Why Cowriting is Useful 

Cowriting means that writing responsibilities are split, and it can take a lot of the pressure off a lone author. I’ve spent a lot of time writing alone, but have also worked with other talented ones who have helped create some fantastic writing pieces.

Simply, it helps.

I’ve had days where I just can’t think, but the deadline stays the same — and comes closer by the minute.

That’s where I’ll tag in a cowriter and say, “Could you look this over and add your thoughts?”

Mistakes are less likely, and a cowriter will always have something useful to add (that you may have missed out on).

The Pitch

Writing for two means that you should include two names in the pitch phase.

Each author has their own strengths, and thoughts to add. This can make a more powerful, detailed pitch to editors — if cowriters can collaborate well enough to put ideas together.

Agree on who leads in pitching emails, and check ideas with your other half first. It’s embarrassing when an idea gets approved by the editor, and your partner says, “Not a chance I’m writing that!” But it can happen without agreement on what you’ll write about.

Keeping Track [Who Wrote What?]

Cowriting can make it difficult to distinguish between one writer and the other.

We call it the Beatles-problem. Strawberry Fields gets credited to several authors, but it’s almost impossible to know which lines go with whom. Solutions we’ve used include:

• Quotation marks,
• Specific headers or side panels,
• Font changes (for drafts and outlines)

This way it’s always clear, and each writer has accountability for their own contribution.

Last-Minute Changes

Rushed changes can be necessary before sending or publication. It can be a simple spelling mistake, but changes might also be more serious.

For one feature, my cowriter said: “Use my words for this one, but don’t put my name on it.”

The editor was okay with the change, but I had to make sure the team knew about this edit by Monday morning. Can you imagine the disaster if this change had missed deadline?

Agree with your cowriter on how these last-minute changes will be handled. We’ve developed our own system, where there’s always a day (or two) to read something over before it goes live.

Editing with Someone Else

All writers edit, but editing with another person is different — and sometimes, an important voice of reason and logic.

There’s a lot of back-and-forth between my cowriter and I during the process. Usually, we’ll both look over a draft when there’s a gap in our schedules (and leave comments in a document we can both access).

Documents can be shared through platforms like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Slack with ease: right click on files or folders, and make the document ‘shareable’ with the correct user. Share Permissions is the setting you’re looking for.

“I’d like to add…” or “remove this” are sentences you’ll both use a lot.

One more industry tip: tools like Google Translate can be a help when a cowriter isn’t Afrikaans, for instance, but the article you’re both working on is.

Where Credit is Due

For a feature about Dalene Matthee (Taalgenoot Autumn issue 2023), my cowriter remained uncredited, but helped me to keep my notes and sanity together on a particularly chaotic day. Comparing Knysna-forest wood to courtroom buildings was part of her input.

Sometimes, we’ll add side-panels instead: ‘‘I Was Stalked’ for People Magazine was a feature that required my cowriter Inger’s input along with source interviews.

Copyright is shared where cowriting credit is given: respective parts, are copyrighted to the authors (but can still be transferred, like first-use rights, to publications).

Partner’s Final Sign-Off

In a partnership, the final sign-off should be from both parties: are you both happy with the piece?

Record the mutual agreement — for every article. We use comments, or discuss as we go, but make sure that either of us can refer back to where we talked about what.

A verbal agreement isn’t enough, and gets difficult to agree over. Set your terms on paper, deciding on how you’ll mark individual input, handle cowriting disputes, and split royalties.

Shared Writing Responsibility

Cowriters and I always know exactly how responsibility will be split. This way, we continue to get along well!

We both have busy schedules and separate writing, so we coordinate carefully. Schedule clashes could mean that one writer feels overwhelmed — and cutting down the pressure is a major advantage of working and writing with another person.

I’ve done some cowriting in bridge too, like an interview with Oryah Meir about women in bridge with Erikas from Bridgescanner collaborating with me to make the feature easier to handle! Sometimes writing needs help.

Shared writing responsibility can also, sometimes, mean ghostwriting but keep track of contributions, or you’ll have a lot of admin figuring out who-did-what later.

Bio: Alex J. Coyne is a gonzo journalist, writer, and proofreader. Sometimes, he is joined by his cowriters. His features have been published in a wide array of international publications, like People Magazine, The Citizen, Caribbean Compass, and Writers Write.