Message board literature

[Cantousent]

I prefer to prepare first, but I'm willing to try stream of consciousness. I'm also not interested in owning the project. Someone will probably need to take charge, but, when we get to that stage, someone will. Whoever it is, it won't be me. What I will do, however, is write down a more or less detailed plan as I see it now. Then we can hash out what our actual working plan afterwards.

[Child of Flame]

If I participate, I demand full rights to the finished piece so as to exploit all of your collective works at a later date without giving any of you a penny.

 

Well okay, maybe a penny, but that's it.

 

I'm just kidding, I'm in.

[metadigital]

I prefer to prepare first, but I'm willing to try stream of consciousness.  I'm also not interested in owning the project.  Someone will probably need to take charge, but, when we get to that stage, someone will.  Whoever it is, it won't be me.  What I will do, however, is write down a more or less detailed plan as I see it now.  Then we can hash out what our actual working plan afterwards.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Isn't this mess a stream-of-consciousness narrative, without the burden of cubersome plots and (deep) characters? "

[Musopticon?]

I'd join, but I feel my participation will be a stream of consciousness narrative, making the collective intellect of other participants un-conscious.

[Cantousent]

Okay, here's a rough idea for how we proceed.

 

First of all, the main question as I see it is this: how elaborate do we want to be in terms of plot?

 

I like the idea of writing a story where the participants communicate by message board trying to discover a way to escape some difficult situation. It has a lot of elements that could make it quite appealing. The problems involved in such a story are not insurmountable.

 

On the other hand, I would rather start out with something simple. For instance, we could have a group of core characters who develop an online friendship. These characters could communicate about a variety of issues throughout many threads. Some characters might move around from one thread to another. Other characters might make a single post in a particular thread. The core group will be involved in every or virtually thread. Some threads might be short. Some threads will be longer. Every so often, one of the core group will start a thread about something personally significant and others will respond. Interspersed between the more dramatic threads will be some lighter threads concerning a variety of topics, from humorous to frivolous to philosophical. That way, we can have our cake (a cogent narrative) and eat it too (freeflowing thought). What do you think?

[Musopticon?]

Well-thought out. If you can pull this off, that is; half of the participants don't leave because the story doesn't seem to go anywhere, it might be a real blast.