Collaborating on a series

Working with Silbrith on the Caffrey Conversation series is unlike any writing project I’ve ever tried or imagined. Recently she asked if I know of any similar examples of writers collaborating in the same way. At first I went blank, and then realized that writing for a television series is the best model for what we’ve been doing.


We’re each in charge of different stories or “episodes” in the same season. We have to share a vision for where the characters and story arcs are going. We bounce ideas off of each other and seek advice when we know the other is a subject matter expert. I may have had the original vision, but Silbrith brings a host of knowledge about NYC and art, resulting in fascinating ideas for cases and great suggestions for adding realism to the setting of my episodes. In addition to being a co-writer, she’s also our location scout.

One challenge in particular was writing episodes simultaneously at different points in the timeline. Suppose, for instance, that we were working on a 16-episode season of a TV show called Caffrey Conversation. I wrote the pilot and then recruited a fantastic new writer to join my team. She focused primarily on the second half of the season while I handled the first half. For instance, while I wrote “Caffrey Flashback” set in February – March 2004, Silbrith was writing “Complications” set in the spring and “Golden Hen” and “Woman in Blue” set in late August – October 2004, leaving June – August 2004 for my story “Caffrey Disclosure,” which was big enough to be considered a two-part episode.

The challenges then arose for keeping consistency in the timeline. I forgot that Mozzie and Elizabeth were supposed to meet for the first time in “Woman in Blue” and put them in a scene together in “Caffrey Flashback.” In that example, my scene worked better without Mozzie and it was simple to write him out when Silbrith pointed out my goof. Meanwhile, I tried to keep Silbrith informed about scenes I hadn’t even written yet that might affect her stories. For instance, when I reviewed the scenes in “Woman in Blue” where Neal starts wondering if he should carry a gun, in my notes back to Silbrith I noted that Peter would actually hand Neal a gun in a scene near the end of “Caffrey Disclosure.” Silbrith was able to reference that yet-to-be-written scene in “Woman in Blue.”

Likewise, we needed to come to agreement about some of the characters’ plot threads. I was halfway through writing “Caffrey Flashback” when I realized I wanted to end season 1 with a wedding in Hawaii, and we brainstormed who should get married in the story that became “Caffrey Aloha.” That allowed me to introduce the Joe and Noelle romance in “Caffrey Flashback,” but their subplot crossed several stories and required us to think through how it should progress.

Because Silbrith had already written a backlog of stories and was actually publishing them before “Caffrey Disclosure” was finished, we also needed to think about spoilers. Did it matter for instance, that she was describing Joe and Noelle’s engagement in chapters published before I wrote about Joe and Noelle hitting a rocky period in their relationship? Neal’s romances were some of the most complex elements to handle across stories, and I’m quite pleased with how we handled that. Another complication came in the form of how Neal would pay his tuition; that was a big plot element in “Caffrey Disclosure” and we didn’t want to spoil the surprise, so Silbrith had to dance around that topic in “Woman in Blue.”

One of the most fun elements of collaborating on a series has been sharing original characters (OCs). At first Silbrith wasn’t entirely comfortable with my characters of Tricia and Henry, and I was fine with letting them fade into the background in her stories. Focusing on fewer characters was a wise choice for a new writer, anyway. And yet I was so pleased when Silbrith started hearing the voices of my characters. Now Henry won’t leave her alone, and Silbrith juggles large casts of characters like a pro. Meanwhile, I found her Travis character irresistible. His guest appearance in “Caffrey Disclosure” soon grew into a larger role. At this point I don’t even remember which of us first envisioned the character of Mitch, Tricia’s husband. I was able to include him in one scene of “Caffrey Disclosure” but he’s really coming into his own in Silbrith’s “Mirror.” Perhaps that’s the best sign that we’re working as a writing team, when we don’t even remember who originated which ideas anymore?