Flights of Fantasy discussion

Ok so me and my brother (who does not have a GR account) came up with an idea.

We are going to create a world with two opposing sides/nationalities/religions/etc and he's going to write from one viewpoint and I'm going to write from the other. This is mostly just a project for fun, to see how well we can pull it off.

I don't have a whole lot of experience with published fantasy collaborations, so I figured I'd ask on here to see if you guys had any ideas on the common pitfalls, ideas, or had comments.

I think that sounds cool, actually! I would say that the only thing I would be concerned about would be consistency. Things like making sure that your depiction of the other guys' beliefs and culture and whatnot match. Or maybe not "match", but at least complement each other to the extent that peoples who don't really understand each other would claim to understand each other... if that makes sense.

Or make sure that place names match, or that you've explained that Culture A calls it something different from Culture B.

Just details, really. I don't think I've read any collaborations of the type that you're describing, so I don't know if there're common pitfalls, but I would think that just making sure that you both stick to your individual voices in the story and remain committed to the story, I think it would turn out really cool. :)

I read a trilogy which was written as correspondence between the two main characters, and an author took each character. My main complaint in that series, actually, was that the voices were too similar, even though they were written by different people.

So aside from the consistency issue, I'd just suggest making sure you don't start mimicking each others styles subconsciously.

Yes, I agree, Colleen.

This does sound interesting.

I think yall will have to spend a good deal of time ironing out the world before writing could actually begin.

I think MrsJoseph suggestion about ironing out the world is a good one. You should at least have the setting's rules laid out and maybe some of the basic cultural information/history, etc settled.

I think having a general timeline for the story may be helpful. It depends how flexible/experimental you want to be.

As someone who did collaboration, I think setting and balancing creative roles is also important.

Colleen wrote: "My main complaint in that series, actually, was that the voices were too sim..."

Yeah, that's one of my concerns as well, since we've always been close, and we've always been writers. We've been sounding boards for each other, so hopefully we don't start sounding alike.

MrsJoseph wrote: "I think yall will have to spend a good deal of time ironing out the world before writing could actually begin."

We sat down over the weekend to work on the worldbuilding a bunch. It's set in a single, enormous city that's been fought over for hundreds of years (this will have a heavily military slant) and we're each writing 2 primary POV characters from each side. The characters' plot lines will start to intertwine as the plot starts to rush to the end.

It's starting to come together from the basic concept. We worked out a ton of cultural background, history, and most of the primary plot points (we're more architects than gardeners).

Luke, sounds like you're off to a good start. Have fun!

Sounds pretty interesting. I agree with the point above (certain matters of fact will need to be agreed upon beforehand and you may well need to collaborate closely when the two cultures collide) but it sounds like a good idea.

If you make it into a book (or two) then money might be an issue. Making it into two books would solve that, but it might work better story-wise as a single volume.

Thaddeus wrote: "Sounds pretty interesting. I agree with the point above (certain matters of fact will need to be agreed upon beforehand and you may well need to collaborate closely when the two cultures collide) b..."

Yeah, we're really split on this point. I want to alternate chapters, but he wants to do two separate books. I'm just not sure how to make two separate books work with a story-line that's very interwoven.

Luke wrote: " I'm just not sure how to make two separate books work with a story-line that's very interwoven. "

I'm with you. Based on what you've described and I've imagined, I think it would be one book, alternating chapters. I don't see how two books would work unless it was a Feast For Crows/Dance With Dragons situation... but I'll be honest, I think it would make it MUCH harder to write two books and make both of them feel like they are complete enough stories on their own.

Plus, if you do decide to publish, you'd have to weigh the chance that a publisher might be less inclined to take a chance on two half-stories than one. And that readers might feel the same way. It's not quite the same as a series - you're telling one story from two perspectives, but would be asking people to pay for each one. I think nowadays books are needlessly split into more parts than are needed, and that bugs me.

Just my thoughts. I think one book just makes more sense to me.

Yeah, it would just add too much difficulty for the reader to split it. We might send it in to a fantasy e-book publishing company if it turns out at least mostly decent. I'm not ready (either time wise, or skill wise) to try to get into the mainstream publishers.

To be honest, its so hard to find a fantasy stand alone that...that would make me take a second look off gate.

I think of James SA Corey, two authors writing alternating POVs.

Chris wrote: "I think of James SA Corey, two authors writing alternating POVs."

I'll have to check that out, thanks.

Leviathan Wakes is the first book in the series and I really enjoyed it. Haven't gotten to the rest of them yet. I think the fourth is coming out this year.

I'm actually reading Honor Among Thieves by them now, a Star Wars book, and it's good too. Not sure the division of labor on this though. So far all the POV has been Han Solo.

Chris wrote: "I think of James SA Corey, two authors writing alternating POVs."

Ooh, yes, I loved Leviathan Wakes. But I didn't know that they each wrote a POV - is that for sure how they did it?

I think so. I read somewhere that each wrote for one of the main characters (I can't remember their names). I don't remember which author had which POV.

I'm a lot of use, eh?

That's cool. You know I don't want too much info anyway. I'd just start over-analyzing and over-thinking it. lol

I didn't even realize that I already had Leviathan Wakes in my TBR list lol.

We've come up with some really good concepts that will fit really nicely with the story, I'm just worried about our ending. I'm going to have to work to make sure it doesn't feel like a trope.

Ok, found my topic again lol.

Anyways, anyone know any concept artists who aren't incredibly expensive? I have a good friend who would give me a good price, but he's backed up for a long time with a comic book series and about 12 other projects. I need at least two works done to help me envision some parts of the setting.

I have a friend who enjoys that kind of thing and is currently taking commissions.

Link to the commission post

Link to Deviantart account

Oooh, Sinistmer, I REALLY like his art!

I donated $5 to him just because I like this one:
http://bazzelwaki.deviantart.com/art/...

Hope he meets his goal! :)

I gave up on trying to apply that to this Star Wars book. All the pov is Han Solo.

Ugh. Sometimes I hate reading talented authors, because I watch all these awesome parts come together and then think "I could never do that". I'm just writing this project for fun, but it still sucks to get rail-roaded by a damn good book lol.

Luke wrote: "Ugh. Sometimes I hate reading talented authors, because I watch all these awesome parts come together and then think "I could never do that". I'm just writing this project for fun, but it still suc..."

I feel this way I'm reading and working on my stuff. I just try to push through. It sounds like you're taking the right approach though.