It has been
awhile, but author Terry W. Ervin II is back today with a new guest post. Today
he talks about authoring with a partner and his new project with David Wood for
Rock House and the sequel, Cavern.
Value
in Co-Authoring
by
Terry W. Ervin II
I’d just completed proofing the galley
for Thunder Wells, when I received
an email from author David Wood, wondering if I might be interested in co-authoring
a novella for the launch of the Dane
Maddock Universe, a new Kindle Worlds series.
At first, I wasn’t so certain. Writing
is often a solitary task, and it’d take me a little out of my comfort zone, and
I had another novel ready to begin. But I knew David Wood, and have read and
enjoyed many of his Dane Maddock
books and figured: Why not. It’s only a novella.
So, after checking Amazon’s contract and
the content specifications, I discussed the process with David (he’s been a
part of at least a dozen co-authoring projects). Next, I came up with an idea
for Rock House. After a little
research, I outlined my storyline and emailed it to David.
While waiting for a reply, I began
re-reading several of my favorite Maddock books, this time paying attention to
dialogue, descriptions, mannerisms, and pacing. The Dane Maddock Series is sort of pulpy action-adventure, along the
lines of a modern day Indiana Jones. My novels, and most of my short stories
have a lot of action and adventure, but I mainly write fantasy and science
fiction, so it’s not exactly the same.
The other challenge was getting the
characters and tone right. Most of the readers would be the fans of the Dane Maddock Series. There was no way
the novella would be 100% David Wood, style and content, but I wanted it to be
close. I took notes and knew David would be doing more than his part.
In short, David emailed back, having
added to the outline and offered suggestions, including specific examples of
dialogue he thought would fit. From there I wrote the first draft, and revised
it and emailed it back to David. He revised, sent it back with a few more
suggestions, most of which I implemented. After an outside editor gave the
novella review, David did the final proofing and off for publication Rock House went.
In the end, I’m glad I took on the
challenge. Not only has Rock House,
and the follow on novella, Cavern,
sold very well, but I learned a lot along the way.
I learned to write in a different genre.
That may not sound like a lot, but the scene construction, pacing and even the
overall plot structure differed from what I was used to. Less world building
and descriptions, more combining of scenes and content to propel the story
forward.
Although some of my published short
stories were written in the third person limited point of view, all of my
novels have been in first person POV. Working with David strengthened my skill
with third person limited, which better enabled me to write my most recent Monsters, Maces and Magic novels, both
part of a LitRPG fantasy series.
Would I work on co-authored projects in
the future? Yes, if the opportunity sounds like a good fit. Over the years I’ve
heard about a number of bad experiences, but that’s fodder for another article.
Terry W. Ervin II ©2018
Terry W. Ervin II is an English teacher who enjoys writing fantasy
and science fiction. His science fiction novels include Relic Tech and Relic Hunted
(part of the Crax War Chronicles),
and Thunder Wells, a
post-apocalyptic alien invasion novel.
Rock House and Cavern
are his co-authored action adventure novellas (with David Wood), and Genre Shotgun is his short story
collection, that includes SF, mystery, horror/suspense and inspirational tales.
His post-apocalyptic fantasy series, First Civilization’s Legacy, includes Flank Hawk, Blood Sword
and Soul Forge.
Terry’s newest series (Fantasy/LitRPG) Monsters, Maces and Magic includes Outpost, with Betrayal
slated for release in April of 2018. He is currently working on Relic Shield, the third novel in the Crax War Chronicles.
To contact Terry or to learn more about his writing endeavors,
visit his website at www.ervin-author.com,
that of his publisher, Gryphonwood Press, and his blog, Up Around the Corner at uparoundthecorner.blogspot.com.
Posts
3 comments:
I agree with you: working with a co-author can strengthen the work. My first experience with this was a YA mystery I wrote with my two sons when they were teenagers. It was based on a real experience. WHERE IS ROBERT? on the benefit of my younger son Dan's first person voice/point of view and my older son Andrew's story.
I did the actual writing but never could have written that particular novel without their collaboration. My mystery for Five Star/Cengage, THE THIRD EYE, was another collaboration, this time with Andrew. The book benefited by using two separate viewpoints.
I've never co-authored with anyone, Terry, but after reading your post, I can see the
potential opportunities to learn and expand. Maybe someday. . .
Jacqueline, you've had quite varied experiences with co-authoring.
If you can find the right partner, Earl, it can be a positive experience.
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