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[DragonwriterX]

Okay here's the beef I though it would be cool to be able to be apart of a story someone is telling and add on to it. This is done on SDB. So my thought is what if we created a thread that does that so members can tell stories that others can be apart in?What do you think?

[32-bit int]

It could be interesting. However, we'd have to be careful to prevent it from degenerating into chaos.

[Selroth]

What's the difference between this and a roleplay thread?

[32-bit int]

What's the difference between this and a roleplay thread?

The general purpose behind an RPG is that it's a game in which players pretend to be characters. One thing we can do is to set up collaborative authorship of a narrative; the purpose is to produce a story, rather than to imagine being in a story. This suggests that there'd be many differences, not only in purpose, but also in approach. For example, RPs have no provision for editing the plot once it has been written.

[Rocangus]

I agree 32, it sure seems interesting. But what kind of chaos are you thinking about?

[Saq]

Yeah... I'm pretty sure the 'org' is a non-RP site...

[32-bit int]

I agree 32, it sure seems interesting. But what kind of chaos are you thinking about?

When a writer is working alone, all relevant information is known to that writer. If there are multiple people working on the same thing, there is a chance that they will contradict each other. For example, if someone writes a vague outline of a plot and leaves it to two other people to write the story itself, each of them working on different parts of the story, if both of those people don't know exactly what the other is writing, they may both (e.g.) elaborate on a character's past, and make up totally different histories for that character. Then, when the time comes to join the parts into a whole story, it ends up as a load of nonsense.

I have read "three word story" threads on other forums where people would post their three words without reading more than a few of the previous posts, thus leading to very long and very grammatically incorrect sentences.

That sort of thing shouldn't be highly likely to occur, as long as everyone posts all their drafts and reads everyone else's, but it is something to be careful of.

Yeah... I'm pretty sure the 'org' is a non-RP site...

By "the 'org'" did you mean this website? If so, why did you refer to it like that?

[Aurelia]

A collaborative story thread could work as long as it's clear that it is a fictional novella being written as a joint effort (maybe put it in Projects?) and not an RP where members are part of the story themselves (even in dragon form).

The 3 word story threads tend to make it easier to see it is a story and not an RP but I find those threads get wwwaayyyy off track and the point of the story lost completely lol!  So how would you want to work the thread; how many words/sentences/paragraphs would each person write?  Also would there be a set order of members to write in, or could members take part as and when they pleased?

[32-bit int]

As you may have guessed from my previous post in this thread, I think the best way to do this would be to collectively brainstorm ideas for a plot and write a synopsis before starting on the final product, rather than have people just constantly adding bits on to the end, because if the project isn't coordinated right from the start, people could end up trying to move the story in different directions. While not as bad as outright plot holes, such an occurrence would give the story an inconsistent feel. Also, if there is some sort of rota, sooner or later someone won't post at the right time, throwing everything off track. Of course, this forum software wasn't written with collaborative storytelling in mind. Perhaps it would be a good idea to have a master copy of the plan/story so far, and keep editing it to reflect progress, while discussion, planning and writing takes place in a single thread?

I don't think there should be any hard and fast limits on how much people write, although some guidelines might be a good idea.

[Rocangus]

Well, I wish that an RP thread I had at rashansforum.com, which now is gone, had survived and made it onto here. This is another thing, a story written by multiple people, and I might be able to come up with something. Who knows?

[Aurelia]

I like the idea of a collective brainstorm, the only downside to that is it isn't new-member-friendly as they would either feel they couldn't take part later, or not be able to take part later because it's already in full swing.

I dislike the idea of a rota of people too, so I'm glad I'm not alone on that hehe.

Hmm.... *thinks*

[32-bit int]

I like the idea of a collective brainstorm, the only downside to that is it isn't new-member-friendly as they would either feel they couldn't take part later, or not be able to take part later because it's already in full swing.

What if we maintain a dynamic plan of plot elements, detailed info on characters etc., with plenty of scope for expansion? That way, new users could add their own ideas, subplots and so on without treading on anyone's toes. They could even insert more detail into existing chapters, provided that they are careful not to introduce plot holes.

[Rocangus]

What if we maintain a dynamic plan of plot elements, detailed info on characters etc., with plenty of scope for expansion? That way, new users could add their own ideas, subplots and so on without treading on anyone's toes. They could even insert more detail into existing chapters, provided that they are careful not to introduce plot holes.

That sounds fairly good, I think.

[DragonwriterX]

Well the idea would be that first create a thread inwhich a character is made, there the creator tells about it. such as Race/ability/name ect. As well as abit of history that way when they are in the story people know there not just some random character walking into the scene.

Second thread would be a place inwhich to discuss the story, and the author would tell what the story was about, the setting, expectations the whole lot.

Then there would of coarse be the place you start the story.
I'm kind of glad I did this before decided to go ahead and do it.

So what of it, would it be an alright idea.

[Shoj]

What's the difference between this and a roleplay thread?

That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the title.

Still sort of sounds like it.