Collective Writing

[samor]

Some of us are good at writing, some are good at coming up with ideas, some are good at English, still others are good at feedback, and so forth.

If we all get together and form a group to write a book, collectively, all our brains will beat any solo writer and we’ll be at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list…

We can have meetings to discuss and decide what should happen in the story. Every idea can fit into any story one way or another.

One option would be to divide the characters so that one writer or subgroup of writers will be exclusively responsible on a particular character’s actions, thus making the characters and the story more realistic and more challenging.

Who’s in?

[Jared]

Collective Writing sounds like fun! I could set this up if you'd like to be a leader :-)

[lizblue]

Great! I was scrolling the clubs wondering where the writers were...

What kind of "writing" do you have in mind, collectively speaking?

I have mostly written poetry, though I have lately been drawn (in addition, not instead) memoiristic forms too. I am struggling right now whether to relinquish my chosen path of study (psychology) and dedicate myself fully to my writing. Long story... I would love to participate in anything that brings writers together.

[samor]

What kind of "writing" do you have in mind, collectively speaking? It doesn’t have to be one kind of writing and it doesn’t have to be one book. Remember that we are collective, we all decide together what to do, how to go about it, and what to start with. Votes can be taken when necessary.

I have mostly written poetry Many times in a story a character writes/reads/recites a poem. That’s where you come in and provide some good poetry. ;-) Every idea can fit into any story one way or another.

[samor]

I could set this up if you'd like to be a leader :-)Maybe, let’s first hear if others are interested.

[lizblue]

It doesn’t have to be one kind of writing and it doesn’t have to be one book. Remember that we are collective, we all decide together what to do, how to go about it, and what to start with. Votes can be taken when necessary.

I'm interested, for sure. I favor fusion and non-linear forms myself. Your idea has a lot of potential!

Many times in a story a character writes/reads/recites a poem. That’s where you come in and provide some good poetry. ;-)
I love poetry because it does not rely on logic but employs imagery to elicit emotional and visceral responses, which I am all about :), however, I enjoy writing prose as well. I don't believe in limiting myself :).

Hopefully others will be into this.

[cloudsplitter]

what makes this really interesting is the collaborative work will unavoidably be weaving of different styles. I wouldn't be concerned with one person writing a poem, another prose, or yet another factual newspaper article style, because that could be used to our advantage.

For example, the idea samor had of assigning characters to each writer would work well.

If this was done in first person, different writing styles would add to the overall effect [ie. a bunch of yellow dots mixed together randomly with a bunch of blue dots will look green from afar--even though each dot is still what it is--yellow or blue (hope that made sense)].

And at various places in the story the various plots/people/events would merge/overlap/conflict/contradict/support/reinforce each other.

I like it!

[samor]

I think that it is possible to have a consistent style agreed upon in the last stages of writing. I’m not yet sure how exactly (something like mixing paint). But conflicts/contradictions in events and plots can definitely be resolved.

We can start this right now and see how it works out.

We can start the story as a thread in the forum, using the tree form. Someone can post a beginning. Others can continue with that thread, comment on it, or start a different beginning. At any point the story can split into branches (something like parallel universes), and different branches can join and continue together. I think that in the end all the events will be fusible. And we’ll figure out what to do about the style.

[Jared]

OK I will start a new thread and it will be the beginning of the story,

[SirReid]

I'm definitely in on this project. Working collaboratively with others will give me motivation to complete a non-fiction manuscript I've been working on over the last few years.

I like the idea of feeding off each other's threads, but I recommend we first come up with a framework from which to work. Then we can begin writing.

A framework could evolve by answering some questions

What's the goal or premise of the book? Mystery? Love Story? Super Heros? Self help? Autobiographies? A story about us writing this story together?

Who are the characters? Will characters develop by writing about ourselves?
What binds the characters together?
How does story start or end? Should we write the End first and then write backwards?
What type of plots should we use? Multiple intertwined plots?

Just some food for thought.

I'm ready to start !!