The Amazing Benefits Of "Tag-Team" Co-Writing! (Part 4)

This is part 4 of our conversation on working together as writers. If you missed the first 3 parts, they can be found here.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

(David) W.C. did have a way of being a Wise-Cracking, West-Coast, Wild-Child, with Wonderful-Comedic timing and tendencies.

That's why I was a bit surprised by his answer about pressing on, stamina, perseverance, never giving up and doing what you feel you want to do."Son. It's like I've said before. If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then Quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it."

(Larry) Well I say a hearty "Amen" to the first part of his exhortation, the whole thing about pressing on, stamina, perseverance and never giving up on pursuing what you feel, or know it is that you want to do.

Creative screen writer / actor / director Woody Allen has been immortalized for decades for his vast number of deeply brilliant and often simultaneously humorous lines, but one of the most famous Woody Allen quote is actually quite profoundly serious in it's significant substantive stance that "90% of life is just showing up!"

It's true. You don't always have to have all the answers completely figured out and lined up in a decisively masterful "step-by-step" order arrangement. Sometimes just having the motivation and determination to show up with a sincere conviction and unwavering, driving commitment, is all you really need.

Just like the extremely resourceful "MacGyver" before us, we never fully know for sure, exactly how or what tools we will need to utilize in order to succeed at our objectives. Once we "show up," with a determination to see things through till the very end, that's when we finally have earned the opportunity to personally experience the immediacy of the circumstance.

Then and only then are we really in a reasonable position to most effectively interpret for ourselves precisely where we stand and decide whether it's going to take (a) the toothpick, stick of chewing gum, magnet, harmonica, can of hair-spray and the clock radio or (B) the "D" sized battery, slab of bacon, mini pocket calculator, cigarette lighter, plastic straw and the litre of orange soda to get us out of the current jam we find ourselves in and back onto the road to victory.

So yes, without a doubt, absolute perseverance and total commitment are vitally important to "team effort" writing project.

(David) I think you are right. And this article seems to be a perfect example of having an idea at the beginning, but then taking on a life of it's own down the road becoming more than what we thought it could become later on. What started as an article has become more of a transcript of 2 people talking about what it is to write together. This has brought about a few extra topics that we may not have thought about had this had been strictly scripted in (as you mentioned) a step-by-step manner.

Sure, it could be a whole stream of consciousness exercise (and that, by the way, is an exercise which is quite beneficial to anyone either in business or wanting more out of life, but isn't quite sure what that is). In this case, our "article" has become the beginning of a road map. An example of what can be created with just a single idea.

But in the end, one does need to get back to what works, what was begun in order to get something accomplished. So how about we move on to something more useful and personal?