The long-awaited return of Ruth Jones and James Corden’s hit BBC sitcom represents the latest in a long line of successful creative duos. An author who writes with her husband examines why partnerships work so well

On Christmas Day, fans will be treated to the long-awaited Gavin & Stacey reunion. The sitcom is written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, but while the former was living in the US, the writing partnership was put on pause. Apparently, the pair need to be in the same room as each other, with Post-it notes galore. For them, Zoom is no substitute for the real thing.

That doesn’t work for everyone. Some collaborators need to be apart. The first rule of creative collaboration is that there are no rules. People have to find their own particular method, no matter how messy, strange, contrary and idiosyncratic that may be.