Often times we might think that writing is an individual pursuit.
Certainly, a large part of the journey is individual: Individual ideas; individual research; individual plotting and character development; individual crafting.
But of course, writing that eventually gets from the writer’s head and heart to the reader ideally, should have gone through a process that requires a team.
After a first draft has been written, ideally several other sets of eyes going over the manuscript will yield crucial feedback. This feedback isn’t always positive. In fact, if it is overwhelmingly positive, your beta reader is not being helpful.
Once a writer assembles all the feedback from beta readers (or a structural editor) the writer will do rewrites – rethinking plot holes, giving plausible motivation behind strange character behaviour, sorting out confusing sentences and so on.
Then the manuscript will possibly be ready for a line edit.
It can be a pain and sometimes discouraging to receive a manuscript covered in comments and tracked changes.
Though it is a pain and sometimes discouraging to receive a manuscript covered in comments and tracked changes, once again, if you’re getting your money’s worth, you will take a deep breath and begin the task of corrections.
The process that is perhaps the most annoying is the proof read.
One would have hoped that after four, five or six times through the manuscript that it would be squeaky clean.
But a good proof reader will find those typos that are always there. Why we didn’t see them in the first few passes is a mystery. I guess our eyes see what should be there rather than what actually is there.
Anyone who has got to the point of successful publishing knows that you need this team of people who are serious about their job, and who are not afraid to bring things forward for you to consider and probably rework.
One thing that has troubled me over the years, is the number of people who take offense at any or all of these processes. For me, though it is discouraging and a pain to go through the reworking process, I am grateful for those who see things that I do not, and save me from offering substandard work.
In this blog, I wanted to talk about another form of team work that I’ve been involved with a number of times. That is the teams that are formed for multi-author collaborative projects.
My first experience with this was on the multi-author novel – The Greenfield Legacy. It was such a load of fun, and as the formation of the story happened exponentially, was exciting to watch how quickly the story unfolded under the pens of four different writers. It was twelve years ago, so maybe my memory isn’t clear, but I don’t recall us having any major difference of opinion or misunderstandings. It was a smooth experience and I still believe the story was not only engaging, but powerful.
Since then, I have been in a couple sets of multi-author novellas. The stories were individual, so all we needed to do was upload them to the set in time. No dramas there.
But of recent times, I’ve been involved with two different multi-author sets where we have created our own universe (or town at least).
One that is hopefully becoming familiar to you is The Trinity Lakes Romance series.
The twelfth book has just released last week, and there are four more due for release once a month from now on.
Working with mostly Australian authors (plus Iola from New Zealand who is an honorary Australian) has been such a great experience in building camaraderie and support for Australian Christian Fiction.
We also have one American in the group, and thank goodness, as she has raised red flags when we Australians get the American lingo wrong. Yes, the Trinity Lakes series has been set in Washington, USA. It is our attempt to engage American readers, given the bulk of our readers are American. We’ve added our Aussie flavours of course, with characters who happen to be in Trinity Lakes for one reason or another.
The other series I have recently engaged with are setting all the stories in a seaside village in the UK. All stories are from different houses in Sycamore Street, Eden Cove. It’s a fictional village, and we’ve spent time developing common spaces and crossover characters.
This series is set to release early August, so keep your eyes open for that.
But the focus of today’s blog is on how to work in teams, whether it’s with editors and beta readers, or with other authors in a multi-author collaboration. For sure, we are venturing away from our individual work—where we need consult only with ourselves—into a space where constant communication and cooperation is required.
Have we hit a few snags? Yes. A few, but nothing that has overwhelmed us.
Certainly, the grace of God and principles that He gives are helpful.
Be slow to speak and quick to listen. As far as is possible, if it depends on you, be at peace with all. Be mindful of where others are at, what is life throwing at each individual author. Be patient, be kind.
So far, I am really enjoying the experience in both series, and hope to continue to build confidence with each other as we work together.
One thing is for sure, we are there to encourage each other, and promote each other when each book launch is upon us.
This week Jenny Glazebrook released her new Trinity Lakes title: In Truth and Love
This month we are excited to welcome Amanda Deed to the series. Amanda is my favourite Australian Christian fiction author, and this is her new contemporary romance. Blue Skies Dreaming
Hi Meredith, yes! I love getting hooked into reading multi author series and reading about all the fun character connections and related storylines. I’m often sad when the series ends. Thanks for sharing. 😊