Me and my friend sit together somewhere nice. We tell people that the discussion came up somewhere nice even if it actually had been three in the morning after a party, some things are just for the two of us to know. We discuss our hopes and dreams and notice common ground. We discuss books and music and secrets that we’ve never shared with anyone before.
Suddenly this story takes form, we both sense it in the air, something that needs to be told and we want to share. So we get it out in the open, we’ll write a book together.
Soon all our friends know we’re writing companions, they wish us good luck and hope they will get to go to the book launch, some secretly hope it goes in the trash and pray that we’ll fall out and start fighting over names of characters, where the story is going to take place etc, before we’ve even get our first chapter together.
But we stick to it. We have our disagreements and nights of staying up talking. Maybe moments of tears over the other persons stubborn ignorance to the obvious. We have many lyrical and enthusiastic moments of total compatibility. Thankfully most of the latter.
We see some of our writing buddies break promises and deadlines, get jealous if they talk to other writers about creative ideas, run over each other for the leading position and being the one in control. After a while they stop writing, stop talking and go their separate ways.
Finally one day, after what seems like an unnecessary amount of planning, me and my friend stand there at the launch party. I feel sick and want to hide. I can’t take the press or all those people watching. I can’t believe it is actually official, we will share this book together, for the rest of our lives. But then I see my friends face and know it is all worth it.
Agatha Christie once said “I've always believed in writing without a collaborator, because where two people are writing the same book, each believes he gets all the worries and only half the royalties.”
I believe it takes as much openness and will to communicate, to write a good book together with someone else, as it takes to have a successful romantic relationship. It takes someone special to find the right connection. Maybe Christie knew something I don’t or maybe she never met the right person to share her creative ideas well enough with.
02/02/2010
Marriage of the minds
Posted by Amle at 14:23
Labels: collaboration, communication, writing
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2 comments:
Maybe Christie wasn't the right person herself ...
All close relationships need patience, compromise and understanding. This is what "teamwork" of any kind is about.
Now, I can't really tell whether this is actual reality or a vision, but regardless: Congratulations to have found a companionship like this. About two years ago, a friend of mine and I met in a nice place and had this fantastic business idea. So far, so good. But then the actual work was initiated, and... well - ms Christie has a point. At least in this case.
And this cost us our friendship. Now - a friendship that lacks in communication (which was the problem in this case, I believe) is probably doomed anyway, sooner or later the same would have happened. But it became so apparent that being friends with a common vision isn't always enough. In the end, who can really be sure a shared vision is really the same for both parties, and not just assumed so.
So - I love your story and am glad yours is different from mine, and whenever your book hits the bookstores, I'll be there, eager to read it!
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