Under the pseudonym Lily Herne, my 21-year-old daughter Savannah and I have been writing the Deadlands series together for three years now (and have somehow managed not to kill each other). Collaborating can be an adjustment but if you do it right, it can be far more rewarding than writing alone, and it's a great way to get started. We've learned a lot from each other (like who makes the best coffee and how not to write lame teen dialogue). Here are our top tips for collaborative writing:

1. Choose the right collaborator

This is obvious, but if you want to write an epic fantasy novel, it's pointless to team up with someone who thinks Game of Thrones is a documentary on Kate Middleton and who only reads contemporary vampire romance. It helps to have a shared vision of the book as a whole before you start (otherwise you might end up writing about vampires in Middle Earth, and no one wants that).
Temperament can also be a factor – you don't necessarily have to be best friends with your collaborator (or related to them) but collaborating is like a marriage – there has to be give and take and tantrums and pettiness should be shelved. The last thing you want is a co-writer who's going to be sending you angry emails every time you misplace a comma.

2. Set a deadline

We tend to write progressively, with each writer picking up the action from where the other left off. Collaborating is a great way of killing the procrastination monster – if you know there is someone waiting for your section; you're far less likely to spend all day stalking celebrities on Twitter. Set a realistic timeframe in which you promise to send your writing to each other. We tend to work fast with a turnaround time of three or four days which helps keep us energised and continually engaged with the book.
As a mother and daughter team, this has been a slight issue for us – we're quite talented at coming up with creative excuses – but we've grown out of that now (almost). That said, there is nothing more exciting when a new chapter comes in and your co-writer has added something unexpected that might take the story in a new direction.

3. Don't sweat the small stuff

There's always going to be some sort of altercation in any team effort that's worth doing, but it's vital to know when to let things go. "But I really love the zombie scarecrows" isn't going to cut it if this doesn't fit in with the book as a whole. You must be prepared to shelve your ego and listen to your co-writer's opinion; if she really hates it, she could well have a point. Pick your battles carefully: it's fine to stand up for something you passionately believe in, but pointless to waste time wrangling over what colour hoody the love interest should wear (sadly, we've done this).

4. Exploit the fact that you are not alone

Writing a novel can be a lonely business. There you are, laptop in front of you, with nothing but the temptation of World of Warcraft as company. And you're stuck. You've written your protagonist into a corner, she's trapped in a burning vehicle at the bottom of a cliff surrounded by slavering wolves – how are you going to get her out of there?

One of the most valuable things about collaboration is the hive-mind. Whenever we're stuck on a plot-point we hash it out, bouncing ideas, talking it out. We have been known to stay up all night, chugging back coffee and debating plot twists. The other writer doesn't have to be in the same room as you – we often work over email when we're in different countries (or even rooms!)

And play to each other's strengths. One of you may have a great ear for dialogue; the other could well have a knack for description.

5. Be honest

Trust is vital when collaborating. Don't be afraid to let your co-writer know when she has gone off on a tangent or if the love scene she's just written has tipped into vomit-inducing territory. Be tactful, but be honest. You're both working towards the same goal – to write the best novel you can. Being afraid to hurt your co-writer's feelings can be detrimental.

Collaborating is all about learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses, but above all it should be fun! If you're not having fun while you're doing it, it will show on the page.

Lily Herne is the name for mother-daughter writing duo Sarah and Savannah Lotz. Sarah lives in Cape Town, South Africa, and Savannah lives in Norwich, UK. Deadlands, about what happens when a zombie apocalypse hits South Africa, is published by Much-in-Little.