So this is something where I'm genuinely not sure how to proceed, so I'm seeking help from my HazMat buddies and I think anyone else who's considering collaborating could benefit. So here goes...

In my situation, another writer and I are fans of each other's work and he proposed we do a collaboration, specifically a crossover fic. I thought this sounded like a fun idea and, since I've never done it before, I was psyched about it being a new experience. (Insert "be gentle, it's my first time" joke here.)

What We Did (i.e. the Part I Do Know How to Do):

1. Brainstorm: My partner and I started by tossing out ideas about how our respective universes could work together, expressing different ideas that we thought would work well in the story.

2. Outline: I wrote a proposed outline where I laid out the bare bones of the story. My partner, happy that I took the initiative, discussed the merits of it and made some suggestions on how we could improve it.

We then did a more detailed outline of how each individual scene would play out. We finally settled on it and we think we're good to go! Yep, everything's good, we just need to, well, write it! So, um...

How Do Two Authors Write Just One Story?
Yeah, that's the problem. I know it has been done before and I tried to do a little research on it, but I'm on the fence about what would work best and I don't want the story to suffer. So, here is what I've got:

1. The story is something that I write entirely myself or my partner does by himself and then the other person edits and critiques. This sounds the least like a collab to me, and I worry that it would end up sounding too much like the other person's style. Though, in fairness, it will easily sound the most "consistent" in terms of style, so that's something.

2. Write different parts of the story. I figure that means a few different options:
a. Divvy up the different scenes more-or-less equally, then edit the thing together.
b. Write in tandem together, like over Skype and Google Docs, writing for a fixed period of time before switching. Odd, but bound to be interesting.
c. Divide scenes by character. Certain scenes might be a little more relevant to one character than another, so we could switch that way, but the problem is that the story takes place primarily in my universe and the two characters are in virtually every single scene together, so it might be hard to balance it.

The other problem is how to release it. My partner's story is more popular, though we both have about the same number of followers and I'm sure there's a good amount of overlap in our readership. We could post it on his account for more exposure, or we could put it on mine, since it takes place more in my universe than his, or we could split the story into parts and have readers read the separate parts on each other's accounts (which would be weird, but eh, throwing it out there), or we could just create a shared account for the collab.

Anyway, I'd love to know what people think, not just for my sake, but for anyone else in the group who wants to attempt a similar project. Thanks in advance for anyone who as advice!

4999961 I've never done a collaboration in writing, but I have designed pneumatic systems and hexapod robots in groups. Unfortunately, I've often found the following to be true:

If you don't want to throttle your partner and bury him in a shallow grave at least once, you don't care enough about the project.

What you'll want to do is allocate tasks and responsibilities between yourselves, so you're both familiar with your individual duties. This can range from pretty much anything to everything, so long as both of you has eyes on what the other is doing. If for some reason you're not aware of some change or action your partner has done, you're gonna have a bad time. What we often do is keep workbooks detailing our actions throughout the project.

The good news is that since there's two of you, you've already got an editor. One thing I'd also advise is that you spend a good half hour thinking about what your priorities are. Oftentimes, even within a small group, different things are going to be important to different people. I, for example, am a big fan of meeting deadlines. Other people desperately want to include an obscure technology in our hexapod in order to achieve marks. These can sometimes conflict, so it's nice to iron them out sooner rather than later.

I'd advise against sharing an account, though, as they're always weird. It's like getting a cat together. If you break up, who gets the freaking cat?! He was my best friend!

Finally, schedule is very important. Once you've got your individual priorities and responsibilities sorted out, you've got to go ahead and do them.

4999992

The good news is that since there's two of you, you've already got an editor. One thing I'd also advise is that you spend a good half hour thinking about what your priorities are. Oftentimes, even within a small group, different things are going to be important to different people.
...
Finally, schedule is very important. Once you've got your individual priorities and responsibilities sorted out, you've got to go ahead and do them.

Oh those are very good points! The good news is that the story will work well as a one-shot, so it wouldn't be an ongoing project with lots of schedule slip. Still, you're right... I tend to work very quickly, with 5-10k chapters released every two weeks. Not everyone can do that, of course, so I better work out something livable with my partner.

Thanks, Hap, that's great advice to start off!

4999961 The way I handle my collaborations is: everypony can do everything. The fewer limitations you put on people, the more productive they will be. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BezzMMMHa4n6UcXOCIx-gFIOfsYqMTAnlMXJe7MiTZI/edit#heading=h.sm8jfc1da26g

Everypony on the project has his/her own color. Whether he/she writes or edits, that color is used. That makes it clear who contributed how much and who changed what.

5000231 Good point and good strategy, Bad Dragon!

...Also, I might have to read that fic. Possibly alongside my illustrator, who is also a fan of "Kung Fury." So awesome...

5000231 I wish I could do that for my group design and make project, but backtracking is far more energy consuming than stepping forwards cleverly. Besides, I don't trust them as far as I can poke them.

This one time, after four weeks of preparing different concepts, one of them confessed he didn't know how one of them worked in front of our project supervisor, so we had so spend ten minutes explaining it to him in the middle of a review session. I swear, it's the fastest my hip flask has gone from full to empty ever. Of all time.

5001490

I swear, it's the fastest my hip flask has gone from full to empty ever. Of all time.

Part of me really hopes that you wake up after a night of heavy drinking sometimes and discover that you've built bizarre mechanical monstrosities with no recollection of what they were supposed to be.

...Or maybe I've just watched too many sci-fi shows and have an unrealistic expectation of what people in robotics actually do.

5002059 I woke up and found Dwarf Fortress on my computer once.

Not quite the same as finding a robot in my living room, but I did turn on my computer after a night of gaming to find this on my screen:

Take special note of the title I bestowed upon Sanuslolok.

5002138 Ha! Bestadmin indeed.