Dave Pigeon: How to write a book with your best friend

Published on: 12 July 2017 Author: Skipper & Dave

It's Skipper here from the Dave Pigeon books. The Humans at BookTrust have left their computer unattended and forgotten they have to write a blog post, so we're here to help.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to write a book with your best friend? Well, Dave and I have been writing books together for a year now and we are here to give you our top tips on writing with friends.

Dave:

Sometimes you'll want to share your story and you'll realise it's much better if you have a good friend who knows how to use a typewriter or a computer to write down everything you're saying. It's useful to have a friend like that.

Skipper:

It's also useful because they are there to help ensure your story makes sense, and that others would like to read it. It's always good to have two sets of eyes on what you write.

Dave:

If you are a bee and you are writing a story with a bee friend then that would be two sets of five eyes. If you are worm and you are writing a story with another worm, you might struggle because neither of you have eyes. In fact, I'm a bit confused as to how you would be reading this post.

Skipper:

Our next tip is to leave the illustrations to a Human because it's quite fiddly to draw when you have wings*.

Dave:

We've tried. It didn't work. Also knitting is quite difficult too if you are a pigeon.

Skipper:

This next tip is an important one because it can be tricky to write a book with a friend and not get a bit annoyed with them from time to time. Especially if they have a knack for getting you into dangerous situations…

Dave:

…My advice is to ignore the problem and blame someone else when things go wrong. If there is a cat or a parrot nearby, blame them.

Skipper:

Or you can try and talk it over with each other, like mature pigeons. Remember you are friends and that writing together is meant to be fun. Take a break and have some time to yourself. Then come back together for a jammy biscuit and a drink from the birdbath and you'll find it easier to resolve your differences.

Dave:

Or you could just blame the cat.

Skipper:

Try and share the workload. There will be things you find easier to do and there will be stuff your friend excels in. Use each other's strengths to write something brilliant.

Dave:

Sometimes you're brilliant at everything, like me.

Skipper:

And sometimes your friend thinks they're good at everything and they're not. If you need to manage a tricky situation like a friend's ego, find a polite way to express your feelings.

Dave:

Try the phrase 'you're being a catbrain'.

Skipper:

Or don't.

Dave:

The main thing is to have fun. No one will support you more than your best friend. They are there to celebrate with and pick you up when you feel sad. You can always rely on them to take your wing and join you on an adventure. Best friends are truly pigeontastic.

Skipper:

Dave, that's a lovely thing to say about friendship.

Dave:

Well, it's because I'm such a good friend and I know what I mean to you.

 

Typos added in by Swapna Haddow. Illustrations by Sheena Dempsey who doesn't struggle with wings*. Swapna and Sheena are good friends thanks to Dave and Skipper (and their excellent advice). 

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