For this particular article, I will need some ideas and some feedback from the rest of you guys. Because I definitely know HOW to do this...but it’s not really a practice that I’ve really used myself since I’ve been writing stories online. I guess a part of me was simply too intimidated to really dive in, head first...and another part of me is just too selfish, hehehe...but I DO see the value in making this a part of the writing process and it might be helpful to all of us at some point in the future.

If you’re someone who writes to simply express yourself as a hobby or to clear the cobwebs out of your head, then the idea of putting a ‘team’ together may depend on how dedicated you are to having your projects look and read as awesome as humanly possible. And that’s GREAT! Putting that best foot forward is always your best bet. However, if you’re thinking about really going out to make a career out of your writing, submitting to an agent, or publishing work of your own...I would think that the idea of having others around to find all of the blind spots that you may not be aware of in your narrative. I don’t think that’s something any of us can really do alone. It takes different perspectives, different opinions, and a variety of conversations that can hopefully work in tandem with one another to create something that looks professional and worthy of the extra time and effort that you put into it. But it takes the right people, the right ideas, and a decent balance between you, as the author, to be strong enough to say no on occasion...but humble enough to say yes on others. If that makes sense.

Like I said up above, while I’ve done this kind of thing before, I don’t work with a team of people behind me to help me pull off whatever touch of magic that I’m able to generate with the stuff that I write. To be honest, I get kind of ‘itchy’ about having anyone else touch my work, hehehe! I can’t explain to you why, but it happens. Something about it feels less personal to me, even if the benefits of having a team to work with would far outweigh my cringy little hangups about it. It’s like...even if I make mistakes and typos along the way, that’s a part of me too. At least I can claim them as being my own. Still...I might be missing out on something, and I just may want to try my hand at going pro with something that I wrote one of these days. I certainly wouldn’t want to charge in with an amateur’s mindset if I decide to go that route. This is my baby...and it takes a village to raise a child, right?

So feel free to correct me if I get any of my thoughts tangled up here in this article. I’m writing this more from my thoughts and expectations than I am from any kind of lengthy experience. So let’s see what I can come up with. Feel free to jump in with any thoughts of your own down below. I like to learn new stuff too, after all.

The idea of having a team on your side to help you produce your best work is to develop a language that you can use to communicate with creative minds of a particular skill set. We all excel at different parts of the writing process, and by circling up to share ideas with one another, we can discover certain tricks of the trade that we may have never really have considered before. Some writers are really good at finding mistakes, others are amazing with dialogue, and others yet are wizards with plot structure and story building. Having these people in your circle can really help you out when putting a project together, whether you think you’re having any particular difficulties with it or not. I discover so much more about my own work when I get email feedback from readers or see comments left behind somewhere online. The only problem is...by the time I get to reap the rewards of such good advice and insight...the story or chapter has already been posted. Imagine if I had a small group of people that I could work with all the time to help inspire an even better version of the story that I posted. That would be crazy! And that’s what I imagine building a team is all about.

This scene is from a series that I used to LOVE when it was still on. It’s called “Sense8”, and I’ll try to keep the explanation as short as I can so we can get back to the task at hand. Basically, the show had this sci fi element to it (Done by the Wachowsky siblings who also did the Matrix trilogy), and it involved 8 different people from different parts of the world. There was a Chicago cop, an Indonesian female chemist, a German street gangster, a transgender woman who was a computer hacker and wiz, an African smuggler who had to out drive from one deal to the next, an actor in Mexico, a martial arts specialist in South Korea, and a London DJ...and somehow their consciousnesses were all linked from different parts of the globe. Basically, they could all use their individual talents by switching back and forth between one another. They’re knowledge, their physical strengths, their attitudes...if you’ve never seen it before, I highly recommend it. It’s really different.

Anyway, in this one scene, you get to see a bunch of them all help each other out as the trans hacker is attempting to escape the police in Los Angeles, and they need to switch back and forth to have a chance. They’re an entire TEAM in one body! Check this out!

Now...why show you guys this clip?

Because this is what getting together and actually building a team of professionals is all about. Notice how each personality knows when to jump in and take the lead to do what they do best. Im sure that each consciousness knows how to throw a punch, and most of them know how to drive a car, etc...but imagine if you had the help of someone who has that skill as their main area of expertise. A Chicago cop that immediately knows police protocol. An actual fighter that knows how to quickly take down and subdue a number of opponents. An experienced smuggle who knows how to outrun a fleet of pursuers and gauge layout and distance, as well as how to shift speeds to take a screeching turn around a curve. And, during the show, some of the combinations get even more complicated than that in certain places. The idea is having a visible representation of what it’s like to have a collective of talents all working with one another. Now, all of these personalities exist inside of my own head, personally...but I don’t excel in all of these areas of creating a story. So a team would be a huge advantage in the long run. If you guys are ever looking to leapfrog ahead of me in this area, then I definitely encourage you to go for it. And then come back and let me know what you leqarned so I can try it out for myself. Hehehe!

But, for right now? Let’s put a team together the way that I would imagine it, shall we?

::Begin the ‘Mission Impossible’ theme on loop, starting...NOW::

Alright...you’re going to need the kingpin! If you’re reading this, that would be you! This is your story. You’re in charge of all the ideas, all the characters, the plot and theme and tone of the story, and a majority of the dialogue. It’s up to you to build the foundation that the entirety of your work is going to be based on. It’s your brainchild, and you’re in control. This means that you’re going to have to be able to accept or deny all of the extra info coming your way, and try to bring the entire game plan together in a way that fits your original intention for your project. It’s ok to be flexible in this pursuit...but you’re the guiding light in all of this, and if you feel the need to fight for your original idea, then fight for it. Period. You’re the big gear in this whole machine, so hold it together, and get your message out there the best way that you can.

Second? You need a competent, thorough, but collaborative, editor on your team. This is going to be someone who is really good at catching spelling errors, mechanical mistakes in your punctuation, and can easily find catches or stumbling blocks in the way you write out your sentences. Someone who can recognize plot inconsistencies and loophooles that you might have over looked. I think it’s important to have a close and friendly relationship with your personal editor, because we writers tend to be very sensitive about certain things from time to time. Hehehe, don’t doubt it. If you haven’t experienced it yet, you will, eventually. Communicate. Find someone that you trust and can talk to about the choices you’ve made. And LISTEN to their advice! Even if you decide to go ahead and do it your way. It should be a give and take situation, but remember that this is their number one skill. They may know more than you do when it comes to this kind of thing, so pay attention...and keep an open mind.

Third and fourth members on the team? You’re going to need Beta readers! I would get at least two of them, preferably with different tastes. These are going to be a vision into your readers’ experience with your work. Pick two people to maybe give your a story a read before anyone else gets to see it, and encourage honest feedback. Always remember that the stories are all in your head and closely connected to your heart at all times. Meaning that your attachment to the characters and the story is a much more intimate experience than what a random reader might have to it. Despite being engaged in the narrative, they are still seeing your work from a distance when compared to how you may see it personally. So keep that in mind. Beta readers can help you out on an emotional level that other members of your team might not be able to recognize in the same way. An editor is looking for mistakes, and the main author is seeing everything through a pair of creative rose colored glasses. Beta readers can tell you when they might be confused by parts of the story, or have a certain reaction to one of your characters that you may not want them to have. They can tell you what makes them smile, what makes them sad, what seems unfair, and what angers them about the story. Seeing as (I assume) the emotional involvement of your story is the most important part of you writing it out in the first place, I would say that their role in the process is pretty significant. So take what they say to heart. And don’t just have them talk to you, but hav them talk to each other if at all possible. Their joint conversations may prove to be of great use to you in the long run.

Alrighty then...next step. You need a critic.

Hehehe, don’t make that face! If I was building a team for myself, a critic would definitely be someone that I would need in my corner! It’s important. You need someone who can nitpick and deconstruct what your doing to find flaws in your storytelling where others can’t. Even with fans and people trying to help you out...sometimes it helps to have someone dismantle and completely obliterate everything that you’re doing so you can step back and look at it so you can spot room for improvement. You don’t want someone malicious who’s going to be MEAN to you and tear your work apart...but there has to be a voice of reason in the room. It may not be what you want to hear...but keep them close. Even the most harsh critics have the best of intentions, and they can bring you up to the next level if you’ll let them.

Expect to fight and fuss and argue with the critic the most. Hehehe! But I’d be happy to have them on board.

Next up...get a ‘tech guy’! This is someone who knows computers, programming, formatting, etc. You can write the most incredible story ever...but if the formatting is screwed up? If it looks weird on a mobile device? If the paragraphs aren’t properly lined up with breaks in between? All of that hard work will have been wasted. If that’s not your particular skill, get someone to help you. This is a place where I really fall short, because everything that looks just the way I want it to look on my laptop looks completely different on someone’s cell phone. And that might look different from how it looks on Nifty or GayAuthors. I definitely do my very best, but the thing with ‘techs’ is they are CONSTANTLY changing shit on me! LOL! Which I can’t stand, because the second I learn something, the code changes and they want me to learn all over again! That’s super frustrating for me, because the text of my stories is all that I want to concentrate on. So having computer updates and switching to different servers and having to surrender to changes I never asked for just slows me down like you wouldn’t believe. So...if I’m building a ‘Comsie’ team of my very own...I need a tech guy to keep that part of the process current and speedy so I don’t have to retrain myself every few months.

And the last member on my team? I’d need a promo guy! Someone to spread the word, keep me up to date on posting standards for a variety of different websites (They are ALL so different), and can keep me motivate and aware of deadlines and new opportunities as they come along. I’m only human, and I can fall prey to bouts of procrastination just like everybody else. I would get somebody to keep me on schedule, give me the occasional kick in the ass a week or two ahead of time, and motivate me to get shit done. It’s too easy to start slacking and getting lazy when I’m doing everything on my own. I tend to get more focused when I have a bug in my ear telling me to keep going and finish up what I had planned for the day. Got to keep that ambition flowing, after all. Hehehe!

SO...if I had to put an expert team together for a professional project, covering all of the aspects of the writing process where I might be lacking...I’d like to think that this would be my particular squad. Hehehe, this would be my Justice League! But that’s just what I’m thinking in my head?

What do you guys think? Decent team? Did I miss anyone? Do you guys have a team of your own? And how does that work, exactly? Let us know down below. Because I’m really curious about this. Like I said, I may just need this collective knowledge someday.

Anyway, I hope this helps you guys out when you think about your writing! And I hope it helps m out too! Take care! And Ill seezya soon with more!