Today I met with Lauren, my writing partner and the co-creator of Backstage. For any writers who haven’t had the experience, I highly recommend trying to co-write at least once.

It’s different from getting feedback, because you can choose to ignore feedback; co-writing requires you to match your style to someone else’s and to incorporate ideas that weren’t originally your own. It’s also fascinating to watch your ideas grow and change under someone else’s guidance. Writers need to be able to think in multiple perspectives; having a co-writer means having someone to call you on it when you’re getting their perspective wrong.

Our meeting reminded me of this as we sketched out the plan for season two of Backstage. We spent a good three hours bouncing ideas back and forth. One of us would propose something, the other would expand, then we’d each tweak it and turn it around until we found something that made us laugh; not necessarily because it was hilarious, but because it felt real. There were several occasions when one of us would spit out a line and the other would say “That’s so Rachel!” or “Of course that’s what Porter would do!”

Season one is currently in post-production, but now that we have a plan for season two, it’s back to work and back to writing. As you all look forward to the premiere episode, I’ll be typing away, looking forward to seeing season two take its final shape.