I am not at my best with joint projects. There have been a few people, like the late Hannah Varley, who were a pleasure to work with but most of the time joint projects seem to convert a pleasure into a chore. Writing should not become a chore!
For me it is either whole-hearted participation or non-participation and this can make me unpopular with my "I do odd bits when I'm in the mood" colleagues. I once waited five months for a co-editor to write 250 words and vowed never again.
I have (yet) another weakness. I am not good at accepting the status quo. I recall an astronomical group who always had their AGM in Basingstoke for no better reason than that was where the founder (and hence Chairman!) lived. My suggestion that perhaps a more central location might be a good idea was NOT well received.
Creative stuff is hard to do jointly. The only time I've seen it work really well is when a whole team is working on a sit-com together (like THE SIMPSONS). It's rare to get a team (or even a pair of writers) that work really well, but I imagine it would be great when it does work.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how ghost writers do it--to work with some famous person to create a book (who may or may not be easy to work with). I don't even know if I could do a job like that, let alone enjoy it.