The 5 keys to collaborative writing

Want to write a book even though you're short on time? Co-authoring a book with another writer (or two) can be a satisfying experience, since it brings the benefit of another brain, imagination and pair of eyes, and halves the amount of writing you have to do. Here's how to make it work.

1. Plot out the whole story before you start writing. Collaborative writing   works best when everyone involved knows exactly what will happen in each chapter. When writing a novel on your own, you can get way with plotting as you go along, but in a collaborative effort it can be disastrous. List the events per chapter together and, importantly, agree on what the ending will be.

2. Crunch the numbers. Decide how long your book will be, and how many words each chapter should contain. If the entire book is to be an 80,000-word thriller composed of snappy 2000-word chapters, that makes 40 chapters, 20 per person.

3. Divide up the work fairly, upfront. It's best to be scrupulously even-handed, taking it in turns to write each consecutive chapter (unless you're two specialists writing a handbook together, in which case it's more sensible to write those chapters relating to your area of expertise). Assign chapters to each writer at the start.

4. Work to weekly deadlines. They're a great motivator. If you're part of a two-person writing team, you'll have one week on and one week off. One chapter a fortnight is doable, no?

5. Hold a weekly meeting to ensure the writing's on track, to egg each other on, and to discuss and resolve any issues that arise with plot, performance or, er, personalities. Good luck!

Catriona Ross is the creator of The Peacock Book Project: Write the novel of your dreams (www.peacockproject.net). Her books are available in the Kindle Store: Little Diamond Eye, The Presence of Peacocks or How to Find Love and Write a Novel, The Love Book, Writing for Magazines: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, and The Happy Life Handbook.

5 writing tips from novelists Alex Smith and Maire Fisher

It was exactly the sort of event I love: two authors in conversation in a coffee shop on a balmy weekday evening. Alex Smith, author of the young adult novel Devilskein & Dearlove, and Maire Fisher, author of Birdseye, dispensed writing wisdom:

The inspiration for a novel can come from anywhere – a moment, a name, an intriguing item. For Alex, her interest in antique keys was a catalyst: 'I knew my heroine ended up with a bunch of keys, and that meant she'd opened a series of doors.' For Maire, a fellow guest at a braai mentioned a relative called 'Ma Bess' and Maire decided to use this gutsy name for a character.

Fit your writing into your schedule. No matter how busy you are, you can find a gap to write. Alex wrote a commissioned novella between the hours of two and four in the morning when her toddler son was a baby! But these days, she writes when he's napping and after 8pm when he's in bed.

Let your story evolve. Have a general idea of where the story's going, but be prepared to change course. Allow your story and characters to take on a life of their own and develop naturally. Maire replaced her elderly narrator with a young girl, Bird: 'I realised she was trying to come out and tell the story.' (So she lost 40,000 words of her manuscript, but the book is all the better for it).

Find a friendly 'first reader'. Show your first draft to one or two friends or relatives who love reading, both authors advise. Ask them specific questions, as these yield constructive criticism: for example, 'I'm not sure about the ending. How do you think I could improve it?'  

The main thing is to enjoy the process. The writing of your first draft is the truly fun, creative, anything-goes part, they agreed. When you feel that 'urgency to get the story down', go with it. Write.

Read the novel that teaches you the art of novel-writing: The Presence of Peacocks or How to Find Love and Write a Novel is available in the Kindle store.