Cowriting Books
- H. D. Ramirez
- Mar 17
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 18
Introduction
You all have a favorite duo, a favorite pairing; for example, Sam and Frodo, Fred and George Weasley, Phineas and Ferb. But these pairings don’t only happen in film and television or music. Some great authors are friends with other authors.
J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were friends, and imagine if they wrote a book together. Rick Riordan and Cassandra Clare are friends, even sharing names and surnames for their characters. However, some authors choose to cowrite books.
This happened with Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufmann, who coauthored The Illuminae Files and The Aurora Cycle trilogies. Holly Black and Cassandra Clare, both great friends, coauthored the Magisterium Series. John Green and David Levithan shared in writing Will Grayson, Will Grayson. The question still lingers: If writing a book alone is hard, how did these authors cowrite them?
“When there is unity there is always victory.” — Publilius Syrus
Prerequisites
To cowrite a book, the first and most important requisite is to find a cowriter. This is a bit complex, as you need someone who you like and can trust, such as a friend—the most obvious choice for a cowriter. You two most likely already have the requisites of great writing duos: trust and great communication.
But what if you don’t have writer friends? In the era of digital communities, you can research different writing platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram, and attend writing events and conferences. If you reach out and are open to new friendships, you can create your own community of writers that will keep growing. Or a mutual connection can introduce you to another writer, as it happened with Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.
Finding a coauthor is hard. And if you find one, you won’t want to let them go, so you should consider if they share the same taste in the genres that you like to read and write. They also need to have the same work ethic as you, sharing the workload. Otherwise, you two might have a disagreement and part ways, leaving you with the hard job of finding another coauthor.
“There’s always going to be someone else there to rein us back in.” — Holly Black
Warm-up
Once you find your cowriter, you need to communicate as clearly as possible and decide when to meet, preferably in person (less distractions and stronger communication), to plan your book. Organize your schedule and attempt to fit the meeting when you’re both available.
When you two are together, the planning stage begins. Decide the main theme for your book and, if the characters converge in the story, build your character profiles. Outline what’s necessary, but also consider that the plot can change, so don’t plan the whole book. Stay open to any necessary changes.
After all, you chose your cowriter not only because you liked them, but because your strengths complemented each other. You can be a great plot outliner, and they can build great characters; or your writing can be more poetic while theirs is more concise. You both have different styles, but you two can make it work. It all depends on how much you communicate and trust each other.
“We knew then that we had enough to make it work.” — John Green
Cowriting Methods
Like writing solo, you should consider that cowriting also has different methods. They all depend on the dynamics you and your partner already have and ways to improve them. However, some famous author pairings share their methods:
John Green and David Levithan
They wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson, but for their process, they began only with the story’s dates and where the characters would meet. David chose the first name, and John chose the last name. They didn’t plan a single thing. And they each wrote the first chapter individually. Then, David had the idea to exchange their chapters, but John’s wife was there, so they read the chapters aloud.
During their writing process, they knew they wanted to share the same theme but with different characters. They continued to write parallel to one another until they reached the crossing point, when the characters met each other. After finishing the first draft, they revised a lot to ensure it seemed like one novel.
Their method was
to outline the date and location of the characters converging
to write the first chapter of each perspective individually
once the characters met, writing together
to revise to ensure a continuous voice and tone
Cassandra Clare and Holly Black
Both writers of the Magisterium Series shared a computer to write these books. Cassandra wrote five hundred words and passed the computer to Holly, who edited what Cassandra wrote before she wrote her own five hundred words and passed the computer back to Cassandra. This works if you want to produce a seamless voice that reads like one.
After all, each of them have strengths that complement each other. This cowriting method also helps you write over, or expand over, what the other wrote. You also get out of your comfort zone and try new stuff.
So, their writing method can be explained in four steps:
Write five hundred words alone.
Pass the computer to the next writer.
Edit those five hundred words.
Repeat the process: write, pass, edit.
Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Jay and Amie are one of the most famous coauthor duos of our times, as they’ve written two successful trilogies together: The Illuminae Files and The Aurora Cycle. When they were interviewed, they shared the story of their writing process together.
Amie had a dream about her and Jay writing a book together, but she didn’t remember what the book was about. The next day, Amie told Jay about the dream and asked him to tell her what the book was about. That was their planning session. Jay agreed to write a book with her, all written over emails with each one writing different perspectives that were completely separate, never converging.
The Illuminae Files method was
to plan the book together
to write each perspective alone
But when they wrote The Aurora Cycle, they changed their method. Character building was up front, as they wanted to match the voice whenever they converged with other characters. They also tried the characters in different scenes ahead of time, but they didn’t plan the whole book. Instead, they planned one hundred pages, broke them into different perspectives, walked away, and reconvened after those pages were written.
The method for this trilogy is explained as
building the characters
trying them in different scenes
planning a hundred pages ahead
breaking these pages into perspectives
going away and writing alone
reconvening and planning the next hundred pages
“Two brains working on any problem will halve the workload.” — Jay Kristoff
Conclusion
Every duo has their method, their own dynamic. Some have been friends for years, others met through a common connection, but they all still complement each other and find ways to write successful books together.
After all, cowriting is hard if you’re not compatible with your cowriter, if your strengths don’t support each other to build something unique and truly interesting. But you can make it work, like these famous duos, with clear communication and trust in each other.
Resources:
Cassandra Clare and Holly Black on co-writing “The Iron Trial” — They share how their cowriting process is with each other.
John Green & David Levithan Talk About Will Grayson - Will Grayson — John Green explains how David approached him, and both share their writing process for the book.
Jay Kristoff - Entrevista — Laura interviews Jay Kristoff about what inspires his stories and his writing process alone and with Amie Kaufman.
Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman, “Aurora Burning” — Both writers talk about each others’ writing and how they wrote another book together.
No Write Way With Jay Kristoff — Author V. E. Schwab discusses with Jay Kristoff their books and how Jay cowrites different stories with Amie Kaufman.
Interview with author Jay Kristoff — Alix and Kelly interview Jay Kristoff on his career path, how he cowrites with Amie Kaufman, and what inspired his most recent trilogy.
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