Is co-writing a good idea? Should you write a novel with someone else? Utsudo recommends completing novels on your own whenever possible. Co-writing tends to produce uneven styles and high communication costs, unifying the voice during revision is hard work, and afterward there are questions of copyright and revenue sharing—you might even lose a friend over it. She has had a painful co-writing experience herself, and believes that apart from short-story anthologies, finishing a work alone is the essential path to improving your craft.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

Apart from collections of short stories or anthologies of completed works, I recommend that novels be “completed individually.” If you’re worried, you can ask someone else to help revise after you finish.

Style gaps and communication costs in co-writing

No matter how similar two people’s writing is, there will be differences—everyone is a different person. If you mix your writing without revising it into consistency, readers may feel a jarring gap. If the two writers’ skill levels differ greatly, it’s even more awkward.

Communication is also a hassle. Writing is complex and requires a lot of thinking. When you try to convey your ideas, something is always lost between speech or text. Before the work is even finished, you have to spend tons of energy communicating—and ideas shift, so every small change means another round of discussion…

Just thinking about it is exhausting, though I’m sure some people enjoy sharing that closely with others.

Does writing to each other’s strengths cover everything?

Some might think: I’m bad at fight scenes, he’s bad at romance, so if we team up, won’t we cover everything?

It seems like a good idea. You’ve probably heard of “writing studios,” where many people take turns writing one huge series. But that’s a purely commercial activity—money makes people willing to do it, which is much more reliable than friendship.

Usually, though, people who want to co-write are friends or family. Wanting to finish a work together because you’re close is wonderful, but it’s hard to say whether the work might end up splitting you apart—ahem, ahem!

On top of that, whoever revises has a tough job unifying the style, and it’s usually one of the co-writers. Some may lean toward imitating the other’s style, but that limits their chance to develop their own voice.

Copyright and revenue sharing

Suppose the work is finally finished. Then there’s the question of who owns the copyright.

Once money gets involved in a relationship, things get messy. Losing money and time is minor; the worst part is you might lose a close friend forever.

I think it’s like starting a company with a friend. You often hear of friends who become enemies after starting a business together, usually because they didn’t divide the profits properly. One feels they did more work, the other thinks they contributed more, and it turns into war.

My painful co-writing experience

I’ve actually co-written with someone before, and it was a harsh lesson.

My original partner found a replacement without any discussion; I was only told the result. At the time, the replacement seemed to have published a few books, so I thought it would be fine. Instead, they missed deadlines badly and lacked even basic writing skills, so I had to spend even more time polishing and fixing errors. Thinking about it still makes me angry.

It was a total nightmare. No other work has ever made me that annoyed XD

I don’t rule out that some people have good co-writing experiences, but personally I won’t consider it again in this lifetime—except maybe for a short-story anthology.

Finishing a work on your own is how you truly improve

Co-writing may have some advantages, like only writing what you’re good at, or taking half the time to finish a book. But personally I think the drawbacks are many, and you lose the chance to practice what you’re weak at.

To improve your writing, the ability to complete a work from start to finish on your own is essential, and you have to practice and polish tirelessly. So unless circumstances are special or you want to try co-writing once, I recommend working independently.

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Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #113: Emotional Blackmail
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.