Writing with Someone Else

When that someone else is someone you love, you worry that this is a Very Very Bad Idea. I am here to tell you, it isn’t! My beloved daughter and I have started (and are 43,000 words into) a cozy mystery that both amuses us and keeps us out of trouble.

We’re both Pantsers, I’m happy to report. Being pantsers means we spend a lot of time throwing ideas against the wall to see if they stick. If they do, and it means a rewrite in an earlier chapter, she makes a note of it, and we trudge onward. I do the typing because in the general scheme of things I’m a better speller, but she still catches me now and then. I type, she follows, adds phrases, words, and says things like “Mom, a twenty-something would never say that!” I believe her, being nowhere near twentysomething for a long time now.

The best part is, we’re amusing ourselves. We’ve even laughed out loud at dialogue coming out of our characters’ mouths. The best part is, we’re spending a couple of hours a day together, and that’s priceless. No matter where The Lethal Library ends up, we’ve had a ton of fun.