Backstory Blog

There’s little doubt that writing is, in general, a solitary business. That’s why keeping your momentum, as we discussed last week, is so important. No boss is demanding that you complete the work or risk your job. It’s just you. However, there might be times when you ought to consider a collaboration. There may be strength in numbers in some realms, but writing is not always one, although it can be. The idea raises questions though.

• Under what circumstances does writing with a collaborator make sense?
• How do you find a compatible collaborator with the right background and expertise?
• Since it’s clear you can’t use the same writing process you use when working alone, how do you develop a successful collaborative writing process?

We often tend to think that collaborative writing is suited only to nonfiction. Whereas nonfiction does indeed have its fair share of collaborative writing (have you ever…

It doesn’t matter what kind of work you do: especially if the project is a long one, there often comes a time when you lose momentum. Momentum, of course, is that forward-motion or energy that powers us through our activities toward completion.

Writers, perhaps more than many others, need this propulsion to keep the work flowing. One of the reasons for this is that writers work largely alone. When there is no boss (or editorial deadline) prodding you onward, sometimes writing becomes more tedious than it has to be. All you need is a few approaches to keeping that forward motion. Here are the ones we find useful.

• Write something – anything – every day. When you are not in the middle of a large project, this kind of writing allows you to explore new ideas or just to practice. When you are in the midst of a project and…