Wednesday 24 April 2013

The wonderful process of co-working

Isn't it wonderful, where ideas come from? I think they float around in the air and find the nearest head to land in.

So I've no clue who had the notion that Emma Pass and I should write a blogpost together, each post it on our blogs at the same time, and see what happened. We had a quick exchange of tweets - and suddenly there it was - an IDEA - and we both ran off with it, together.

There were emails - what do you think about ... and it was (I can only speak for myself here) FUN! We were collaborating, working together, making our point jointly, and enjoying it. More evidence, if that were needed, that we need not be competitive in our writing.

It reminded me of a recent cricket match I watched - bear with me, it's relevant. The team filled with international players was soundly beaten by one comprised of people I've never heard of. And the commentator noticed that the winning team played as a team, while the others behaved like stars. What a wonderful lesson. We can be stronger when we work together, and risk being prima donnas if we always work alone.

So - thank you, Emma. It was a privilege to work with you. Especially as you must be overwhelmed with everything at the moment - for your book comes out today!!! I hope you have the best day ever!

Not met Emma before - she had a great website here.

And, for those readers who haven't come across her book yet (where have you been?) you can find it here.

(And we can say what we like about her today, as she'll be too busy launching her book to look at this.)

Has anyone else tried co-writing? How did it go?

10 comments:

  1. I have never tried co-writing anything although I used to work closely with graphic designers when copywriting for brochures and they often contributed great ideas. I love working with a team. It's really stimulating and can be very creative. I shall definitely look Emma up now!

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    1. A while ago I worked with an artist - responding to each other's work - and that was fun too.

      Do look Emma up - she's just got a book out, so needs help to eat all that cake.

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  2. It was a good idea and a great post.

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  3. Hi Jo .. I haven't been over that often - and need to rectify it .. the A-Z life! I'll pop over to Emma's now and .. catch your travels and books as we go .. cheers Hilary

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    1. Do go and meet Emma - you'll not be disappointed!

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  4. I love working with others, especially brainstorming. It's not the same on my own. There are some writing projects that have to be solitary, like your books about your travels, but for creative ideas group work brings out ideas in us that we never knew we had. And that's the magic of writing!

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    1. Agreed, Ros - it'a different, and just as valid, and be wonderfully surprising!

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  5. Never tried this!! Sounds fun. The nearest I come to co-writing is me and my Twitter friend Lynn Gerrard letting our imaginations run riot on Twitter!!! I think you'd have to trust the co-writer a lot....

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    1. Go for it, Carol. I've never 'met' Emma, though our paths have crossed many times virtually.

      It was fun - and if you end up writing rubbish, well, so be it - most of my stuff ends up in the bin anyway!

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