Those of you who are authors: Have you ever worked with a co-author? Or have you ever been one?
Here’s why I’m asking:
The other day I took a brief nap in the afternoon, and woke up with a truly remarkable dream on my mind. This has never happened to me before. Usually I either don’t remember dreams or I remember little meaningless images. But this time I remembered every single detail and unlike most dreams, it actually made sense, once the convoluted story was sorted out. It involved a criminology classroom, an actual crime, an opera, subliminal messages, and a murderer being driven to confess. The opera is the key to the entire plot.
My first thought, upon recalling this dream, was, “OMFG, this would make a great novel . . . and an even greater movie!”
Now. I am not a writer. I have no knowledge of criminology, which is important to the plot. I don’t even enjoy murder mysteries in general, neither in novels nor movies. And what little writing I’ve done convinces me that I really suck at dialog. And in fact, I don’t even know whether this story has already been done . . . if not the exact plot, at least something similar.
So, those of you who are writers: Where do I start with this? Should I just start writing? Should I outline the plot first? Should I learn about criminology? Or should I try to find a co-author? And if I do, how much of the work do I need to do before contacting him? And if my concept is any good, how do I know he won’t just rip me off and write it himself?
No author in the world wants to write up your dream.
None. Not any. We all have hundreds of our own ideas that we’re too busy to work on.
The notion is itself a dream, although one that only non-writers have. “My idea is so wonderful that an author will leap to write it up.” No. It never happens.
If you want to pursue this, you’ll have to do it yourself.
What you are asking in the OP is not co-writing. You’re asking someone else to to all the work.
If you want this to be turned into a novel, then you’ll have to do the work yourself. And, yes, that includes studying up on everything you need to know (OTOH, you only have to know enough to fake it convincingly).
As to how to start writing, look for a good book on the subject. I recommend Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain, but there are many other good ones.
Nevertheless, some people write in teams, dividing up specific tasks like structure, plot and dialogue. Generally, one of the partners could do salable writing without the other partner, the one who fancies himself to be an “idea man.” Unless the “idea man” is a son-in-law or someone who saved your cherished grandchild from drowning, he is best avoided or cut out of the process.
I would suggest that you actually try to write the story yourself. You say you’re not a writer, but neither are 3/4 of the hacks you see on the shelves at the supermarket. Just try to tell the story as best you can, as simply as you can. Don’t try to be “writerly” or fancy. Don’t go to the thesaurus. Just write the story. Do the research yourself. You don’t have to be a writer to do that.
You say you can’t write dialogue, but if you have a tight story all mapped out, the dialogue doesn’t have to do anything more than move the story. You don’t have to try to be Quentin Tarantino, just have the characters say what needs to be said. No need to be superfluous.
Do this much, and you will have a workable first draft of a story. Then you can go back and hone it. If the story is really strong enough, everything else will follow as long as you stay out of your own way, and just stick to just telling the story. Sparse and minimalistic can work very well. Isaac Asimov never put a dime’s worth of effort into character or “writing,” and did very well for himself.
The story is really the most important thing. If the story is really as strong and as mapped out as you think it is, everything else will take care of itself.
If your story is not that that and mapped out, then you don’t have anything to bring to the table for a cowriter anyway.
I am an author - I’ve published both fiction and non-fiction, worked alone and with co-authors.
I would not write fiction as a co-author. As suggested above, I have no shortage of my own ideas. I would work with a co-author for non-fiction again, but only if the co-author was needed for a differing, but complementary, areas of expertise. I would prefer to work alone.
My advice is like those above - start writing. If the story and characters sustain you, you will get to the end. I am not a naturally brilliant writer, nor do I have a great vocabulary. I’m a plodder, but I have quite a few books out there. If your plot is great - and more importantly - you can develop characters fully - then the writing will happen. Lots and lots of people say they have a book in them - very few finish writing it, and then accept that a first draft manuscript is just the starting point.
Try it! You could find you absolutely love working in your imagined world.
Thanks so much, guys, for your input. I don’t know why I assumed I couldn’t just do it myself, but obviously this is going to be a solo undertaking. I’ll let you know how it’s going.
I’ve collaborated with others on some academic articles (ZZzzzzzzz…) but whenever I’ve tried to collaborate with somebody on a creative piece it’s never worked. The voices are too different for one thing, plus we both want creative control (“No, I want the police officer to say THIS, not THAT!”) and then there’s the issue of finding a time when you’re both able and willing and inspired to write and read and comment. Also, like all group projects whether it’s 2 people or 10, you’re both/all probably going to have the feeling that “I"m doing ALL THE WORK!” regardless of whether or not it’s true.
I have a good friend who wants me to write the story of her and her husband’s courtship and marriage. Now this is not your typical “boy meets girl” story- his psycho ex put them on the national news a couple of times in a very sordid affair involving a hit man and an FBI agent and a flight from justice- this is DEFINITELY a story worth telling. I tried, but I just really don’t “feel” it, if that makes any sense; as mentioned by others, I have too many of my own stories I want to tell that I can’t really give my best to other people’s even though this one would probably absolutely sell.
That said, there are several successful authors and especially screenwriters who’ve had writing partners, so it can be done.
There was a cute subplot in Julie and Julia where two women prevail on Julia Child to “help” them write a cookbook. Bickering ensued over who was carrying her share of the load. Ultimately, two of these ladies were lost to obscurity. Happens a lot.
Just to balance the warnings a bit, I have a pretty successful career with my writing partner. We’ve been working together for almost four years now, and we have never had a single argument over who was doing the most work. We often have disagreements on how a plot should go, but hashing it out only strengthens the story in the end.
Another alternative is to hire a ghost-writer. These guys make a living writing other people’s ideas - but you will have to pay their wages while they do so. I have a friend who does this to help fund her own writing. She hates it (says the clients seldom listen to any suggestions to tweak what they have given her, even though it would unquestionably improve the book), but that’s not the point.
Of course there are zillions of examples of writing partners and zillions more examples of writers collaborating on books and stories. There are ghost writers and story doctors and the writers rooms on television. There are editors who do so much rewriting they should have their name on the cover. There are hundreds of other possible forms of collaboration.
There are no examples of writers willing to take somebody else’s idea from a dream and write it up for them.
Not just apples and oranges but apples and the square root of wombats.
Well, not quite. There are probably no co-authors who will do this for free. There are any number who would do it for a paycheck. If you want this badly enough (and don’t think you can do it yourself), be prepared to invest some money in it.
There certainly are co-authors and writing teams, including some very successful ones like Ellery Queen, Debra Doyle and James McDonald, Steve Miller and Sharon Lee, Nordoff and Hall, Niven and Pournelle, etc. Even Harlan Ellison co-wrote a series of short stories collected in Partners in Wonder
But in all cases, these involved two people who actually co-wrote the work. Techniques vary, but usually one writes a section or draft, and the other comes in and takes it from there. Both writers are involved in the work; it’s not just one person coming up with the idea and the other one doing all the writing.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation where somebody has an idea for a book and won’t say what it is, but they’re sure it’s gold and they want to turn it into a book. I will tell you that it’s never been with a professional writer or anybody in the book business. And I guess that should tell you everything you need to know about the value of an idea in this industry.
I don’t think many people realize how hard it is to be a hack. Every one of them spent years writing and learning the craft.
And hell, if you’re in the supermarket you’re a bestseller. Nothing to sneeze at. I don’t care for most of them, but I respect what those hacks have been able to do.
It is a ghostwriter the OP wants, but FTR a ghostwriter usually works from an outline, not a concept. If that’s all the OP provides, the other guy isn’t a ghostwriter or a coauthor, he’s simply the author of the book.
To be fair, they didn’t get TV shows. Julia did. I doubt she would be remembered if it wasn’t for that. And I’m not disputing what she did; she was a serious chef and author who is far better than most TV chefs today. I’m just thinking that, realistically, she’d be long forgotten if it wasn’t for the show.