Power of a good collaboration

It’s that conversation over a cup of coffee when the ideas are flowing and you are struggling to keep up taking notes of them so that they don’t vanish. Collaborating with others can be a real spark to create new ideas and open up to diverse creative approaches that might not have otherwise come to mind.

Over recent weeks, I have been encouraging guests to post on this blog. It has gathered momentum so that there is now a small community of bloggers working together through this site. This is growing organically and I am really interested to see how this develops – it could go a number of ways at the moment, any of which would be really productive.

That has given me something broader to think about. What other ways can I use to collaborate?

1. I am going to see if I can collaborate using words with someone who already has skills to use sounds and music.
2. I am going to develop videos to support some of the work I am producing for a book at the moment. Perhaps I should work with a film maker on this.
3. I am in early stages of planning a fine art edition of one of my collections of poetry. Need to find someone with the skills to help me put together this edition.
4. I have ideas for a book that will capture the thoughts and observations of the people I have been working with over the last few years so that we can capture the narrative of the work we have done together.

As I work more collaboratively, new ideas should also emerge.

There’s an interesting contradiction here. Thanks to the developments of new media and the democratisation brought about by the internet, anyone can publish these days. So, it should be possible for me to do any of the four projects mentioned above myself. But there are added benefits from collaborating.

Not only do I get to work with people who have different skills and learn from them, but we also have the opportunity to motivate each other to get the product completed and out there. That’s helpful.

If any of this stirs an idea in you to collaborate, please get in touch through the contacts section of this website and let’s talk. I may say yes and I may say no. The point is that a dialogue will have started. And it is conversations that are the start of things happening. Let’s talk!