I would say that collaboration is the fine art of getting more done, and better, than one can alone. I'm all for collaboration. As a musician and designer, I far prefer it. Not all creative genres are solitary. Writers are biased in thinking that creativity is solitary, merely because for most writers it is. But the best jazz is collaborative; so is the best magazine design.
Of course, assigned and enforced collaborations are often a problem, as you say. The newsroom example is a good one.
But when people WANT to work together, it seems to me synergize the work into something much greater than anyone would have done alone.
So, one wonders if this is a writer's, or specifically news writer's, bias being articulated. I am not convinced.
What about Woodward & Bernstein?
ReplyDeleteI would say that collaboration is the fine art of getting more done, and better, than one can alone. I'm all for collaboration. As a musician and designer, I far prefer it. Not all creative genres are solitary. Writers are biased in thinking that creativity is solitary, merely because for most writers it is. But the best jazz is collaborative; so is the best magazine design.
Of course, assigned and enforced collaborations are often a problem, as you say. The newsroom example is a good one.
But when people WANT to work together, it seems to me synergize the work into something much greater than anyone would have done alone.
So, one wonders if this is a writer's, or specifically news writer's, bias being articulated. I am not convinced.