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edurban

edurban

War Child
Joined
Sep 14, 2007
Messages
939
Location
London
This is not my idea. Just wanted to dedicate a thread to YDW's suggestion that some of our most talented writers should team up and write a chapter each to see where it goes.

For reference, see http://forum.interference.com/t184826.html

and while you are there, have a read at 'Rina's excellent beginning of a new story



Ok, let's brainstorm!
 
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The main problem is understanding how many characters we are going to have, are we going to have as many (main) characters as writers? The plot would be really complicated this way. Or shall we limit the number to four (one for each - erhm - member) and part of the challenge is making the character act coherently throughout the story even if different writers take the situation in hand in turn.

I think this could turn out to be a very interesting writing experiment.
 
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The question, then also arises as to whether we write a character each, or a chapter each 9which makes more sense and sounds more fun).

I don't think there's any need to limit the number of characters per se, just see what writer one dishes up, and take it from there.
 
I dunno, writing a character each would become a little messy and muddled. I mean, if we wanted to do that, we might as well make it a roleplay, rather than a traditional chapter-by-chapter story.

I think a roleplay could definitely be fun. Each person takes control of their character, and their character only. Since the boys obviously aren't here to take control of their own selves, we can exhibit a little artistic license, and allow everyone to control them at will. The big thing to note (especially for those who've never roleplayed before) is that there's this thing called god-modding (which is a bastardization of "god-mode-ing") and it's a big no-no. Basically that's when a person takes control of another person's character, or does something completely inpossible/unrealistic in the roleplay which messes it up for everyone else. Generally the only person allowed to do any mild god-modding is the gamemaster, ie. the person running the roleplay. Sometimes it's actually necessary for the gamemaster to take over a little, just to keep the whole thing moving forward.

Alternately, just doing a regular story might actually be easier and more fun. But we should probably make a limit on the number of characters (I liked edurban's suggestion of one per member ;)) and maybe before we even start writing, we can come up with the characters and mini-profiles of them. Name, age, physical attributes, and personality. That way everyone will have something to refer to when doing their writing. Maybe we could also come up with a slight plot-basis beforehand, to keep things running smoothly.

As far as keeping the chapter writing organized (so we don't end up having everyone writing the next chapter, and end up with four "chapter 2s" ;)), maybe as each chapter gets posted, a single person can call dibs on the next one, and have a certain time period within which to get it written and posted (otherwise they forfeit their turn, and someone else can take it). We can do that until everyone's had a turn, and then start over (perhaps in the same order, or just give the following chapter to whoever calls it first)
 
Great ideas, ladies *tosses hat into ring* I say we each pick a main character to write for and get to add an incidental if we need to. And, yeah, let's come up with at least a profile of the character and a BASIC plot outline - at least a starting time period.

I also like the idea of "calling next" on a chapter, like if you read the last chapter posted and have an AWESOME idea and you get to it first, it's yours. That way, you avoid the problem of being "assigned" something that you have no ideas for.

Who else is in?
 
What if you were all to agree on a main character (or two), a situation, and a problem to be solved, then each writer submit their own version with, say, a 2page limit. Kind of like a "Whose Line..." 'Scenes from a Hat' type deal...thingy... :reject:

In other words, each author would be writing about the same things, just putting their own special spin on it. It would be really easy to compare the different styles that way. You could even agree on a blackout date for the stories, so no one posts their's before someone else, i.e., no submissions online until March 17th.

:shrug: You ladies are the experts - I'm just throwing out things off the top of my head. :D
 
We need more writers, YDW, where are you? What about the others?:dancing: It's such and exciting prospect!
 
Okay, let's accumulate the ideas we have so far, and maybe we can have everyone pick a preference:


1: Standard 'continuation' story, ie, one person writes the first chapter, another person comes along and continues it in the next, and so on and so forth.

1-A. Standard 'continuation' story, with limited characters.

1-B. Standard 'continuation' story, with unlimited characters, or one character per author.

1-C: Chapter organization: First come, first serve, ie. taking 'dibs' on the next chapter.

1-D: Chapter organization: Assigned chapters beforehand, ie, saying so-and-so will write chapters 1 and 7, while such-and-such will write chapters 3 and 9.

-----

2: Roleplay story: Each person controls one character, with no limit of who can post when, to continue the story, although individual writers will have less control over the overall story arc.

-----

3: Story challenge: A plot-basis and maximum story length will be chosen beforehand (ie, write a 5 page story about meeting Bono in a bar), each author will write and submit their version of this story by a certain date.



I think that's all the ideas we've had so far. If you want to, you can go ahead and sort of give your opinion on each idea. I'll do mine for an example:


1: I like this idea a lot.

1-A: I think this would be suitable.

1-B: I'm not sure about this, it could get very complicated.

1-C: This is probably the best way to keep it organized.

1-D: I don't think this idea would work out, it could end up making it more difficult for the authors.

2: This could be fun, but also very difficult to organize and keep working.

3: This is a very good idea, and I think we'd all have fun with it.


As you can see by my 'votes', idea 1 (and 1-A, 1-C) and idea 3, are my favourite choices :)
 
I like 1-A and 1-B, and also 3... The only issue I have with 1-C (and 2, to an extent) is that those of us in unconventional timezones may miss out on calling dibs on chapters, or else hold the story up.

But in general, this sounds like an awesome idea :D

Did anyone ever write those one-paragraph-each kinda blind stories when they were kids? One person would start, then fold over the paper so only the last few words were showing, then someone else would continue without knowing what the first person wrote... and so on. Some hilarious results... :lol:
(I know, not really practical for the internet, but I just felt like reminiscing :wink: )
 
Completely with you DOL13.

Back on another board far far away, we used to regularly have challenges on a theme. It worked really well and produce a lot of fun writing, which could be great as a way of giving us short term things to do.

As a mass work, 1-C will probably work best, because all authors think differently and a limitation may make things become far too predictable.
So I vote for 1-c with as many side orders of 3 as we can dish out...
 
I agree with 'Rina. I think those two would make it fair for everyone too.

Instead of number of pages, maybe we could do number of words? Just because not everyone uses the same word processing program. Most of us probably use Word, but it may be easier to do a word count, say 1500 or something like that.
 
Same here, 1, 1A and 1C (although I do see a problem with the Americas being last in the day and never being able to have a good chance at arriving first).

3 is also very fun, but very different in kind. As there would not be much character development, but it would be interesting to see how people build differently on the same main plotline.

We can have both systems?
 
Okay, so we can basically throw idea 2 out, since no one likes it :lol:

Idea 1 and idea 3 are both fun, but indeed, are two different things. We could definitely do both :)

As for time zones... maybe we could organize it slightly by asking Americans to try and post late at night, Europeans early in the morning, and Australians in the late afternoon. That way... at least we're almost aligned, and not too many hours off from each other, or decent hours in each other's regions.
Some of us keep wacky hours anyway. I'm American (+6 GMT), but I'm more likely to post something at 1 or 2 in the morning, than anytime before noon! :lol:
 
dianepm said:
Instead of number of pages, maybe we could do number of words? Just because not everyone uses the same word processing program. Most of us probably use Word, but it may be easier to do a word count, say 1500 or something like that.
Click to expand...
I was going to say something like that too, but forgot. :lol: I like the idea of a word limit rather than a page limit... :up:
 
I'm up for whatever but I like 1-C. I don't think time zones will be a problem since, contrary to popular opinion, I'm not ALWAYS on line and sometimes go, oh I don't know, HOURS without checking PLEBA :shocked:

Are we going to agree on a basic plot conflict or is that up to the first couple chapter writers?

Minor prob: If it's my turn, I can only write one night a week so I don't want to hold up the works. Hope y'all can be patient.

weeeeee :dancing:
 
Alisaura said:


Did anyone ever write those one-paragraph-each kinda blind stories when they were kids? One person would start, then fold over the paper so only the last few words were showing, then someone else would continue without knowing what the first person wrote... and so on. Some hilarious results... :lol:
(I know, not really practical for the internet, but I just felt like reminiscing :wink: )
Click to expand...

WARNING: tidbit of useless knowledge:
The surreal artists of the early 20th c. used to do this thing called "the exquisite corpse" as parties, using either words or drawings. http://www.exquisitecorpse.com/definition/About.html
 
zuropa_fit said:
I'm up for whatever but I like 1-C. I don't think time zones will be a problem since, contrary to popular opinion, I'm not ALWAYS on line and sometimes go, oh I don't know, HOURS without checking PLEBA :shocked:
Click to expand...

:lmao: I dunno why that cracked me up so bad!

Maybe it's cause I am constantly on PLEBA. *clings to* My preciooooous.

(Well, not constantly, but I AM online often, and I check PLEBA frequently when I am :))


zuropa_fit said:
Are we going to agree on a basic plot conflict or is that up to the first couple chapter writers?
Click to expand...
Well, we should come up with some really really basic plot points, just so we're all interested in the same thing.

Like whether or not romance :flirt: will be involved.

And whether or not a concert will be involved.

And maybe pick an era to set it in.


My opinions:

Romance is always good :drool:

I'm sick of writing about concerts :lol:

I'm game for almost any era :)
 
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