day, or a week later. so that is very very important! 

• Clear Communication: Use tools like shared calendars and project management apps to track deadlines and responsibilities. Or if you are a bit more chaotic like us-facetime calls-or just make a group chat for important things to remember LOL 

• Seek Legal Advice: For long-term or high-stakes projects, consult a literary attorney to ensure all agreements are fair and enforceable. (yes yes big law big boy tips we highly recommend.)

MILA: That would conclude what we have to say about co-writing, for this Live. Now we can focus on what you guys have commented in the comment section to see if we can answer your questions.