Collaboration 101: How We Do It, Last Riff
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 05:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniI'd meant to finish this set earlier. Unfortunately, book deliveries and more angst than usual at the day-job kind of distracted me.
Now, one of the things that people ask Steve and me about collaborating is how we resolve artistic differences; there are, after all, two of us and we must sometimes disagree. It is true that we do sometimes have different ideas about a story's direction or various technical details. Usually, these differences can be resolved by sitting down and talking, sometimes role-playing, until we're both on the same page again. Often, that page is not exactly what Steve had envisioned and not exactly what I had envisioned, but a blending of the two notions, all working (so we devoutly hope and believe) to strengthen the story.
And this is meet and just.
Sometimes, though, there arises. . .something that cannot be talked, role-played, or compromised away. Something that one of us feels So Very Strongly About that there is no compromise.
This is why each book has a traffic cop.
I suppose it must be the case with most long-time collaborators that some books are more the child of one partner's heart and intellect. Certainly, it's the case with Steve and me, and the traffic cop thus is the person who brought the idea for the story to the partnership. The traffic cop holds the third vote in any disagreement regarding that project; it is a tie-breaker vote, in case we cannot find agreement, and it is binding.
You may say that this is a broad and awesome power -- and you would be right.
That agreed, Steve has used his awesome tie-breaker powers exactly once, in a total of seventeen collaborative novels. I have also used my vote, enforcing my will and my vision on the story -- once.
The details of each case may be of interest, but as they contain spoilers, I'll continue
Steve was the traffic cop on Carpe Diem. I, as has been our frequent, though not invariable habit, typed the first draft. In that draft, two characters are escaping a vicious attack upon the Scout Base at Nev'Lorn. They flee in their ship, only to find that the enemy is pursuing them. Their case is desperate, and the enemy is lucky: the fleeing ship is struck and holed; both of the Scouts are killed.
No, no, no! said Steve; they can't die. We're going to need them, later!
I argued that this was the scene we had discussed and, indeed, the only logical outcome was as it was written. To no avail; Steve was adamant, and threw his tie-breaker on the table, to show how much this meant to him.
"Fine," I said; "change it. But if anyone ever calls us on it, you'll have to write the story that explains how they survived!"
That was were we left the matter; he re-wrote the scene in order to leave the survival or non of our intrepid Scouts ambiguous, and so the book was published.
No one questioned this scene for ten years. Then someone did, and Steve was obligated to write "Breath's Duty."
So, a happy outcome, a new story brought into the world, and in fact, we did need those characters later, and it would have been a shame not to have them in hand for Plan B. . .
. . .for which I was traffic cop.
I felt strongly that Plan B should move along at a sprightly clip, and, upon rereading the final draft, came upon a section that I felt slowed the action considerably.
I brought this section to Steve's attention; he was inclined to let it go. I slept on it, reread it again, and decided, no darn it, that one, very short, chapter was slowing everything down. It was unacceptable; it threw the whole book off-center.
So, I brought out my token, invoked my tie-breaker -- and pulled the chapter.
Now, at about that time, I had become somewhat visible due to my recent hiring as the Executive Director of SFWA. One of the people who noticed my new visibility was Anne McCaffrey, a long time member. She wrote me a lovely letter welcoming me to the job, and a she also sent me an email, wondering whatever happened to the Liadens, she'd read the first three books and then there weren't any more.
I was glad to be able to tell her that, in fact, Plan B was written and about to be sent to an editor. She wrote back and asked if I could email the manuscript to her.
Which I did.
Anne lives in Ireland. I woke up the next morning to find a note from her regarding Plan B -- we would have no trouble selling it, she said; it was wonderful, marvelous, kept her up all night; she adored it utterly, except --
There was a scene missing.
...and then she told me where it was missing from.
I wrote back and told her that, yes, there had been a scene of that size-and-shape approximately there, but it had been pulled to make weight.
Came the answering email, "Send it to me."
I found the pulled chapter, attached it to an email, sent it on its way and went to get coffee.
When I came back to my computer, there was an email from Anne, that said, simply: "Put it back."
One does not argue with the storytelling sense of Anne McCaffrey.
I put it back.
Here ends the last riff.
Now, one of the things that people ask Steve and me about collaborating is how we resolve artistic differences; there are, after all, two of us and we must sometimes disagree. It is true that we do sometimes have different ideas about a story's direction or various technical details. Usually, these differences can be resolved by sitting down and talking, sometimes role-playing, until we're both on the same page again. Often, that page is not exactly what Steve had envisioned and not exactly what I had envisioned, but a blending of the two notions, all working (so we devoutly hope and believe) to strengthen the story.
And this is meet and just.
Sometimes, though, there arises. . .something that cannot be talked, role-played, or compromised away. Something that one of us feels So Very Strongly About that there is no compromise.
This is why each book has a traffic cop.
I suppose it must be the case with most long-time collaborators that some books are more the child of one partner's heart and intellect. Certainly, it's the case with Steve and me, and the traffic cop thus is the person who brought the idea for the story to the partnership. The traffic cop holds the third vote in any disagreement regarding that project; it is a tie-breaker vote, in case we cannot find agreement, and it is binding.
You may say that this is a broad and awesome power -- and you would be right.
That agreed, Steve has used his awesome tie-breaker powers exactly once, in a total of seventeen collaborative novels. I have also used my vote, enforcing my will and my vision on the story -- once.
The details of each case may be of interest, but as they contain spoilers, I'll continue
Steve was the traffic cop on Carpe Diem. I, as has been our frequent, though not invariable habit, typed the first draft. In that draft, two characters are escaping a vicious attack upon the Scout Base at Nev'Lorn. They flee in their ship, only to find that the enemy is pursuing them. Their case is desperate, and the enemy is lucky: the fleeing ship is struck and holed; both of the Scouts are killed.
No, no, no! said Steve; they can't die. We're going to need them, later!
I argued that this was the scene we had discussed and, indeed, the only logical outcome was as it was written. To no avail; Steve was adamant, and threw his tie-breaker on the table, to show how much this meant to him.
"Fine," I said; "change it. But if anyone ever calls us on it, you'll have to write the story that explains how they survived!"
That was were we left the matter; he re-wrote the scene in order to leave the survival or non of our intrepid Scouts ambiguous, and so the book was published.
No one questioned this scene for ten years. Then someone did, and Steve was obligated to write "Breath's Duty."
So, a happy outcome, a new story brought into the world, and in fact, we did need those characters later, and it would have been a shame not to have them in hand for Plan B. . .
. . .for which I was traffic cop.
I felt strongly that Plan B should move along at a sprightly clip, and, upon rereading the final draft, came upon a section that I felt slowed the action considerably.
I brought this section to Steve's attention; he was inclined to let it go. I slept on it, reread it again, and decided, no darn it, that one, very short, chapter was slowing everything down. It was unacceptable; it threw the whole book off-center.
So, I brought out my token, invoked my tie-breaker -- and pulled the chapter.
Now, at about that time, I had become somewhat visible due to my recent hiring as the Executive Director of SFWA. One of the people who noticed my new visibility was Anne McCaffrey, a long time member. She wrote me a lovely letter welcoming me to the job, and a she also sent me an email, wondering whatever happened to the Liadens, she'd read the first three books and then there weren't any more.
I was glad to be able to tell her that, in fact, Plan B was written and about to be sent to an editor. She wrote back and asked if I could email the manuscript to her.
Which I did.
Anne lives in Ireland. I woke up the next morning to find a note from her regarding Plan B -- we would have no trouble selling it, she said; it was wonderful, marvelous, kept her up all night; she adored it utterly, except --
There was a scene missing.
...and then she told me where it was missing from.
I wrote back and told her that, yes, there had been a scene of that size-and-shape approximately there, but it had been pulled to make weight.
Came the answering email, "Send it to me."
I found the pulled chapter, attached it to an email, sent it on its way and went to get coffee.
When I came back to my computer, there was an email from Anne, that said, simply: "Put it back."
One does not argue with the storytelling sense of Anne McCaffrey.
I put it back.
Here ends the last riff.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-09-23 10:36 pm (UTC)Wow!
Date: 2009-09-23 11:10 pm (UTC)Your Anne McCaffrey story was hilarious. :) I quite agree with you!
Congrats on such a long and varied collaboration!
Lauretta@ConstellationBooks
PS Anne told me her newly-painted trim molding was drying on the
newspaper overnight ----and when she got up, she found the family feline had used the paper for her business because the catbox was, um, 'smellier.' (I said, 'Than wet paint???') Cats - ya can't figure them out!!
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 12:07 am (UTC)But my witchiness comes out as October nears, and I must ask (with a discreet cackle): did Steve say, "I told you so"?
Although, seeing as how you two want to live with each other, such a thing might be against the rules...
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 12:33 am (UTC)And, oddly enough, I would have pegged "Breath's Duty" as more of a Lee than a Miller. It makes me wonder again what unexamined assumptions shape my reading experience.
(One of my pet hobby horses -- I've excised the boring ruminations before posting)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 12:58 pm (UTC)There's no doubt that the Liaden books have their own voice, and it is a different voice than either Steve's singleton work, or mine, or even the voice of the Fey books. We both worked as reporters, and as newspaper copy editors; even worse, I worked as a copywriter in an ad agency. That means a lot of early training in story over ego.
And, oddly enough, I would have pegged "Breath's Duty" as more of a Lee than a Miller. It makes me wonder again what unexamined assumptions shape my reading experience.
LOL. It's funny, how many people have been sure they knew which of us writes what (from, "Sharon must write Miri and Steve obviously writes Val Con." to "Oh, Sharon must write the space battles." At one panel a few years ago, we confessed that pretty much Steve writes the space battles, and Sharon writes the knife fights. I got a lot of respect at that con...)... Sometimes, even we don't know which of us wrote which scene.
I'd be interested in what makes you think "Breath's Duty" was "more" a Lee than a Miller.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 12:55 am (UTC)I'm so glad they survived, but at first I was convinced they hadn't.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 08:10 am (UTC)(I, too, am interested which scene was the disputed one in Plan B...)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 12:56 pm (UTC)But I was wondering if you had ever considered trying one of those new-fangled collaborative editing tools, like EtherPad (http://www.etherpad.com), where two (or more) parties have cursors in the same document and can write/edit it together.
(For instance, one person can take on the "role" of one character, and the other person writes the other character, and you can "have" the conversations in character. Or one could write while the other threw out ideas, or edited, etc.)
I've written a number of stories together with other people like that, and it was great fun for all of us. Since the two of you are such great collaborators already, I doubt that it would make you want to change your usual way of doing things—but I can't help thinking it might be fun for you to try a story or two that way just to see what it's like.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 01:00 pm (UTC)Old and set-in-her-ways author, here.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-24 01:39 pm (UTC)http://rolanni.livejournal.com/466835.html
What the words *say* is that much of the collaboration takes place in shared-space already -- a shared space where we are both present, can see facial expression, hear nuance and emphasis, read body language, and connect that all to the multiple threads under discussion. My ghod, why should we limit ourselves to fighting over cursors and being frustrated by typos, internet burps, and someone else's idea of an interface when we have an "interface" that's been working with far more information sharing for 30 years? Why waste bandwidth?
Please don't mistake the typing for the writing -- they are far different. We've both individually typed what's been collaborated -- as Sharon mentions she's a faster typist. On the other hand when we needed to revise Carpe Diem at the last moment, she was working at a mill and I was doing the typing, just as when Master Walk was originally put together. We both had the input...
Let me be clear on this -- the section Sharon took out and then put back at Anne's suggestion was one that was already written collaboratively -- not something that snuck in under the radar.
Likewise, the Breath's Duty situation was something arrived at in a larger process -- why limit ourselves to photonic characters on a screen when we're already in the same house?
Yes, I have collaborated with others under distance circumstances, and sometimes Sharon and I have worked on stories while I was in Maryland or Montreal or Atlanta and she was in Maine -- but that's not optimum. Likewise, we have used googledocs ... but really, why get in the way of what works?
Fantastic behind the cut story
Date: 2009-09-24 02:04 pm (UTC)Great story. Now, if you two could just write a little faster, to keep me happily supplied with more Liad stories ...
:)
Jennifer Wade
Loving the Glimpse Behind the Books
Date: 2009-09-24 10:46 pm (UTC)Thank you SO much for the fabulous glimpse into how your books come to life. It really is fascinating to read, and I loved the anecdotes about the two occasions that a tie-breaking vote was used! (As a huge Anne McCaffrey fan, I also loved hearing about how she weighed in!)
:-)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-26 05:55 am (UTC)-Meara