Co-writing

For the next few weeks we decided to give you an inside look into how we write together. We never really considered ourselves what you might call writers before this experience. The decision to write was somewhat sudden and out of the blue. After having the initial idea to write a book we just jumped in without much planning or knowing what we were really doing. It has definitely been a learning process writing together. We have found that writing as a team comes with its own set of challenges. We've been able to make our way through, learning as we go.

One of our biggest challenges is scheduling. We have to find time when we can both sit down and work. That has been harder the last while with kids being in preschool and running here and there. A lot of the time we will just call each other and talk while we do other things. As of late we have tried to set aside a two hour block of time that we can sit at our computers and "Skype 'n write." This has worked out great so far. However, those little challenges still creep in.

Distractions are another challenge, this probably applies to all writers. We can sit down and get our creative juices flowing only to be distracted by a phone call, one of our children needing something, a dog needing to go outside...the list could go on and on. Not all distractions are unpleasant or unwelcome. We are probably our own biggest distraction. As we write and talk about our WIP we also end up talking about everything else. Seriously, EVERYTHING. We talk about what we did the other day, who we've talked to, what our kids have been doing, recipes we've tried. It's really nice. :) This has turned out to be one of the biggest perks of writing with your sister. We believe that these tangent conversations benefit our writing. Not only do we get some of our best ideas from the things we talk about, but it gives our brain a break so we can get back into the story fresh and new.

Another one of the challenges we face is not being experienced or schooled in writing. Neither of us has what you might call a diverse vocabulary. While we both struggle with this it brings out one of the benefits of writing together. It seems like when one of us gets hung up on a word the other can usually find the solution. Very much the whole "two brains are better than one."

The next challenge is the fact that we are so green. When we got started we had no idea about word count, writing conferences, or even HOW to publish a book. We had no idea what a WIP was, or a beta reader, or even a query letter. There are still many things we know nothing about in this great big world of writing. We hope to learn from all of you readers. (Feel free to comment and teach!)

You might think that the biggest challenge we face is confrontation or disagreements with our ideas. However, we feel we have been very blessed on this journey because we have yet to have any disagreements or conflicts, and we started our idea almost 4 years ago. Things have run rather smoothly, all things considered. This has definitely been a team effort. When we stumble in our progress we stumble together and can help pull each other up. That's not to say we haven't had our fair share of difficulties, as we've just shared a few, but when it comes to working together we seem to have always been on the same page. *har har* This above all is why we feel it's so important to keep pushing through and meet our goal.