What do you look for in a writing partner?
Apr 22, 2020 18:16:02 GMT
shiv, desmondmiles, and 5 more like this
Post by pompon on Apr 22, 2020 18:16:02 GMT
not a complete list of things i look for, but some things i think are nice to have in thread partners:
it’s not talked about often but i like when my thread partners & i have almost an unspoken understanding as to when a thread can linger on a moment & when it should move? for example: we’re in a slice-of-life setting, & character A is visiting character B’s place so they can bake a cake together. if we’re going to start the thread w/ A arriving at B’s doorstep, i feel like a lot of ppl. get antsy & think that if they do not cross that threshold immediately & get down to cake business then the other person is going to think they forgot about the purpose of the thread. which isn’t the case! i like when i know our characters can take a couple of posts to talk shop at the door or take some time to come inside, take off their boots, talk about their day — maybe B offers to take A’s coat — & then B invites A into their kitchen & they commence the baking of the cake.
(it helps that i write really short posts. so when i do it w/ my thread partners we can toss a couple one-liners back & forth where our characters just shoot the breeze before we start progressing the thread, lol.)
another thing i like that’s kind of related is when both thread partners take the time to set the scene within which their characters are interacting. say the characters are walking home from school. it can be as simple as one of the writers indicating that both of their characters have stopped at an intersection. or maybe the writer playing character A creates a park for the two to pass, & makes a comment about the children playing soccer — that gives room for the other person to, for example, mention in their next post the soccer ball being kicked their way, & then character B can kick it back. (“nice kick!” says character A. character B looks at them very suavely & charmingly. “yeah. i played soccer in middle school, but i quit when i got into high school.” now they can spend some time talking about the traumatic accident that forced B to quit soccer. the two characters bond. the sunset is pretty. everything is lovely.)
i feel like the above is hard for some ppl. b/c they don’t want to step on the other writer’s toes, or they don’t want the thread to stray too far off the path they’ve pre-determined for it, or what-have-you. that’s why i think it’s nice when you can trust someone enough to take the thread in unexpected directions. it helps for me to think of it as less like a situation where i’m controlling my own character’s reactions & they’re controlling their character’s & more like a situation where the two of us are collectively writing a story about two characters together, which requires both writers to have not only an understanding of the direction of the thread but also an understanding of the characters — esp. the one that doesn’t belong to them.
tl;dr i like when ppl. take their time & also when they don’t leave me to be the sole person doing the description work
it’s not talked about often but i like when my thread partners & i have almost an unspoken understanding as to when a thread can linger on a moment & when it should move? for example: we’re in a slice-of-life setting, & character A is visiting character B’s place so they can bake a cake together. if we’re going to start the thread w/ A arriving at B’s doorstep, i feel like a lot of ppl. get antsy & think that if they do not cross that threshold immediately & get down to cake business then the other person is going to think they forgot about the purpose of the thread. which isn’t the case! i like when i know our characters can take a couple of posts to talk shop at the door or take some time to come inside, take off their boots, talk about their day — maybe B offers to take A’s coat — & then B invites A into their kitchen & they commence the baking of the cake.
(it helps that i write really short posts. so when i do it w/ my thread partners we can toss a couple one-liners back & forth where our characters just shoot the breeze before we start progressing the thread, lol.)
another thing i like that’s kind of related is when both thread partners take the time to set the scene within which their characters are interacting. say the characters are walking home from school. it can be as simple as one of the writers indicating that both of their characters have stopped at an intersection. or maybe the writer playing character A creates a park for the two to pass, & makes a comment about the children playing soccer — that gives room for the other person to, for example, mention in their next post the soccer ball being kicked their way, & then character B can kick it back. (“nice kick!” says character A. character B looks at them very suavely & charmingly. “yeah. i played soccer in middle school, but i quit when i got into high school.” now they can spend some time talking about the traumatic accident that forced B to quit soccer. the two characters bond. the sunset is pretty. everything is lovely.)
i feel like the above is hard for some ppl. b/c they don’t want to step on the other writer’s toes, or they don’t want the thread to stray too far off the path they’ve pre-determined for it, or what-have-you. that’s why i think it’s nice when you can trust someone enough to take the thread in unexpected directions. it helps for me to think of it as less like a situation where i’m controlling my own character’s reactions & they’re controlling their character’s & more like a situation where the two of us are collectively writing a story about two characters together, which requires both writers to have not only an understanding of the direction of the thread but also an understanding of the characters — esp. the one that doesn’t belong to them.
tl;dr i like when ppl. take their time & also when they don’t leave me to be the sole person doing the description work
