Joint Projects

A few weeks ago I began writing a storyline based on an idea a friend of mine had. The idea, though rough without an inkling of characters or script, was based on a setting. It was not something necessarily new, but it was an intriguing concept and it stuck in my mind like hardening cement. For a month I ruminated on the idea, thinking up possible people or story concepts only to find they all seemed like a cliché. They’d been done before, in one way or another, so none of them were original. The only thing about it all was I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind. It sat there like rotting meat and festered until I had to do something about it. This resulted in roughly four solid pages of writing on a project I’ll call NORSE, which is a few hours’ worth of pounding the keys for me (I’m not the fastest typist around). Once written my mind was free and I could leave it alone, or rather it left me alone. A day later, however, I realized it needed a review, so I spent a day looking it over from time to time making minor adjustments throughout. Satisfied with the results, I did what any person should do, I sent the beginning of the story back to my friend to see:

1. What he thought; 2. If it was something he would want to pursue, or 3. Whether I could run with the idea on my own.

Frankly, though, none of those things mattered to me for a couple of reasons and none of them have to do with his reply to my inquiry. What mattered was the idea was gone from my mind allowing me to continue writing on my other projects. As I’ve said before, there are two I’m already working on and they will probably take a good portion of 2012 to finish (if I’m lucky). Beyond those two are another three which I am ruminating on, though none of them is as intriguing as NORSE.

Now in the past I’ve tried to start projects as a team with little success (though not with the man who inspired NORSE). Those projects didn’t pan out as I expected and it wasn’t because of lack of material or interest. It was due to a lack of time. Joint projects take teamwork and for the most part I would consider myself a lone gunman when it comes to my writing. I like things my way and tend to be rather inflexible. This is not to say I can’t be swayed, but let me be the first to say it won’t be an easy undertaking. Because of this (of me) there needs to be an eye-to-eye agreement on things from the get-go. That agreement doesn’t have to mean the writing HAS to be 50-50 or even 60-40. It’s just got to be accepted by both parties and it doesn’t even have to concern the writing, but could just entail the storyline, the free exchange of ideas on where the story goes and how it ends. That being said, for all intents and purposes I’ll do the majority of the writing as long as the idea, the overall story concept, is an original. And let it be known that if I do the typing then it will be done slowly, but it will get done. I anticipate this will probably be what occurs with NORSE.

On another note, my book ‘Dream Savior’ is nearly complete.