Communication Strategies

Writing is the process of putting ideas, opinions or facts on paper (Mascle, 2010). Generally, there are two types of writing, namely individual and collaborative writing. In individual writing, a single individual does all the research, compiles the facts or generates the ideas and then puts them on paper (Mascle, 2010). In collaborative writing, a group of individuals is involved in the writing process all the way from initial research, ideological deliberation up to the delivery of the final product (Spring, 1997). This research paper compares and contracts the two approaches to writing and addresses concerns arising from each method.

Similarities between individual and collaborative writing
In both individual and collaborative writing, the same rules and guidelines of writing apply (Muscle, 2010). The essence is to present a valid viewpoint in line with expected ethical and professional standards while being relevant and ensuring originality. Writing is for communication purposes and whether a literary or journalistic item is written by a group or by an individual, the process remains the same and the target group expects the same quality.

Secondly, the same resources are available to a group or an individual. Even though the collaborative writing process is characterized by a lot of differing opinions and contributions from all members within the team, the best ideas eventually prevail and are represented in the final product more or less in the form the individual who generated them would have presented them if he or she was working alone (Spring, 1997). In other words, a literary piece from a group does not necessarily represent in its entirety the collective viewpoint of all its contributors some of the team members may be more opinioned and aggressive than others, giving the article an individual outlook (Spring, 1997).

Differences between individual and collaborative writing
Collaborative writing is likely to yield a higher quality of writing. As the adage goes, two heads are better than one. Having many people work in a project increases the amount of knowledge available for the project (Spring, 1997). On the contrary, a writer working independently definitely uses his or her own knowledge base, which may be narrow-based, hence leading to the production of a lower quality end-product.

Any writing culminates in proofreading of the final draft. Collaborative writing therefore has an edge over individual writing in that many people will be concentrated on detecting any anomaly, mistake or ambiguity and therefore the final product will most likely have fewer mistakes (Spring, 1997). However, the combination of efforts from people having divergent viewpoints can have a serious blow to collaborative writing since there may be difficulty in reaching a consensus on what ideas to include and how to present them (Spring, 1997).

Resolving conflicts in collaborative writing
When a team of people is involved in a single project, personal roles define themselves clearly. Opinion is bound to differ to the extent of escalating to personal feuds. These take a lot of time to solve and may hinder timely delivery of the final product. To avoid this, a project should be subdivided into smaller tasks and each subtask allocated to the people with more expertise and matching views relating to its context (Spring, 1997).

Group work often leads to the sprouting of many ideas irrelevant to the task at hand. These lead to unnecessary time wastage and loss of focus. To avoid this scenario, a collaborative team should appoint a team leader. He or she should lead debate into any matters arising, use his or her expertise to rule on such matters and return the progress of the entire team on course.

Small and personality-oriented projects are best written individually. However, larger and more complex projects like books and large presentations require a team effort so that the quality of the final product is of acceptable quality (Spring, 1997. Due to the team work involved in collaborative writing, individual talents re enhanced and the burdens on each writer are reduced due to distribution of tasks (Spring, 1997). I would therefore recommend collaborative writing as a less-stressful approach to producing quality literary and journalistic items.