I worked with a partner on a few different ideas last year. We didn't get very far on any of them, so we took a break for a while to work on our own projects.

The hardest aspect for us was simply coming to an agreement on the story and characters. We'd sit down and hammer out some ideas and feel like we were in sync, but then once we went off and fleshed things out on our own, we'd end up going in different directions. It was so hard to reconcile the two perspectives that we'd end up going back to the drawing board, and the process would just repeat again.

One of the things that appealed to me about the idea of collaborating was that we could get a script done much more quickly than I could on my own, plus we'd have two different skillsets to bring to bear. I wish I could go back and tell myself that -- at least the first time -- it's probably going to take longer than writing on your own, because you're not used to incorporating another brain into the process. The two of us may yet work together again, but we'll have to be a lot more careful about staying in sync every step of the way.

"There is always another way."

That's one thing I had to learn. I am a perfectionist and control freak. It's very hard for me when my partner writes something that wasn't my idea.

(The irony of this, is I actually write better developing ideas that were his).

It helps to take a step back. Let it play. Give your partner the benefit of the doubt. You (both of you) can change it later if it's still not working.

My other "mantra" is --

I know I couldn't write the material as well without him.

I often feel like I carry a lot of the weight of our partnership. But I often wonder if he feels the same. When I take a step back and look at how well we compliment each other, it is well worth the little perceived headaches. (Honestly, they're probably all in my head).

We compliment each other surprisingly well. My weaknesses are his strengths and vice versa. I'm very good at structure and it gets on my nerves sometimes that I'm always the one who ends up having to make the structure work. I really want him to get better at structure so I don't have to do it all the time lol -- but when I think about it --

I don't want to be working with another me. I'm a pain in the ass.

So, I'd say -- know what your partner does well. And don't fault him for his flaws (if this is a working partnership).

My sister and I write together. We get along pretty well, so it's been good for the most part. We also know how to fight with each other, which is important.

We did have a major fight on our last project over something really stupid. We were writing a funeral scene. I wanted it to be outdoors and she wanted it inside. Usually we can talk through our differences and pick whatever is better for the script. That didn't happen this time. Neither of us would budge. It got pretty tense and we were wasting valuable writing time being pissed off at each other.

We were at a stalemate, so we decided to table the argument. We wrote the scene completely independent of setting. It turned out pretty good. We were both really happy with it and because we wrote it independently of setting, our argument became pointless. (We went with the outdoor option. I won.)

Writing with a partner has its challenges. Once you learn to work through them, you realize the good parts outweigh the bad.

Good observations on all fronts.

@Nick: Sometimes having a partner to question story choices, while making the process longer, results in a better script.

@James: "I don't want to be working with another me." Line of the day!

@Liz: Love your story about the funeral scene. And great idea about stripping out the 'offensive' elements, then seeing where that takes you.