Collaborators Wanted

[kailhofer]

Since I already wrote two segments, I'm more than willing to let someone else try. But if you need more writers, I'd be happy to fill in.

Let me know.

Nate

[kailhofer]

I'm wondering if that's TOO broad of a spec guideline, aka "too blind".

I feel that there could be some value in a "double layer" guide. First, let the collaborators submit their character sketch. Then send a contributor note to everyone with a 1-line capsule of who's out there.

Put another way, a space station "feels like a small community"... at which point everyone would know each other. I discovered there was no one to talk to!

The second point from your most recent note reminds me of what I see as a fatal fallacy inherent in the copyright concept. "Each writer struggles mightily to build a portion of the future, ... and then no one else can ever visit there without a stringent passport".

The reason trilogies sell well in stores is that readers want to "hang around" with fun characters. If we structurally ensure that characters "must be disposed of" either in this collaboration or the flash contests, it signals the reader "not to enjoy themselves too much". I came close to writing linked flash installments *not caring that the authorship was known*, but the group seems to feel the "guessing identity" part is important in the contests.

I feel a growing discord in the modern mood contrasting ever-longer copyrights, combined with every effort to make content decay as quickly as possible.

Disney irritates me because they have built a crushing empire upon confiscating other public domain works, adding a little modern flash&glamor, and then locking them away so no one else can use that concept again.

I worked to make my two characters interesting enough for me to have them do other things should the chance arise. Can we spread this into an area bigger than a single "blind" story, and explore patching onto the shared locale? Fan Fiction serves a need - it's the modern equivalent of the 3000+ year old theme of building on literary tradition, before modern copyrights locked in. Should anyone decide to add further adventures to my two fellows, I am willing to let them.

I have to say I see it from a much different perspective. I quite like that my characters are my own, and that I don't have a clue who they are until after I've written them doing something for a bit. I couldn't send a sketch that looked like any character until after he/she/it was done, not and have it match.

I was a little bit upset at first when I saw Gareth used them and give them dialog that I didn't write, or at least checked over. Then I remembered that we all agreed that we didn't want to see it. Plus, he did an ok job, and how else was he going to put them together if he couldn't write them himself? Not sure what I was thinking there about how it would work.

I was about to say that I don't much like fan fiction, but honestly, I've never tried writing it myself. When I've read it, It seems amateurish to me, but I shouldn't condemn it all based on that. Perhaps we'll have to try it in a future flash challenge.

I've never said a character had to be 'disposed of' in the challenges. If you meant that I restricted the use of pre-existing characters in the last one so you needed to invent new ones, guilty as charged. Linked stories... You can always write a series and either send them in installments to Robert or gather them up and send them as a serial. You don't need a contest for that. However, without putting too fine a point on it, more may come of that in the future.

Myself, I read trilogies because the good story kept going. Good characters may come or go so long as the storyline keeps me interested.

Nate

[kailhofer]

From another typical meaty Kailhofer post:
"I don't have a clue who they {characters} are until after I've written them doing something for a bit. I couldn't send a sketch that looked like any character until after he/she/it was done, not and have it match."

By all means. It's supposed to be dialectical. You write your character and figure him out, ... then send the 2-liner to the coordinator. You get back everyone else's 2-liner description. Then as desired, your character has *heard of* "The morose strong guy", "The garrulous professor", etc.

Then when everyone shows up in the same room Doing Stuff, they're not total strangers, and that's got to have an effect on any interactions desired for plot reasons.

Well, I do think you might have a point. It might well help interactions between the segments and make it more cohesive. However, it may also take away the magic of the project. That is, people writing their own bits, not knowing what others are doing, and it still fits together as a complete story. That's magical to me, anyway.

"Disposed of Character" is not "killed off". For the second challenge that dealt with AI, I nearly wrote one with the child-being of the semi-sentient airplane from my first effort... except that would have skylined the authorship, and I read the prevailing mood that everyone wanted it as a blind guess. Correct me if I'm misunderstanding this.

No, that is correct. I don't want it to be obvious who wrote anything, but you can always sequel it to Robert, and have it published that way.

And... a future challenge may address this. It's still up in the air.

Nate

[kailhofer]

Yes, congratulations on the young one. 1st, or do you have more?

On the collaboration, don't feel bad. Participation was down in all areas last month. You might want to try offering again before throwing in the towel.

I think I was quick to try it as something new, as well as to help out a fellow writer with a project. Do you have a new wrinkle this time that would keep it fresh for all of us? That might swell your ranks.

Nate

[kailhofer]

Good for you. Family life is nice. What are there ages?

I have 3 myself, a boy & 2 girls, ranging 7-13 years old.

Nate