How can two lawyers be better than one?
Taking advantage of the synergy of different talents and
experience.
When we do
book-signing events and school programs for students, we often get questions
like: What’s it like writing together as
co-authors? Do each of you write
specific chapters? Do you brainstorm
together first, and then decide who writes what? And if in writing the story, there is a major
shift in plot, how does the one writer know whether or not to go with the
change?
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| We enjoy bouncing ideas off our readers. |
So far, we have enjoyed working
together as co-authors. As brothers, we
get along well, and have a healthy level of mutual self-respect, so we can
freely share ideas and challenge each other without worrying too much about
egos. Each of us has had a career in
law, and as lawyers, we were constantly dealing with other lawyers, who often
had overblown egos. When we came
together as writers, we had already had much experience in working around another
person’s ego while still getting the job done.
In addition, we grew up just a few
years apart in a very large family, and then, we each went on to have large families
of our own. While there is not much room
for any over-sized egos in a large family, there are certain qualities, like
peace-making and courtesy that are highly prized. Both of us have been extensively trained in
the qualities of kindness. Finally, we
both have strong-willed wives, and if we can work jointly with them in a close,
personal family relationship, then we can certainly work jointly as brothers in
the less intense environment of storytelling.
We have found our differences in
personality and experience to be a distinct advantage and are more creative
when we’re bouncing ideas off each other and discussing a broad story line, but
we brainstorm only in a general way.
We actually write separately, and then confer later on what we have been
doing, including any plot shifts. Though
we sometimes disagree on wording, there is usually some friendly give
and take as we consider alternatives, then we quickly agree on the final
wording. We both appreciate the
different perspective and skills the other brings to the joint writing
process.
We are very different in how we approach the creation of a new story. Andy used to be a planner (a habit that came
from writing as a lawyer), but in fiction writing, he no longer likes to plan
ahead. He likes to develop his
characters, and then let them take the story wherever it is going to go—he
likes to be surprised. On the other
hand, I am definitely still a planner. I
am always making lists and outlines, not only for the current story, but for
future stories as well. In addition to
our young adult horror series, we also have written the first two books in a
young adult science-fiction series.
Separately, Andy is working on a literary fiction novel about an old
lawyer dying from cancer, a story close to his heart.
Andy doesn’t like having other
people around him when he is writing, especially when he is creating new
material. There is no real reason for
this, just sometimes people bug him. I
have to organize my surrounding work environment. Once everything around me is in order, then I
can detach from the real world and write in the strange, new worlds of my mind.
If Andy hits a tough spot in the
story development, it is almost always because of outside distractions. If he can get rid of the confusion and noise
around him, he can keep writing. He does
best when he can find large blocks of undisturbed time. If I hit a tough spot, I don’t try to force
it. I stop, leave the house, pick up
some fast food (Chipotle is always good), and then I can come back refreshed
and ready to move the story forward. I
find that fresh ideas come naturally when I am eating.
We both find that once we start
telling a horror or sci-fi story, the bounds of the story are limited only by
our combined creativity and imagination, and that no matter how mature we might
be in the real world, we are both still just kids in our worlds of horror and
fantasy. It is hard to get better than
that.
