How do I write a HB/ND crossover without either one of them taking over?

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

How do I write a HB/ND crossover without either one of them taking over?
Such as in my story,  Ambulance Detectives where I sometimes got one of them dealing with a patient for a whole chapter on their own? How do I prevent having just Frank and Joe or Nancy from taking over the whole story?

[MacGyver]

Well, you can do like you said and have one chapter devoted to Nancy and then one devoted to Frank and Joe and go back and forth like that- or you keep both involved in all chapters to some degree. I mean- you can still have a mix and have some scenes where the trio is separated and perhaps all three of them might have different scenarios going on concurrently where you need to jump back and forth to let the reader know what's happening and how it's affecting the others. Perhaps you could set an arbitrary rule that you will make sure to give all three of them equal lines of dialogue within each chapter so that they are all equally involved. (i.e. If you go back and read a chapter and realize that mainly Frank and Joe are talking and doing things and Nancy is throwing in a "Yeah, good idea, guys." here and there and just kinda standing there and not doing much else- unless she's gone catatonic, you probably want to rewrite that so that she is saying some more substantial things and contributing to the ongoing plot. Otherwise you wind up with a useless character who is just there to say that they were there. You may also want to make it a rule that all three of the characters must contribute at least one unique idea or action for the chapter. (i.e. It can't be just Nancy solving the whole mystery. Somewhere you do have to have Frank and Joe coming up with an angle Nancy hadn't considered- and then you can build cooperation where Frank, Joe and Nancy all kinda realize together that perhaps what The Hardys had come up with builds on what Nancy had said earlier and together they find a solution. That way it really took all three to solve the thing- they couldn't do it individually, but collectively- when they all came together and put their ideas together, they found better and quicker ways to do things and the right solution that needed all the different parts they contributed.)
      Well, anyway- there are some ideas for you in any case. I hope that helped some.

[JoeHardyRocks]

Yeah, and if you have a chapter that focuses on Frank alot, then make the next chapter more about Joe or Nancy.

[MacGyver]

Well, that was a nice, simple, concise way to say it. - lol
That was pretty much what I was trying to get at - thanks, JHR.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Well, you can do like you said and have one chapter devoted to Nancy and then one devoted to Frank and Joe and go back and forth like that- or you keep both involved in all chapters to some degree. I mean- you can still have a mix and have some scenes where the trio is separated and perhaps all three of them might have different scenarios going on concurrently where you need to jump back and forth to let the reader know what's happening and how it's affecting the others. Perhaps you could set an arbitrary rule that you will make sure to give all three of them equal lines of dialogue within each chapter so that they are all equally involved. (i.e. If you go back and read a chapter and realize that mainly Frank and Joe are talking and doing things and Nancy is throwing in a "Yeah, good idea, guys." here and there and just kinda standing there and not doing much else- unless she's gone catatonic, you probably want to rewrite that so that she is saying some more substantial things and contributing to the ongoing plot. Otherwise you wind up with a useless character who is just there to say that they were there. You may also want to make it a rule that all three of the characters must contribute at least one unique idea or action for the chapter. (i.e. It can't be just Nancy solving the whole mystery. Somewhere you do have to have Frank and Joe coming up with an angle Nancy hadn't considered- and then you can build cooperation where Frank, Joe and Nancy all kinda realize together that perhaps what The Hardys had come up with builds on what Nancy had said earlier and together they find a solution. That way it really took all three to solve the thing- they couldn't do it individually, but collectively- when they all came together and put their ideas together, they found better and quicker ways to do things and the right solution that needed all the different parts they contributed.)
      Well, anyway- there are some ideas for you in any case. I hope that helped some.

Thanks.

Yeah, and if you have a chapter that focuses on Frank a lot, then make the next chapter more about Joe or Nancy.

So like in chapter six? Is that what you mean?

[JoeHardyRocks]

What was chapter 6 about? Was that the Nancy chapter?

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

What was chapter 6 about? Was that the Nancy chapter?

Yeah. That's what I meant.

[Hardy Sleuth]

I was going to try to answer your question, Katie, but I see it's already been eloquently answered. Enjoy writing your story and let it flow.