Spontaneous Collaboration

Flying by the Seat of Our Bananas

A tale of two “pantsers” — with no map, no plot, and precious little discussion between them.

What happens when two (or more!) writers spontaneously collaborate — with no outline, no “back-channel” discussion, no idea where they’re going or what they’re doing, beyond tossing story bits at each other in public?

This.

Up until this morning, the only “behind the scenes” collaboration Charles Roast and I had going consisted of, “Ball’s in your court!” and “Back atcha!” and “Your turn.”

If we’re to keep this going (and that’s the plan, for loose definitions of a “plan”), then we needed to address a few minor “continuity” issues. Thank goodness for Slack.

Then again, spontaneous collaborations eventually run their course — stories naturally find their end — and someone has to have the last word or die trying.

Plotter/Planners vs. Pantsers

You can divide writers into two camps: Plotter/Planners and “Pantsers.”

Plotter/Planners (or what we “Pantsers” sometimes, uncharitably, call “Plodders”) are those infuriating people who love a good outline. Give them a six-week deadline, and they will immediately go to work creating and enhancing outlines, character sheets, research notes, and an orderly sequence of first, second, and third drafts — probably with revision notes on index cards.

“Pantsers,” so called because they like to “write by the seat of their pants” get itchy at the thought of an outline. It reminds them of middle school. Their imaginations are not linear, and they derive pleasure from discovering the stories they write as if they were readers — reading them for the first time. “Pantsers” are easily bored, and often aim for novels but end up with snappy short stories, because they were ready to move on and decided to wrap up the current work in progress, stick a bow on it, and call it “done.”

I wonder if there have ever been any successful collaborations between the two types? On the one hand, the “Pantsers” can undoubtedly benefit from the structure and organization that the Plotter/Planners bring to the table. The Plotter/Planners can benefit from the spontaneity and energy the “Pantsers” offer. But I think it’s more likely they’d kill one another before producing a salable draft.

So, which do you think Charles Roast and I are? Plotter/Planners or “Pantsers”? Our approach to writing is the same, and out styles are similar but different enough to give an original voice to the characters we’re creating. Collaborative writing should feel like play, not like a homework assignment.

Don’t Bother Forcing Yourself Out of Your Comfort Zone

Try it. If you’re a “Pantser,” it won’t kill you to try an outline. Or, better yet, a compromise: Try Randy Ingermanson’s “Snowflake Method.”

Take notes. Keep a notebook — a cheap composition book works well, or a program like Microsoft’s OneNote — and take note of little details you may want to refer back to. Did you say the character had blue eyes? Think you’ll remember that by page 127? Did you mention some childhood trauma that’s colored your character’s thinking and contributed to the person they are, today? Need a map for your world-building, but don’t feel like studying geography, geology, and hydology? Try this ingenious technique, to start:

If you’re a Plotter/Planner, try free-writing. Maybe buy yourself a copy of Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, and give “Morning Pages” a try. Be gentle with yourself; if you start to break out in hives, take a break. Write an outline. Build a world from scratch.

Neither approach is wrong, or bad. Aren’t you tired of all those Stories that tell you “You’re doing it wrong!”?

As creative human beings, it’s good for us to experiment and try things from different perspectives. We are not machines; what works for you may not work as well for me. Perhaps you just think you’re a Plotter/Planner; you may have never thought of writing any other way. Try it. If it is uncomfortable and unnatural, like trying to write with your non-dominant hand, don’t do it anymore. Or stretch yourself — add to your toolbox, but don’t “force yourself out of your comfort zone.” It’s not required.

Ask any “lefty” who was forced, as a child, to write with their right hand. Perhaps, today, they are ambidextrous and glad of it, but more likely they harbor a deep resentment towards the institutions and people who taught them that there was something wrong with them for being “lefties.” Some revel in today’s widespread availability of products tailored just to them — spiral notebooks that don’t leave deep grooves in the palms of their hands. Scissors that actually cut things using the left hand.

The same is true of your preferred writing style. Just do the work; focus on writing, however you prefer to get it done.

Links to books on Amazon may be included here, as a convenience, and are affiliate links. Use them or don’t; I may make a few pennies, but if you’d rather I didn’t, the price of the books is the same either way, and I will never know you preferred to deprive me of three drops of coffee. You can use smile.amazon.com instead, and donate a few pennies to your favorite charity. All other links are just…links. To more information on topics or sites discussed here.