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Online Collaborative Branching Writing Project

Submitted by: Phatmaus
Created: May 10, 2007, 11:06 pm

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The Idea

The concept is simple: someone begins a thread (initial stub of a story) and indicates two possibilities for the advancement of the narrative. People can choose to continue whichever route they wish. Each subsequent addition must feature a branching. The application should feature a number of elements to support the writing of a well-paced, rich narrative: The writers will be kept to a certain word-limit per section, a tips panel will advise the writer on how they should direct the events and tone of the narrative to conform to a predefined plot archetype (e.g. "the hero journey" Wink at each particular stage and as characters are created they can be logged in a character profile for reference. The intention here is to publish the best "routes" in a book at the end of the project. The results won't be perfect, but should be interesting. The project has yet to be fully planned, the key to success being the rules and tools to help the writers maintain a common thread and pacing.

I thought of this idea when I was...

I have always been interested in the patterns and structure of writing. I was at one point thinking of creating a wizard style "plot creator" online. I don't see this as a substitute for artistry or a true mastering of the craft - but an investigation into what can and can't be "aided" artificially in the creative process and how technology can be used to at least act as a starting point for the "blocked." I'm no writer by the way. I've also always been fascinated by the idea of harnessing micro-efforts of internet users to make something that is more than the sum of it's parts (that would be Web 2.0 I guess). I recently heard about the Penguin Wiki Novel project, where numerous contributors constructed a kind of free-form novel using a wiki. http://www.amillionp...ki/index.php/Welcome
I'm wondering how it may work if there were some tools, rules and structures added into a mix. Not a competing project - just different.

Comments Posted

PsychSplash Posted: May 11, 2007, 12:43 am

There has been quite a few versions of this idea floating around. You might find a few collaborators in CH to work on this idea with you.

Brenden Posted: May 11, 2007, 6:25 am

very popular idea on CH

bshumate Posted: May 11, 2007, 12:29 pm

Yes! Multi-User Choose Your Own Adventure

MUCYOA! ;-)

cool idea.

JelmerBV Posted: May 11, 2007, 12:33 pm

Nice idea :D

saigon Posted: May 12, 2007, 2:54 am

http://www.999articles.com can be a spin off... but yes CHers writers in heart kept on thriving somewhere even here...

collaborate and goodluck!

saigon Posted: May 12, 2007, 2:56 am

check http://www.bornmagazine.org/

Phatmaus Posted: May 12, 2007, 8:40 pm

Thanks for the link Saigon... that's an extremely cool site. Not quite what I'm proposing though. There are definitely lots of sites that do something like this out there. My interest though is in looking to do it a different way - to guide the creation process a little more. It would certainly be a simpler process than bornmagazine - more of an uber-straightforward web2.0 approach where from the outset it's plain you can do 2 things: read or create. And those routes would be very easy to follow.

ggo Posted: May 13, 2007, 6:40 pm

We used to do something similar when we were children (a long, long time ago) telling stories out loud. One person would start the story, then let someone else take it in a completely different direction (if they chose to), but following one thread of commonality which we had agreed upon beforehand, such as a particular object which would be involved through all stages of the story.

leese Posted: May 13, 2007, 11:53 pm

Check out ficlets.com.

Neeraj Posted: May 22, 2007, 3:23 pm

It's been done, again

http://www.portrayl.com

nicer than ficlets imho

fearsymprodct Posted: May 30, 2007, 10:39 am

This idea has some strengths and weaknesses. The "tip panel" idea is the most original part; I disagree with the "been done" comments here, they didn't bother to read the entire concept. With a celebrity (or minor celebrity) tip panel you could drive a lot of content creators to the site. You don't have a model for revenue for either the site or authors. You'd also need a "timeline" for any given piece that would allow people to move both backwards and forwards on the collaboration tree.

Another thing to watch out for would be fan fiction. Online writing sites are FULL of fanfic, often sexual or truly odd in nature; this is a legal liability for an actual business, as many IP owners object to the whole "Batman loves Robin" fanfic crowd, for obvious reasons. You'd have to weed out fanfic.

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