If you are a writer and you don’t have a writing buddy, I strongly suggest you get one. And, not just any one…pick the person that is never satisfied with the simple answers. Pick someone who is also not intimidated to ask you the questions that bubble up the back of their throats before their filter kicks in. Pick them…it will blow your mind.
I’m a Paranormal writer, so I’m used to trying to craft a world that makes sense in ways that don’t necessarily makes sense normally. Having someone else working on the next installment with me…WOW. Mind. Blown. ….Repeatedly.
They have no qualms asking me “Why?” like an incessant 2-year-old. They have no issue with reminding me “…but you said,” like my petulant daughters were often so fond of once upon a time. And, while I have always done the “And then what?” question, they compound the question with a follow-up, “What if?”
More than once, I’ve had a deep chill run up my spine to consider the words that have followed the ‘what if?’. They have, in several cases, changed everything. It is creepy, and invigorating, and motivational all at once. I feel like the author and the student staring idyllically at the master begging to be taken to church.
((And, because the most recent rounds were while someone *ahem- THEY* were stoned from the dentist)) Just be aware of the immediate as you are working, or it can wind way out of left quickly. Expand your adventure…you might well be surprised.
I encourage everyone to take a chance on a collaboration at some point. NOT, that it will work the same for everyone, but sometimes it can be a real eye-opener. This certainly has been and we are nowhere near done. I’m grateful for the experience.
Aedan
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