Catch-Up

Hi again. It's been awhile.

I guess I should start with the big reveal: "The Secret Project" I've been mentioning was a collaboration between my cousin and I. Around the beginning of summer, he brought up the idea of working on a short story together as a wedding present for our cousin Erin. I thought it was a touching thing to do, and to boot he even had the basic premise of a story already in his head, which was awesome. He told it to me, and I readily agreed to work with him on it.

But writing is such a lonely job by description, so how are two people supposed to go about crafting a story together that reads coherently under one "voice"? I was worried, but I knew if I were ever to work on a TV show or big-budget film, I'd definitely be working with other writers, so why not start out with another writer like my cousin who is humble, talented... and best of all... patient! I knew that whatever challenges we'd face, that I was on a good team.

So I asked him about it, and he found a great entry on Neil Gaiman's Journal about how he works with other writers. We liked the bit about them taking turns sending each other sections of the story. It reminded me of reading a serial novel in sections, and I liked the idea of looking forward to trying to surprise each other with each section.

So we tried it out. And guess what? We finished it in time for the wedding, and were pleased with the entire experience. When talking about it, we both mentioned how the story went in directions neither of us could have foreseen. It was definitely a treat watching a story take a life of its own, and carve a narrative that was unpredictably satisfying.

The funniest thing was trying to explain to my friends why I couldn't go out some nights due to meeting a deadline.

"What deadline?" they would ask.

"Um... I can't... actually say," would be my only response.

"What do you mean you can't tell me!?"

I've discovered since that secrecy, no matter how clear-hearted in intent, is still an outright slap in the face to some. My apologies to those people! I was just keeping a promise to remain secretive about it while it was being written. No harm intended.

If you want to learn more about the project, check out my cousin's writing journal. There's a good chance he will write about the experience too from his perspective. And even if he doesn't write about it, check out his journal anyway. His entries are always charming and witty to read.