Why Collaborations are Essential for Writers

The In’s and Out’s of Working Together

There comes a point in a writer’s career where the need to explore their own writing style becomes essential in growing as a artist. This is why collaborations with other writers are needed in a writer’s tool kit . Not only do collaborations expand a writer’s world, but they are important for a multitude of reasons.

1.) Merging Multiple Voices

One of the biggest challenges and opportunities in collaborations is the merging of multiple voices. Depending on how long one has been writing, it is my belief that not only should writers expand their writing styles by learning and reading other people’s work, but it’s also essential to merge different voices through collaborations (and move out of their comfort zones).

One of the opportunities that collaborations provide is that they open the writer to different styles of writing and unique voices, allowing writers to learn, think and to expand their own styles. It is a challenging process to merge together different voices; often pushing the writer in different directions, expand their vocabulary, and offering space for true expansion of a writer’s toolkit through merging multiple unique writing styles.

Here are some of the collaborations that I have worked on:

Sphere of Existence (A collaboration between LB and Anna Rozwadowska)

2.) Improving Your Writing Vocabulary

One of the best parts of collaborations are that they expand your vocabulary, which is essential for any writer. Often, after writing by yourself, you develop a vocabulary and style that becomes vivid and predictable to others. In collaborations, you are writing with others who come in with a different vocabulary, speech, style of writing, context and subject matter with which one has become comfortable. To explore this and move away from one’s writing style requires a comfort of differentials, a bold move for any writer, a challenge away from the predictable policies that often, without even noticing it, become a writer’s ‘skin,’ often termed as a writer’s persona.

Writing something with multiple vocabulary styles, joining and merging together differences and opinions is a challenge and presents a challenge for writers who are looking to diversify their type of writing.

One of the best parts of collaborations are that they expand your vocabulary, which is essential for any writer. Often time, after writing by yourself, you develop a vocabulary and style that becomes vivid and predictable to others. In collaborations, you are writing with others who come in with a different vocabulary, speech, style of writing, context and subject matter with which one has become comfortable. To explore this and move away from one’s writing style requires a comfort of differentials, a bold move for any writer, a challenge away from the predictable policies that often, without even noticing it, become a writer’s ‘skin,’ often termed as a writer’s persona.

Often, after writing by yourself, you develop a vocabulary and style that becomes vivid and predictable to others. In collaborations, you are writing with others who come in with a a unique style of writing with which one has become comfortable. To explore this and move away from one’s writing style requires a comfort of differentials, a bold move for any writer, a challenge away from the predictable policies that often, without even noticing it, become a writer’s ‘skin,’ often termed as a writer’s persona.

Writing something with multiple vocabulary styles, joining and merging together differences and opinions is a challenge and presents a challenge for writers who are looking to diversify their type of writing.

3.) Unlikely Colleagues and Friends for Support

Another benefit of collaborations is that as you become more comfortable in writing collaborations, you gain an inward knowing of the writer; a kind that is only available to those that have merged together in writing, or through other artwork. And more often than not, you develop more respect for the writer than you would in simply reading their work. This can lead to incredible further collaborations and a whole new circle of authors that you support as they journey through the world of writing.

An essential benefit of collaborations is that you develop a circle of new supporters for your writing and vice versa. In the world of writing, this is essential as support from others allows us to continue and build ourselves as an artist. One grows together, develops relationships and even friendships through writing; it truly is an amazing gift.

4.) New Appreciation for your Writing

Collaborations allow others to see that not only can you garner appreciation from others, but that you adapt to new writing styles. This increases others appreciation for your work, and often new followers after that, because collaborations are known to be challenging. It follows that you will increase your fan base and readership, thereby also increasing your followers.

Additionally, collaborations may bring new writers to your work, and, perhaps more collaborations. Although many writers are more comfortable with sticking to their writing style, in the long run, it is more beneficial to incorporate other’s language into one’s writing, expanding all writer’s opportunities to work with others; also increasing the writer’s confidence to negate the notion that one may fail in their attempts. The more collaborations, the more confidence a writer’s attempts to collaborate further, and ultimately come forward with their writing, something that they may not feel comfortable doing, something that usually occurs well into a writer’s career.

5.) Adaptable and Professional Writing

Few writers may think about this, but collaborations allow them to expand, not only in vocabulary or type of writing, but as a person and other types of writing, including freelance articles, blogs, literature reviews, editorial work, proofreading and more.

In all essence, collaborations improve and help build a writer’s repertoire, style and type of writing, including, for example, a CV. The building of a writer’s portfolio is essential to the next steps that a writer may take, including freelance work such as writing articles, reviews of books and literature, academic articles and co-authored pieces.

By molding and shaping the writer’s character and abilities, one is not only improving their art form, but the kind of work that may result from collaborations. In other words, collaborations may improve your writing, allow you to experiment as a writer (which is very important), try new forms of writing and possibly start a new journey of freelance or other type of work.

It is only beneficial to the writer that they are able to not only write about subjects that are out of their comfort zone, but also, it proves that one is adaptable to various styles and audiences; something that employers and other artists admire.

Anna Rozwadowska 2020