Post by Jeff Gerke on Feb 16, 2007 19:01:20 GMT -5
On the Web there are a ton of methods for creating fiction collaboratively. In preparing to launch this endeavor here I researched hypertext fiction and wiki fiction and various forms of role-playing collaborative fiction.
In the end, I've decided on one particular system for us to use. I think I've basically made it up, but I'm sure someone else has already thought of it somewhere. This is all a grand experiment, so maybe we'll try another method next time. But for our first foray, we're going to do it as follows.
This project will take four months to complete.
In month 1 we will lay the foundation for our story. We'll create the worlds, the settings, the characters, the cultures, and whatever else we need to provide ourselves with the building blocks of the story.
In this same month we'll come up with a variety of proposed 3-act structures for the broad movements of our story.
There's also an opportunity to write "prequel" stories in the Prologues sub-forum. Here you can contribute original fiction in the fantasy and/or SF worlds before either had any idea the other existed. This is your chance to write fiction even in month 1, and to give us a slice of life for what things were like before our story began.
At the end of month 1 we'll vote on one or more things: which 3-act structure to go with, what to name certain characters and planets and so forth, and whatever else we need to gain a consensus on.
Then I'll announce the results and we'll move into month 2.
In month 2 we'll actually write Act I of our story. The preliminaries will be locked down and all contributors must draw from what the group did and decided on in month 1.
I want anyone and everyone to be able to write whatever portion of Act I they want to write--even if someone else is covering that same ground. They can be multiple interpretations of the same event. Or maybe explorations of side storylines and secondary characters that can exist within the framework of what we've decided will happen in Act I.
We'll have some broad parameters, like no fair killing off a major character or blowing up the fantasy homeworld in Act I--unless our 3-act structure called for that to happen in Act I. Everything else would be fair game.
There should be no official or "correct" version of any scene or event in Act I. So long as it fits the broad guidelines for Act I, any version is fine. Maybe it's Rashoman or a quantum singularity (or Gilligan's Island, for the rest of us) and there are multiple correct versions of what happened. Who's to say which was true?
Then at the end of month 2 we may have to have some more polls to get a few things locked down before we move into Act II.
In month 3 we'll write Act II in the same way we've written Act I. Act I will be "locked" but Act II will be active and open. Again, so long as you stay within the parameters of the 3-act structure and what the group has decided, all's fair.
In month 4 we'll write Act III and the story's conclusion.
When it's all said and done, I think I'll compile the whole story--everyone's contribution--into some kind of electronic document, which will be free for contributors but possibly put on sale on WhereTheMapEnds.com for everyone else to read and enjoy.
Who knows, maybe one of these collaborative stories could even be among the first original works of fiction published by Marcher Lord Press (www.wherethemapends.com/marcherlord/marcherlord.htm). Hey, it could happen!
In month 4 (and all along the way, really) we'll talk in the Storm Chamber about whether or not we want to do all this over again, how we might do it differently, and what premise and genre(s) to write about next time.
The following month, then, we may start the whole thing over again on a new story.
I hope all this sounds as fun to you as it sounds to me. You guys rock and I'm privileged to be creating this awesome story with you.
(Oh, and on that topic, I'm not sure how much direct involvement I'll have. I'd love to be heavily involved in every step and scene but, like you, I have a paycheck to earn, so we'll have to see. My goal is to contribute at least one thing to each month's work.)
Jeff
In the end, I've decided on one particular system for us to use. I think I've basically made it up, but I'm sure someone else has already thought of it somewhere. This is all a grand experiment, so maybe we'll try another method next time. But for our first foray, we're going to do it as follows.
This project will take four months to complete.
In month 1 we will lay the foundation for our story. We'll create the worlds, the settings, the characters, the cultures, and whatever else we need to provide ourselves with the building blocks of the story.
In this same month we'll come up with a variety of proposed 3-act structures for the broad movements of our story.
There's also an opportunity to write "prequel" stories in the Prologues sub-forum. Here you can contribute original fiction in the fantasy and/or SF worlds before either had any idea the other existed. This is your chance to write fiction even in month 1, and to give us a slice of life for what things were like before our story began.
At the end of month 1 we'll vote on one or more things: which 3-act structure to go with, what to name certain characters and planets and so forth, and whatever else we need to gain a consensus on.
Then I'll announce the results and we'll move into month 2.
In month 2 we'll actually write Act I of our story. The preliminaries will be locked down and all contributors must draw from what the group did and decided on in month 1.
I want anyone and everyone to be able to write whatever portion of Act I they want to write--even if someone else is covering that same ground. They can be multiple interpretations of the same event. Or maybe explorations of side storylines and secondary characters that can exist within the framework of what we've decided will happen in Act I.
We'll have some broad parameters, like no fair killing off a major character or blowing up the fantasy homeworld in Act I--unless our 3-act structure called for that to happen in Act I. Everything else would be fair game.
There should be no official or "correct" version of any scene or event in Act I. So long as it fits the broad guidelines for Act I, any version is fine. Maybe it's Rashoman or a quantum singularity (or Gilligan's Island, for the rest of us) and there are multiple correct versions of what happened. Who's to say which was true?
Then at the end of month 2 we may have to have some more polls to get a few things locked down before we move into Act II.
In month 3 we'll write Act II in the same way we've written Act I. Act I will be "locked" but Act II will be active and open. Again, so long as you stay within the parameters of the 3-act structure and what the group has decided, all's fair.
In month 4 we'll write Act III and the story's conclusion.
When it's all said and done, I think I'll compile the whole story--everyone's contribution--into some kind of electronic document, which will be free for contributors but possibly put on sale on WhereTheMapEnds.com for everyone else to read and enjoy.
Who knows, maybe one of these collaborative stories could even be among the first original works of fiction published by Marcher Lord Press (www.wherethemapends.com/marcherlord/marcherlord.htm). Hey, it could happen!
In month 4 (and all along the way, really) we'll talk in the Storm Chamber about whether or not we want to do all this over again, how we might do it differently, and what premise and genre(s) to write about next time.
The following month, then, we may start the whole thing over again on a new story.
I hope all this sounds as fun to you as it sounds to me. You guys rock and I'm privileged to be creating this awesome story with you.
(Oh, and on that topic, I'm not sure how much direct involvement I'll have. I'd love to be heavily involved in every step and scene but, like you, I have a paycheck to earn, so we'll have to see. My goal is to contribute at least one thing to each month's work.)
Jeff