Long-Distance Collaboration
How we make it work.
Angie
When summer comes, I travel. It's what I do.
And when I travel and Dave's back home, I'm not entirely leaving him on his own. Thanks to technology, I will always be a wifi signal away for any questions he has—or tasks he may need me to complete.
The first time he reached out while I was overseas, we had a story problem with Shepherd's Watch, and I worked on it from my aunt's balcony in my hometown in Greece. I sent my notes to him a short while later as if he were sitting beside me—without eight time zones between us.
Another time I was at Sky Garden in London. I was on wifi, and Dave buzzed in to let me know we were nominated for a CCBC award. Amazing!! Celebrations on a skyscraper in London!
If I'm on holiday, I truly am glad I am only a click away from working with my partner. It's fun working that way. Honestly, that's what the future is for me—traveling and writing—the freedom of being anywhere—and not being tethered to work via location. That is the ultimate goal.
May the remainder of your summer be amazing.
David
Angie and I have regularly faced the challenge of collaborating over long distances. Either I'm traveling, or she is, and yet, the work must go on.
So as I prepared for this topic, I asked myself how one collaborates over long distances. And I kept returning to the same answer—almost the same as we collaborate regularly.
Some things need to be in place—like an already healthy collaboration system. We keep in touch with each other to know what work needs to be done and who will do it.
There's also trust: trust the work will be done in the way it is planned. But also patience: things don't always go as planned. Some ideas work, and some new ideas arrive along the way.
Along with these two things, a well-balanced ego. No need to get upset about changes made until you can have a conversation. This means listening to your writing partner, standing up for ideas you're passionate about, and the willingness to meet somewhere in between.
And because of all this, I believe communication is the most important thing, which can also be the biggest challenge. You don't want to bother each other while on vacation, so the trick is to find ideal times, despite the difference, and stay focused on the work.
Angie and I have met at many different times and places over the years, and yet we continue to make it work. I'm always grateful to have a writing partner like her—she makes me a better writer—and I hope we can all travel more and continue our writing partnership into the future.