I write with other people strictly on a project by project basis and have no writing partner, but it seems like you could continue rewriting with them as long as it's amicable.

Any sales would have to be negotiated between the two of you and clearly you should write a contract that deals with any projects you currently have.

But there's no need to abandon good projects.

I almost used a partner on my current screenplay. He's a writer with an optioned script and really hilarious. We're friends and I figured he could add the funny to my drama and plot. Then I came across a passage in Lew Hunter's book ( I know I talk about him a lot, but it's the only book on actual screenwriting I've read) and it said something to the effect of "Avoid having a co-author as much as possible."

He found it complicated friendships and trust became a major factor.

I've decided instead to have my good friend help me edit. Seems more safe that way.

Hey Scott, I'm curious what's your take on this...

I've written a few scripts on my own but recently, an assistant friend of mine came to me with a story concept. He had the seed and now I'm doing all the heavy lifting; cracking the story and then writing it. We worked out the terms, which I don't know are even correct, but they would be shared story credit and I would get solo 'screenplay by'.

Theoretically, if this thing ever sold, how would this affect future work for me? Does it matter if it's shared story credit or do producer / agents just care about the "screenplay by"?

My aspiration is to work solo.

@Chris: Shared story by credit isn't an issue as you are right -- they only really care about "screenplay by" credit.

BTW you can come up with any sort of agreement you want re who gets what writing credit, but if the project sells and as is usually the case there are multiple writers involved in it, while the producers can suggest who they think deserve story credit, that determination is officially reserved to the WGA (if there is a dispute).

In the case of your friend, that doesn't matter in terms of money as your agreement will extend to the original contract and he would get shared story by money. But neither of you is guaranteed a credit which is something you should understand going in.

Thanks, Scott!

Hey Scott -- What about the opposite of your post? Say someone sells a script as a solo writer and later on decides there's a project that for whatever reason would be made better by bringing on a second writer to work with them. Would the quote for the two writers increase, decrease or stay the same relative to if the script had just been written by the one writer?