Friday, March 31, 2006
Collaborating over long distances
There may come a time when you have to collaborate with another writer. Often, that collaboration will take place at a distance – even if that distance is only across town. At the best of times, collaboration is difficult. And while the Internet and email have made things a little easier, it can still be tough.
The most common way in which writers collaborate is to exchange word processor files via email. I’m not a huge fan of this method, mainly because files (especially Microsoft Word files) can get corrupted in their travels across the Internet. It can also happen at either destination, too. And let’s not forget that software, computers, and hard drives can die without warning – usually when you’re writing that brilliant passage or section.
I prefer to use the Web for collaboration. My favourite online tool for collaboration is Writeboard. It’s a simple way to create text documents. You simple go to the Writeboard Web site, enter the name of your Writeboard, your password, and your email address (for identification). Then, you just start typing. Writeboard has several neat features. It saves all previous versions of a document. So, if you remove a paragraph and decide with your writing partner that it should go back in, you can easily retrieve it. You can invite several people to work on a document at one time. And you can integrate your Writeboards with Backpack, a neat online information management tool.
The only drawbacks are that Writeboards don’t support a lot of formatting, and you can’t import files into them. On top of that, you can only export Writeboards as plain text or HTML. I have found, though, that simply copying and pasting the contents of a Writeboard into a word processor works pretty well.
(For more information about how I used a Writeboard -- and another tool -- to collaborate on a project, check out this blog entry.)
I’ve also become somewhat partial to using a wiki. I was first exposed to wikis at a couple of software development shops at which I worked as a technical writer. While the developers I worked with used the wikis to track the status of projects and to lay out project outlines, I saw the value of a wiki for writers. You can keep track of your assignments, ideas, and projects. And you can use the Wiki for collaboration, too.
To be honest, I’m too lazy to set up and maintain my own wiki. But there are a number of Web-based wikis out there. I’m partial to PBWiki. It’s easy to use, and I can get at it anywhere. Plus, PBWiki has a nice article-tracking template.
There are other wikis out there, too. But I’m saving those for an article that I’m hoping to write.
The most common way in which writers collaborate is to exchange word processor files via email. I’m not a huge fan of this method, mainly because files (especially Microsoft Word files) can get corrupted in their travels across the Internet. It can also happen at either destination, too. And let’s not forget that software, computers, and hard drives can die without warning – usually when you’re writing that brilliant passage or section.
I prefer to use the Web for collaboration. My favourite online tool for collaboration is Writeboard. It’s a simple way to create text documents. You simple go to the Writeboard Web site, enter the name of your Writeboard, your password, and your email address (for identification). Then, you just start typing. Writeboard has several neat features. It saves all previous versions of a document. So, if you remove a paragraph and decide with your writing partner that it should go back in, you can easily retrieve it. You can invite several people to work on a document at one time. And you can integrate your Writeboards with Backpack, a neat online information management tool.
The only drawbacks are that Writeboards don’t support a lot of formatting, and you can’t import files into them. On top of that, you can only export Writeboards as plain text or HTML. I have found, though, that simply copying and pasting the contents of a Writeboard into a word processor works pretty well.
(For more information about how I used a Writeboard -- and another tool -- to collaborate on a project, check out this blog entry.)
I’ve also become somewhat partial to using a wiki. I was first exposed to wikis at a couple of software development shops at which I worked as a technical writer. While the developers I worked with used the wikis to track the status of projects and to lay out project outlines, I saw the value of a wiki for writers. You can keep track of your assignments, ideas, and projects. And you can use the Wiki for collaboration, too.
To be honest, I’m too lazy to set up and maintain my own wiki. But there are a number of Web-based wikis out there. I’m partial to PBWiki. It’s easy to use, and I can get at it anywhere. Plus, PBWiki has a nice article-tracking template.
There are other wikis out there, too. But I’m saving those for an article that I’m hoping to write.
