Reflections On Collaboration
Feb. 27th, 2014 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poetree_admin posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
poetreesomnolentblue (preamble) & jjhunter (curation), with grateful thanks to Hagar, kaberett, jelazakazone, and lauramcewan for their contributions
Hi! Welcome to day four of thept_lightning tie-in week at poetree!
Today we wanted to give you a glimpse into the collaborative process. We invited fanwork creators who have participated in podficcer-writer collaborations before to reflect about their experiences by responding to the following questions. Below, in their own words, are their accounts of collaborating: why they chose to try it, what it was like to do, how they did it, and what advice they have for people venturing into a collaboration for the first time.
If you'd like to share your own experiences, please feel encouraged to speak up in the comments!
N.B. Emphasis added to a non-exhaustive sampling of awesome quotes throughout. —J.J.
"For me, all fannish experience is collaborative. I don't operate in a vacuum. I have mostly given up on the writing part, but I find I still want to tell stories. Podficcing allows me to do that. I can still express myself through fic. I love podding works that were made to be podded." —jelazakazone, fanwork creator
"I enjoy collaborative processes in general. Part of what I like is the product being something I couldn't have done on my own - not necessarily simply longer, or with knowledge I don't have, but in more subtle ways. Pod Together-type collaborations provide quite a lot of that, because it's a partnership of equals with at least one person of a whole other kind of artistry.
"It also has more of the usual challenges of collaboration. A collaboration of equals requires the ability to stretch and a willingness to negotiate - possibly to compromise. This is even more pronounced in the Pod Together process, where one is thrust with a brand-new partner once has never met before and does not have a previous interaction with.
"Now, I love this. I thrive on this. But it requires a skillset that isn't writing or podficcing, and is different than collaborating with a friend or even with someone of the same artistry-type."—![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Hagar, writer
"I wanted to stretch my wings a little and get more involved, so I signed up for the last one. I had a ton of fun discussing the story with the author, making suggestions (which she had no obligation to take), and getting a feel for the story prior to recording it. I think it helped inform my reading of the text, having been involved in its creation like that, whereas when I record any other story, it's due to my love of that text but still seeing it from more of an outsider's perspective." —lauramcewan, podficcer
"Last year forpod_together there was a group of us who did a Youtuber fanwork and it was great that someone else wrote it and then we actors were able to make tweaks to the dialogue. It was just awesome to say, "that doesn't feel in character" or "I don't want to say that" :D " —jelazakazone, fanwork creator
"Podfic was not something I'd really... interacted with at all, before; I'm unlikely to ever listen to much of it because of my auditory processing issues. At least in theory, participating in the last round ofpt_lightning was an opportunity to push myself and to write in formats other than my fairly standard narrative; unfortunately, in practice I'd overcommitted myself in January and ended up writing both in a bit of a rush and largely within my comfort zone.
"Having said that, my absolute favourite thing about participating was that much like any challenge, you've got a deadline and a match on fandoms and maybe the hint of a prompt... but you actually get to talk to your recipient and tailor the fic as you go along, which is just brilliant.
"And furthermore: I got to think about formats I'd never even considered. Answerphone messages! Writing for radio! Making sure that my cadences matched speech (which - is something that I read somewhere else, recently; about how writing dialogue is hard because written & oral language are so very, very different, and we're trained from a very young age not to transcribe the latter in the former)! Generally paying attention from a different set of viewpoints! It was excellent." —kaberett, writer
"Really, what I liked was making a suggestion that would tie two characters together a bit more strongly, though they did not appear together in the story at all due to the storyline. She took that suggestion and I feel like the overall story was tighter and stronger for it. Also, being able to point out something that wasn't super clear and would be difficult to read with confidence if I was unsure of the intent. It helped her see the reader's side and I was able to watch her adjust to meet that need." —lauramcewan, podficcer
"Both my Jan round of PT-L and last round on PT were pretty much amazing. Jan round on PT-L, my podficcer and I had a flimsy fandom match (Songs & Music Videos), and this being a lightning round, we had to figure it out fast. It was a lot like writing a gift fic for my podficcer, trying to figure out what she likes and what works for her. That was a lot of fun in its own right, and then it more than paid off when we got to recording. Recording live, with me rewriting things as she was reading them and her pausing to query my use of certain literary devices, was exhilarating for both of us.
"Previous PT round was a non-traditional collab in five of us, with some previous familiarity but not a lot of it, wrote and recorded a story together. It was a good way for people to get their feet wet with things they didn't do before - people who never recorded podfic before had a safe, supportive environment to try things out, I was confident messing around with complicated editing because I had a team looking after everything else... The experience of working in a full-blown team was amazing for all involved.
"This project also highlights another feature of this kind of work, which is working with languages. I find that the PT and PT-L process is particularly good for working with multiple languages in a project. My other PT-L project from January had three languages. The characters were canonical Hebrew-Arabic bilinguals (the bilinguality being hugely important in the canon), and we also created an English-Arabic version of the story. I'm a non-English native speaker in an English-dominant culture, so this is quite important to me." —Hagar, writer
"What I find interesting is that it's a multimedia collab, working from the same source. (Unlike, say, collaborating with an illustrator.) It's a different way of thinking about the story I create. I know I tend to be very open to edits from the podficcer - encourage it, even. It's a way for me to learn. In some ways, it's creating in two media simultaneously - I have to keep the podficcer spec list in mind." —Hagar, writer
"Mostly I think it's just knowing that the written work will end up being podded. I wrote fic for the first PT I did and it was awesome to think that I could incorporate sound effects, for example!" —jelazakazone, fanwork creator
"I kind of indicated one above - to be able to tell the writer, as the podficcer, what works best when reading out loud and collaborating to make clarity come to life. I've written, too, and I was able to do basic beta work as well, which also helps the podficcer when reading out loud. She really helped me, since I've been rather blocked in writing, still be part of a creative process to complete a story and then give it a literal voice." —lauramcewan, podficcer
"I always use gdocs. I don't have anything better. And email :D " —jelazakazone, fanwork creator
"We used Googledocs for the text and we could make notes and edit in real time. That was very invaluable." —lauramcewan, podficcer
"Talk, talk, talk, and then talk some more. Establish each person's experience levels. (Two relatively inexperienced partners can be a Problem, and will need extra attention.) Establish what's negotiable, and what's a hard line. Establish wish lists. Talk even about things that don't quite seem to belong - getting a sense for each other as a person helps. In the Jan PT-L round, I tailored the fic not just to the agreed-upon list (fandom + women-centric) but also to trends in my podficcer's previous works (folktale-style) and to imagery I thought would work for her (northern coastal). The latter was influenced by knowing what my podficcer's country of origin is (it came up when establishing time zones). Country of origin, secondary languages, fandoms one is no longer into and why... The more you bring to the table, the richer than collaboration will be.
"A non-PT specific rec would be to be aware of cultural issues. I somehow run into this more in PT than in other challenges, but - if you're working from a different real-life culture or a different fan-culture than you, it's going to really come up. Particularly in a PT process, where the collab is so finicky and you don't know the person beforehand, being aware of both your own quirks and the other person and being upfront about them can help. Miscommunications are not helpful.
"Establish expectations, too. For example, the PT-L rules say at least 100 words. My podficcer and I discussed how many words each of us can reliably write/produce in the allotted time, and only then started developing the story. This way, the story was less likely to run away from us. Attention to extra complexities in podfic editing (e.g. special effects) is also advised - my last PT project had some serious editing on it, and we deliberately cut the wordcount relatively short so we'll have time to work on that." —Hagar, writer
"Whatever you expect, it's probably not going to be like that. Partnerships are finicky things. Don't be dead-set on expectations and invest in knowing your partners. Those things will pay off." —Hagar, writer
"If you're going into this with the mindset of "I'm doing it my way no matter what my partner says", someone's going to get hurt. This is a partnership and expect compromise." —lauramcewan, podficcer
"Relax. Have fun. Don't worry. Be happy :D " —jelazakazone, fanwork creator
You can explore more reflections on writer-podficcer collaborative processes in the comments of the pod_together 2011 wrap-up post and the pod-aware posts linked at the Author/Podficcer Relationship Round-Up (2011) and the Collaboration! Round-Up (2012).
Hi! Welcome to day four of the
pt_lightning tie-in week at poetree! Today we wanted to give you a glimpse into the collaborative process. We invited fanwork creators who have participated in podficcer-writer collaborations before to reflect about their experiences by responding to the following questions. Below, in their own words, are their accounts of collaborating: why they chose to try it, what it was like to do, how they did it, and what advice they have for people venturing into a collaboration for the first time.
If you'd like to share your own experiences, please feel encouraged to speak up in the comments!
N.B. Emphasis added to a non-exhaustive sampling of awesome quotes throughout. —J.J.
1: Why do you collaborate with a writer or podficcer? What do you enjoy about the process? How do you find it different than your creative process when you're not collaborating?
"For me, all fannish experience is collaborative. I don't operate in a vacuum. I have mostly given up on the writing part, but I find I still want to tell stories. Podficcing allows me to do that. I can still express myself through fic. I love podding works that were made to be podded." —
jelazakazone, fanwork creator"I enjoy collaborative processes in general. Part of what I like is the product being something I couldn't have done on my own - not necessarily simply longer, or with knowledge I don't have, but in more subtle ways. Pod Together-type collaborations provide quite a lot of that, because it's a partnership of equals with at least one person of a whole other kind of artistry.
"It also has more of the usual challenges of collaboration. A collaboration of equals requires the ability to stretch and a willingness to negotiate - possibly to compromise. This is even more pronounced in the Pod Together process, where one is thrust with a brand-new partner once has never met before and does not have a previous interaction with.
"Now, I love this. I thrive on this. But it requires a skillset that isn't writing or podficcing, and is different than collaborating with a friend or even with someone of the same artistry-type."—
"I wanted to stretch my wings a little and get more involved, so I signed up for the last one. I had a ton of fun discussing the story with the author, making suggestions (which she had no obligation to take), and getting a feel for the story prior to recording it. I think it helped inform my reading of the text, having been involved in its creation like that, whereas when I record any other story, it's due to my love of that text but still seeing it from more of an outsider's perspective." —
lauramcewan, podficcer2: Could you share one or two of your favorite experiences while collaborating?
"Last year for
pod_together there was a group of us who did a Youtuber fanwork and it was great that someone else wrote it and then we actors were able to make tweaks to the dialogue. It was just awesome to say, "that doesn't feel in character" or "I don't want to say that" :D " —jelazakazone, fanwork creator"Podfic was not something I'd really... interacted with at all, before; I'm unlikely to ever listen to much of it because of my auditory processing issues. At least in theory, participating in the last round of
pt_lightning was an opportunity to push myself and to write in formats other than my fairly standard narrative; unfortunately, in practice I'd overcommitted myself in January and ended up writing both in a bit of a rush and largely within my comfort zone."Having said that, my absolute favourite thing about participating was that much like any challenge, you've got a deadline and a match on fandoms and maybe the hint of a prompt... but you actually get to talk to your recipient and tailor the fic as you go along, which is just brilliant.
"And furthermore: I got to think about formats I'd never even considered. Answerphone messages! Writing for radio! Making sure that my cadences matched speech (which - is something that I read somewhere else, recently; about how writing dialogue is hard because written & oral language are so very, very different, and we're trained from a very young age not to transcribe the latter in the former)! Generally paying attention from a different set of viewpoints! It was excellent." —
kaberett, writer"Really, what I liked was making a suggestion that would tie two characters together a bit more strongly, though they did not appear together in the story at all due to the storyline. She took that suggestion and I feel like the overall story was tighter and stronger for it. Also, being able to point out something that wasn't super clear and would be difficult to read with confidence if I was unsure of the intent. It helped her see the reader's side and I was able to watch her adjust to meet that need." —
lauramcewan, podficcer"Both my Jan round of PT-L and last round on PT were pretty much amazing. Jan round on PT-L, my podficcer and I had a flimsy fandom match (Songs & Music Videos), and this being a lightning round, we had to figure it out fast. It was a lot like writing a gift fic for my podficcer, trying to figure out what she likes and what works for her. That was a lot of fun in its own right, and then it more than paid off when we got to recording. Recording live, with me rewriting things as she was reading them and her pausing to query my use of certain literary devices, was exhilarating for both of us.
"Previous PT round was a non-traditional collab in five of us, with some previous familiarity but not a lot of it, wrote and recorded a story together. It was a good way for people to get their feet wet with things they didn't do before - people who never recorded podfic before had a safe, supportive environment to try things out, I was confident messing around with complicated editing because I had a team looking after everything else... The experience of working in a full-blown team was amazing for all involved.
"This project also highlights another feature of this kind of work, which is working with languages. I find that the PT and PT-L process is particularly good for working with multiple languages in a project. My other PT-L project from January had three languages. The characters were canonical Hebrew-Arabic bilinguals (the bilinguality being hugely important in the canon), and we also created an English-Arabic version of the story. I'm a non-English native speaker in an English-dominant culture, so this is quite important to me." —
3: In your experience, what's unique about a collaboration between a podficcer and a writer? What kinds of different (and overlapping!) expertise can they bring to the table, and how can they enrich each other's creative process?
"What I find interesting is that it's a multimedia collab, working from the same source. (Unlike, say, collaborating with an illustrator.) It's a different way of thinking about the story I create. I know I tend to be very open to edits from the podficcer - encourage it, even. It's a way for me to learn. In some ways, it's creating in two media simultaneously - I have to keep the podficcer spec list in mind." —
"Mostly I think it's just knowing that the written work will end up being podded. I wrote fic for the first PT I did and it was awesome to think that I could incorporate sound effects, for example!" —
jelazakazone, fanwork creator"I kind of indicated one above - to be able to tell the writer, as the podficcer, what works best when reading out loud and collaborating to make clarity come to life. I've written, too, and I was able to do basic beta work as well, which also helps the podficcer when reading out loud. She really helped me, since I've been rather blocked in writing, still be part of a creative process to complete a story and then give it a literal voice." —
lauramcewan, podficcer4: What tools or processes do you find useful for collaboration? Are there any in particular you would recommend to people collaborating in podficcer-writer partnerships?
"I always use gdocs. I don't have anything better. And email :D " —
jelazakazone, fanwork creator"We used Googledocs for the text and we could make notes and edit in real time. That was very invaluable." —
lauramcewan, podficcer"Talk, talk, talk, and then talk some more. Establish each person's experience levels. (Two relatively inexperienced partners can be a Problem, and will need extra attention.) Establish what's negotiable, and what's a hard line. Establish wish lists. Talk even about things that don't quite seem to belong - getting a sense for each other as a person helps. In the Jan PT-L round, I tailored the fic not just to the agreed-upon list (fandom + women-centric) but also to trends in my podficcer's previous works (folktale-style) and to imagery I thought would work for her (northern coastal). The latter was influenced by knowing what my podficcer's country of origin is (it came up when establishing time zones). Country of origin, secondary languages, fandoms one is no longer into and why... The more you bring to the table, the richer than collaboration will be.
"A non-PT specific rec would be to be aware of cultural issues. I somehow run into this more in PT than in other challenges, but - if you're working from a different real-life culture or a different fan-culture than you, it's going to really come up. Particularly in a PT process, where the collab is so finicky and you don't know the person beforehand, being aware of both your own quirks and the other person and being upfront about them can help. Miscommunications are not helpful.
"Establish expectations, too. For example, the PT-L rules say at least 100 words. My podficcer and I discussed how many words each of us can reliably write/produce in the allotted time, and only then started developing the story. This way, the story was less likely to run away from us. Attention to extra complexities in podfic editing (e.g. special effects) is also advised - my last PT project had some serious editing on it, and we deliberately cut the wordcount relatively short so we'll have time to work on that." —
5: What one thing would you tell people embarking on a podficcer-writer collaborative project for the first time?
"Whatever you expect, it's probably not going to be like that. Partnerships are finicky things. Don't be dead-set on expectations and invest in knowing your partners. Those things will pay off." —
"If you're going into this with the mindset of "I'm doing it my way no matter what my partner says", someone's going to get hurt. This is a partnership and expect compromise." —
lauramcewan, podficcer"Relax. Have fun. Don't worry. Be happy :D " —
jelazakazone, fanwork creatorYou can explore more reflections on writer-podficcer collaborative processes in the comments of the pod_together 2011 wrap-up post and the pod-aware posts linked at the Author/Podficcer Relationship Round-Up (2011) and the Collaboration! Round-Up (2012).
