Thank you. Especially for "Learn another way." Very sage advice.

but... what about money and a contract? What if the screenplay got sold, how would the co-writers decide who gets the most?

I don't know anything about how collaboration works in terms of money and contracts.

@deaf indian musliam anarchist: IMHO, if you're not splitting it 50-50%, then there's no hope for the writing partnership. Same thing re contracts. If you need one, then it's probably not a viable partnership to begin with. Again my humble opinion.

good point.

A flip side of the "cheery" version Scott offered:

My first writing partner and I had sessions that we lovingly referred to as "Apocalypse Now." When we wrote together, it was bombastic, loud, unruly, acrimonious, and, at least once, downright violent. While we always agreed on the overall scenario of our scripts, we NEVER agreed on the execution.

"Execution" being what we ultimately wished upon each other by the time our work was done.

During the 90th rewrite of our second script together, writing in his cramped, oxygen-free attic office ("the war room") one summer, I finally typed FADE OUT after a 12 hour session, and promptly had a self-induced panic attack that I assumed was a stroke...

I think Mozart and Salieri had a warmer creative relationship than us.

BUT...

The material we churned out back then? Wonderful. Absolutely priceless stuff. Probably the best projects I've ever been involved in.

After toiling together for five years, scoring representation, getting a smattering of interest in our work from a few production companies....

We totally creatively imploded.

Then we each found our spouses, had kids, moved on with our lives. He no longer writes... went legit, became a bank manager. Smart guy.
I still burn a torch for the dream. Fool!

I miss those days terribly. Amid all the bombast and histrionics, we managed to pull off some mighty compelling stories. I firmly believe it was BECAUSE all the snarling and rampaging that our material clicked. After all, what better way to create conflict than in the throes of real, actual CONFLICT.

I thought I was miserable back then working with him. I realize now that it was, creatively, probably the best years of my life.

Thus, I must say, we broke all 3 of Scott's tenants to a happy collaboration but we still managed to crank out the goods. Never underestimate the positive productivity that can sprout from a negative relationship!

Also remember you are starting a BUSINESS relationship and either partner can kill it at any time. In other words, you can put years into developing your work, networking, branding the team, agents/mgrs/lawyers, etc. And all of a sudden one of you wants out. Out of the biz completely or just out of the partnership. And you have no say.

@kristin: You raise a really good point and I should have noted it in the original post. And that is if you are in a writing partnership and you're working in Hwood as a screenwriting team, if you stop working with that partner, then you can not promote scripts that you co-wrote as being representative of what you can write solo. In other words, you have to start all over again in terms of developing a reputation. Not only that, your quote (fee) goes out the window. So yes, some serious downside if the partnership goes kerplooey.