Law of the Land

In the Old West, the law was: Don’t steal a man’s horse, his land, his cattle, or his woman. Do any of those things and get hung.

            In a house with more than one author living in it, the same rule can apply with a little tweaking. I’m sure everyone out there that writes has had those moments where you see, hear, read, or experience something and think ‘Oh, I’ve got to put that in a book’. Unfortunately, in my household, those intriguing, explosive, or just plain brilliant lines and events have to be shared.

            This is not always easy. Sometimes we see the same thing at the same time and shout, ‘I claim it’, only to look over at the other and realize they claimed it too. Or maybe one of us discovers a gem of a scene idea before the other, and it doesn’t seem quite fair for the other, who didn’t even have a chance to claim it. Sometimes one of us thinks something is incredible and the other thinks ‘ugh’. Compromise is key. The person who’s the most enamored with the idea in question gets it.

            However…when we both want it equally badly…the writing law is: If someone else had it first, they get to keep it. Or…Don’t steal an author’s line, their character, their scene idea, or their book title. Now we all know that if one of us does happen to snitch the others, there won’t be a noose waiting for us. But, if we respect one another’s claim, there’s a lot less strife.