Write together – a round-up of First Draft Pro's features for successful collaboration
Collaboration is an integral part of storytelling. When we put a single author’s name on a book, we can fool ourselves into thinking that just one person made it, but that has never been true. Writing a story (and publishing it) has always been collaborative.
Writing stories together is a whole lot of fun! That said, co-writers and editors don't always have the right tools for working effectively with each other. First Draft Pro is designed specifically for collaboration, making it really easy for you to work with others on your project.
In this post, we'll be covering the First Draft Pro features designed to help you work collaboratively and get the most out of your writing partnerships.
Write together with First Draft Pro
💌 Invite others to write with you
Whether you're writing with someone else, or just roping in some help to spot typos and inconsistencies, make the most of First Draft Pro's collaboration features. It's easy to get others involved in the development of your manuscript – here's how to invite editors and co-authors in:
- Send an email invitation to any collaborator to ask them to join your writing project.
- Note that collaborators will need an active First Draft Pro subscription to join your project workspace.
All collaborators are equal, but some are more equal than others. First Draft Pro allows you to control access to your project according to each person's role:
- Project leads have the highest level of access and can grant permissions to co-authors and editors to edit a project. Read more about understanding collaborator permissions.
- Change a collaborator's permissions at any time under your project's 'Sharing' tab.
🔮 Work transparently
Working towards a common vision is easier when the creative process is shared. With First Draft Pro, both writing and editing happens in the same place – even if you're working remotely. Here's how to make the most of writing together:
- Start a discussion thread. Not sure if a section is working, or need a second opinion? Leave comments for collaborators in your manuscript. Pick up the discussion at any time, and easily collapse the comment thread when you're done to reduce overwhelm.
- Keep notes. Worldbuilding notes and work-in-progress ideas give valuable context to your collaborators. Your shared notes repository lives right alongside your manuscript, making it easy to comment on and add to.
✂️ Embrace the editing process
Refining a manuscript can create a lot of back and forth between writers and editors. Here's how to streamline your editing process with First Draft Pro:
- Turn on suggesting mode. See step-by-step changes made by you or your collaborators with track changes. Tracked changes appear alongside longer, in-line comments and suggestions, making it easy to integrate all feedback when you're ready.
- Juggle scenes around easily. The outline feature makes it simple to drag and drop cards to move chapters and scenes around. Never fear, you won't lose anything in the restructure – any text associated with those scenes will automatically be reordered in your manuscript.
- Export to a different format. Need to share your manuscript with an external collaborator? Simply click the Drive icon in the top toolbar to export to Google Drive.
The power of collaborative storytelling
There really is magic in creating a story together. Although some parts of the writing process will be down to your individual genius, what better than to nerd-out with fellow story lovers about the nitty-gritty of your manuscript?
First Draft Pro is designed with exactly this kind of collaboration in mind. Invite others to write with you, keep notes, track changes, and refine your manuscript – together.
