Notes From a Writing Collaboration: Don’t Strangle Your Partner and Other Bits of Hard-Won Wisdom, a guest post by Ben and Ann Brashares

The old idiom ‘many hands make light work’ applies to many pursuits, but not usually to writing novels. Novels are personal. They often require some ‘dark nights of the soul,’ as the writer-speak goes. Dark nights of the soul are, by definition, lonesome ones. A collaboration is, by definition, less lonesome.  

As we prepare for the launch of our new series, Westfallen, we get asked one question more than any other: “What was it like writing a novel with your sister/brother?” The next question tends to be: “How do you write a novel with your sibling, or anyone?” 

We’ll try to answer both of these questions. We’ll start with our own experience. And we’ll do it from both of us in a Q&A way because . . . how the heck are we supposed to collaborate on a guest blog post? 

First, the What. What would we write? 

Ben: We had been talking for several years about writing something together. We had no idea what or how. But I had written two picture books and she had written LOTS of YA novels and we both had pre-teen sons . . . it seemed logical that we’d meet in the middle with Middle Grade. It also happened to be an age group we love reading and writing for. We both love high-concept ideas and MG is an ideal spot for them. 

We didn’t think through how we’d actually write this thing together, but it didn’t seem important at the start. First we needed an idea to sink our teeth into.

Ann: We took some time during a family vacation one summer about four years ago to sit down and brainstorm ideas. It was during Covid, I remember, and we were feeling like we could be holed up for a while. We kind of free-associated a lot of different concepts, and kept coming back to time-travel and portals to other worlds. It wasn’t new territory by any stretch, but I think that was, in part, why we liked it. There was great tradition to draw upon and still infinite opportunity for creating our own exciting thing. 

Ben: We were in a ‘more the merrier’ mode with ideas, but it went on a bit too long. We were in danger of losing focus and falling back into that nebulous “we should really work on something together at some point” zone. Life would get busy and we’d take long breaks, but we kept going back to it, thankfully, and eventually landed on the radio as our ‘magic portal.’ From there it went pretty fast. A ‘magic’ radio to connect time periods and then . . . to connect two groups of friends. From there: how does it all go bad? Because that’s the really fun part, when it all goes bad. Ann is a history buff. She’d recently gotten back from a trip with our dad touring WWII battle grounds in Europe. It made perfect sense that our characters would mess up the outcome of the war and change history. For the worse. Much worse. 

After we’d mostly nailed down our concept we started discussing the How. How were we going to write this? 

Ben: The two groups of friends were the key. The fact that they were separated by nearly eighty years meant that we could –and should– have two distinct worlds represented by two distinct points of view. Rather than trying to shoehorn our two writing styles into one narrative we could embrace our differences and weave our two narratives together to create a richer, more authentic story. 

Ann: We were also aware that there could be some real downfalls in trying to create one voice out of two: bruised egos, taxing compromises, and less opportunity to work individually to get the job done. We both love to write a very close point of view–to immerse ourselves in the voice of a single character witnessing a single scene at a time. It made sense and it suited the book to draft characters and scenes separately and then work on them together. 

Ben: Deciding who would take which time period and corresponding character was another pretty easy one.  Ann being the history buff and me being the pop culture guy, it seemed clear I was going to take the modern day kids and she’d take the 1944 kids. One of the things that excited me the most about our concept was imagining these modern day kids getting transplanted into Nazi America–called Westfallen–where they’d learn to use their seemingly useless knowledge of pop culture (which the culture-deprived timeline of Westfallen never got) as a sort of super power against the Nazis. For instance, Westfallen never got Mission Impossible. Our characters knew they could use the plot in the big heist scene and no one would see it coming!

Collaborating on Characters.

We each took our three characters and sketched them out for the other. We helped each other flesh them out by talking them through a whole lot, but it was sort of understood we each had final say in the characters we initiated, especially our POV characters (Henry/Ben, Alice/Ann), for whom the bond was especially important. 

Ann: We have a similar sensibility, similar tastes in story-telling, We’re pretty aligned on what we, as readers, want from a story. Maybe it’s a sibling thing. Spanked with the same shoe or something. 

Ben: We grew up in the 70’s/80’s. Our mom was a shoe spanker. 

Ann: We are always looking for the strong emotional center of a scene. Suspense and excitement is crucial, but it’s the character who gives it meaning. We love a good rollicking plot, but we both know it starts and ends with the emotional life of our characters. 

Collaborating on the Outline.

We knew that a detailed outline would be the key to staying sane with each other during the actual writing process. We take it scene by scene, putting the POV character’s name in bold type at the start of each one. 

Ben: For me, this is the funnest part of the writing process. It’s when all the ‘what if’s’ come out. It’s all open sky’s the limit for cool twists and turns. I’m always reluctant to move on from this stage, partly because I’m dreading the inevitable lonesome blank page that awaits, and partly because I know I’m going to have more ideas and want to mess it all up again and drive Ann crazy.

Ann: The outline is definitely the most collaborative part. We want all ideas on the table before we can sift through them. It’s also a critical time to put your ego aside. I think Ben and I do that well. Whether it’s because we’re siblings or in spite of being siblings, I don’t know, We both just want a great story and it doesn’t really matter how we get there. But, yes, Ben is an early-stage tinkerer. I’m always eager to get to the writing part. I tend to do more of my tinkering in the editing stage. 

The Actual Writing.

Once our gigantic outline is done (usually coming in around 40 pages), we set mini deadlines for ourselves and go off on our own to start drafting scenes. 

Ben: I’m a sloooow writer. I have little ‘flow.’ I get into some good grooves here and there but it’s a slightly more tortured process for me, I’m sorry to say.  As such, I miss a lot of our mini- deadlines. Ann’s gotten used to it by now, but it’s definitely been a source of frustration. 

Ann: It takes me time, effort, and a lot of procrastination to find my way into a new story, to get to know new characters well enough that I care about them and want to spend my time with them. But once I’m in, I’m really in. I tend to build momentum as I go, so the characters begin to feel more real and more pressing to me than the actual world. For that reason, stopping and starting is hard. Once I’m in, I’d write everything in one long burst if I could.

Ben: I also have a tendency to go off script a bit and ignore the wisdom we’ve set forth in our detailed outline. But sometimes it’s hard to know how something needs to go until you’re actually writing it. Particularly with the first book, I’d turn in a scene to Ann and she’d be like, “uhhhh, what’s this?” And be like, “I know it’s not what we decided on but I think it’s better.” 

Ann: Sometimes it was/is better. And, it’s true, very often you really don’t know how a character will feel or a scene should go until you start writing. You can start with the best, most buttoned up outline in the world, but it doesn’t take into account how much better you will understand your characters once you are writing. Still, yes, I like to figure out how to stay within the structural framework of the outline before going rogue. Ben is quicker to go rogue. 

That’s basically how it goes for us. We feel pretty lucky to get this chance to write together, and also grateful that we’ve more or less figured out a way that works for us. 

So now for the ‘advice’ portion of the blog post. But, first, a disclaimer: We’re not exactly pros at this. We’ve written one full book together (and a first draft of a second). That said, we’ve learned a TON through this process and have stumbled upon a few kernels of wisdom. Here, then, a few kernels:

1. Don’t strangle your partner. This should go without saying, but you may need reminding.
2. Leave your ego out of it as much as possible. You need some ego to stick with an idea you believe in, but if it becomes clear to you that your idea isn’t as good as another, let it go. You’ll feel all the stronger for it because you’ll be reminded –and you’ll remind your partner– that the point is to write the best book possible and there’s real strength in that. You’re not fighting for scraps here. Both of your names will be on the cover (hopefully in the same size font). 
3. Use multiple (at least two) POVs and divide them between you. Bond individually with your characters and you will write a richer, more authentic book and avoid having to write over each other. (see item #1). 
4. Write as detailed an outline as you can. This will allow for more autonomy during the writing process. You may want (or need) that space. 
5. Allow ownership where possible. If you’re writing one scene and your partner is writing another, welcome input but don’t be afraid to fully embrace ‘your’ scene. 
6. Have other stuff to talk about. If you don’t have a shared mother to complain about, take some time to complain about your separate mothers. Or fathers. Or spouses. Or kids. You can blur that friend/business partner boundary. Why? Because you’re writing a novel, not a book on investment strategies. Novels are personal. It’s okay to be personable. 
7. Give as good as you get. Or give better. Writers are a fragile bunch. We need positive feedback even when we think we don’t. Everybody, no matter how many best-sellers they’ve written prior to your partnership, needs to feel like their efforts are appreciated and their writing is good (#hardwonlessons). 
8. Embrace individual strengths. Don’t be resigned to meet in some mediocre middle out of a fear of breaking rules (like these) of ‘collaborative engagement’. After you’ve traded scenes (if that’s how you go about it), add a little of your gold dust to your partner’s scene, and vice versa. If you do physical descriptions better, get in there and help a brother out. If you do funny dialogue a little better, get in there and help a sister out. Just change the font color so they know what you did (#morehardwonlessons).
9. Split everything down the middle as best you can, and then stop counting. Split the money (if you get there), the workload, the minutes complaining, the excuses, all of it–in the big picture. In the small picture, try not to worry or keep track. The quickest way to kill a good partnership vibe is to say/suggest/imply you deserve more [blank] because you did more [blank]. Or to maintain grievances because you think you did more of this or that as you go. Keep it simple, keep it even, don’t keep receipts. 
10. Have fun, but be –or pretend to be– a professional. It’s a long road. There will be many reasons to bail. To get to a finished product takes a ton of discipline and hard work. But it doesn’t necessarily require a dark night of the soul–or not a lonesome night anyway. Partner up, and you’ll have someone to lean on, someone to push you, pull you, maybe even make you laugh, if you’re lucky. Like Ann. 

Meet the authors

Ann Brashares is a writer and mother of four living in New York City. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series as well as several other novels. Before becoming a writer, she was a student of philosophy, a receptionist, an editor, a ghostwriter, and, briefly, the copresident of a small media company. She grew up in Washington, DC, with her three brothers and a stunning number of weird pets. She helped her youngest brother, Ben, with his shoes (and the debilitating lumps in his socks) every morning before school until he learned to tie his own shoes…around eighth grade. 

Ben Brashares lives in Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife and three children. He’s the author of Being Edie Is Hard Today and The Great Whipplethorp Bug Collection. He holds an MFA in creative writing and has worked at and written for several magazines, including Rolling Stone, Men’s Journal, and Entertainment Weekly. He spent much of his youth wading through heaps of clothes in his big sister’s room looking for the family’s escape-artist tarantula, Fredricka…to put on his sister’s head while she slept. As an adult, Ben gets no help whatsoever tying his shoes. But he still has weird pets. And he still gets lumps in his socks. 

About Westfallen

“What a thrilling—and chilling—adventure!” —Margaret Peterson Haddix, New York Times bestselling author

From #1 New York Times bestselling Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants author Ann Brashares and her brother Ben Brashares comes the first book in a “pulse-pounding” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) middle grade alternate history thriller trilogy that asks what it would be like in present-day America if Germany had won World War II.

Henry, Frances, and Lukas are neighbors, and they used to be best friends. But in middle school Frances got emo, Lukas went to private school, and Henry just felt left behind. When they come together again for the funeral of a pet gerbil, the three ex-friends make a mindblowing discovery: a radio, buried in Henry’s backyard, that allows them to talk to another group of kids in the same town…in the same backyard…eighty years in the past. The kids in 1944 want to know about the future: Are there laser guns? Flying cars? Jetpacks, at least? Most of all, they want to know about the outcome of the world war their dad and brothers are fighting in. Though Henry is cautious—he’s seen movies about what happens when you disrupt the fabric of time—soon the present-day kids are sending their new friends on a mission to rescue a doomed candy store. What harm could that do? But one change leads to another, and when the six friends alter history in the biggest way possible, it’s up to them to change it back.

ISBN-13: 9781665950817
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date: 09/17/2024
Series: Westfallen #1
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post