Possible start of a story writing guide
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:05 am
I have had an idea for quite some time. I have been thinking about writing some guidelines specific to collaborative fiction.
I am assuming that the reader has read Strunk and White, and know how to use a spell checker. I am also assuming that he has read Sir Toby’s guidelines for what is acceptable and not acceptable on the sir-toby.com site.
I was going to start with the topic of writing the options to a story. Let me know what you all think:
The options at the end of the episode are as important as the body of the episode itself. They are the last thing that I read in an episode, and if they are interesting enough, they make me think and want to continue the story. Here are some ways I have seen them written.
a. The new room/new direction options. When I first started writing episodes for the NEQ, I had thought of the cave system as being similar to the cave system in Zork or the Scott Adams adventure games. The defaults were East, West, North, South, up, or down. That is fine – it gives someone a chance to open up a new area, and use his or her imagination. Episode 2, where the story begins, does just that, where Fred has to pick the left or right entrance to the cave. A variation on this is a “choice of artifact” where the main character has to choose between similar items. Episode 15 is one example of this, where Fred has a choice between opening one of four chests, and the only difference is in the color. Now, red, gold, blue and green suggest different things to me, but they do not place any restrictions on the action. I can write an episode placing a snake in any of these four chests, and it would be perfectly reasonable.
b. The choice of event. The physical location does not change, but there are two different things that can happen to the character. A good example is episode 3, where Fred has a choice of encountering a bear, or a tiny dog. I would think that a meeting with a bear would suggest that Fred is more at risk, and would be more likely to be fighting for his life. When the episode is written this way, the main character does not have any control over his fate. I find that a “choice of event” tends to put me more in a “third person omniscient” mindset, and distances me from the main character.
c. The choice of action – This is a set of options where the main character takes an action. If it is well-written, it also tells me something about the character. Episode 8 is a good example. In this episode, Fred approaches a strange man, who may or may not be helpful. Does he try to evade him and take on the dragon alone, or does he trust him to possibly help? Fred’s choice tells me whether he is cautious or bold. I find that a “choice of action” episode tends put me in more of a “first person” mindset and bring me closer to the main character.
d. And then there is the “I have an idea for an episode, but could not think of an option” option. I have written a number of episodes this way. It is not as good as presenting the reader with interesting choices, but it at least keeps the story moving, and allows future authors the freedom to extend if they wish. Episode 49940 is an example. I wanted to continue the previous story, where the main character, a dragon, has lost her treasure and is sick, and the men on the ship were trying to scrape up enough weath to keep her going. I had some ideas, but couldn’t think of a way to end it. So I wrote just one option. What I try to do when that happens, though is to check the “Add New Option” feature, and then give the next author a little time to extend the story. Sometimes he or she might want to take the story in a direction that I have not thought about, and the “new option” allows for that.
One way of writing the options, so that they are more interesting, is to introduce a contrast where you have to give up something to get something else, or where neither of the two choices is perfect. An example is episode 63917. In this episode, a mariner named Captain Shirk wrecks his ship in the land of the Amazons and tries to woo the leader of the Amazons. Here is the action, and the Captain's two options.
He had appealed to her sense of humour, and not to her romantic instincts. The Amazons graciously accepted Captain Shirk's ship, the Available, as tribute from Allaria, and sailed it and its crew past the Queen's Barrier into Port Ambrosia, the nearest city on the Aqualarian mainland.
The Aqualarians gave Captain Shirk two choices. Captain Shirk chose
1. perpetual servitude for he and his men on the coffee plantations of the Sweltering Jungles of the South.
2. single combat between he and a champion of Aqualaria. If he won, he and his men were free, If he lost, he and his men would die.
In this case, neither choice is ideal, but they do lead to different results, and the choice will tell a lot about Captain Shirk. This first is a safe but degrading choice, and the second is risky but noble.
I don’t think any of these four ways of writing these options are “bad” choices. The important thing is, to give other authors a chance to extend your episode.
I am assuming that the reader has read Strunk and White, and know how to use a spell checker. I am also assuming that he has read Sir Toby’s guidelines for what is acceptable and not acceptable on the sir-toby.com site.
I was going to start with the topic of writing the options to a story. Let me know what you all think:
The options at the end of the episode are as important as the body of the episode itself. They are the last thing that I read in an episode, and if they are interesting enough, they make me think and want to continue the story. Here are some ways I have seen them written.
a. The new room/new direction options. When I first started writing episodes for the NEQ, I had thought of the cave system as being similar to the cave system in Zork or the Scott Adams adventure games. The defaults were East, West, North, South, up, or down. That is fine – it gives someone a chance to open up a new area, and use his or her imagination. Episode 2, where the story begins, does just that, where Fred has to pick the left or right entrance to the cave. A variation on this is a “choice of artifact” where the main character has to choose between similar items. Episode 15 is one example of this, where Fred has a choice between opening one of four chests, and the only difference is in the color. Now, red, gold, blue and green suggest different things to me, but they do not place any restrictions on the action. I can write an episode placing a snake in any of these four chests, and it would be perfectly reasonable.
b. The choice of event. The physical location does not change, but there are two different things that can happen to the character. A good example is episode 3, where Fred has a choice of encountering a bear, or a tiny dog. I would think that a meeting with a bear would suggest that Fred is more at risk, and would be more likely to be fighting for his life. When the episode is written this way, the main character does not have any control over his fate. I find that a “choice of event” tends to put me more in a “third person omniscient” mindset, and distances me from the main character.
c. The choice of action – This is a set of options where the main character takes an action. If it is well-written, it also tells me something about the character. Episode 8 is a good example. In this episode, Fred approaches a strange man, who may or may not be helpful. Does he try to evade him and take on the dragon alone, or does he trust him to possibly help? Fred’s choice tells me whether he is cautious or bold. I find that a “choice of action” episode tends put me in more of a “first person” mindset and bring me closer to the main character.
d. And then there is the “I have an idea for an episode, but could not think of an option” option. I have written a number of episodes this way. It is not as good as presenting the reader with interesting choices, but it at least keeps the story moving, and allows future authors the freedom to extend if they wish. Episode 49940 is an example. I wanted to continue the previous story, where the main character, a dragon, has lost her treasure and is sick, and the men on the ship were trying to scrape up enough weath to keep her going. I had some ideas, but couldn’t think of a way to end it. So I wrote just one option. What I try to do when that happens, though is to check the “Add New Option” feature, and then give the next author a little time to extend the story. Sometimes he or she might want to take the story in a direction that I have not thought about, and the “new option” allows for that.
One way of writing the options, so that they are more interesting, is to introduce a contrast where you have to give up something to get something else, or where neither of the two choices is perfect. An example is episode 63917. In this episode, a mariner named Captain Shirk wrecks his ship in the land of the Amazons and tries to woo the leader of the Amazons. Here is the action, and the Captain's two options.
He had appealed to her sense of humour, and not to her romantic instincts. The Amazons graciously accepted Captain Shirk's ship, the Available, as tribute from Allaria, and sailed it and its crew past the Queen's Barrier into Port Ambrosia, the nearest city on the Aqualarian mainland.
The Aqualarians gave Captain Shirk two choices. Captain Shirk chose
1. perpetual servitude for he and his men on the coffee plantations of the Sweltering Jungles of the South.
2. single combat between he and a champion of Aqualaria. If he won, he and his men were free, If he lost, he and his men would die.
In this case, neither choice is ideal, but they do lead to different results, and the choice will tell a lot about Captain Shirk. This first is a safe but degrading choice, and the second is risky but noble.
I don’t think any of these four ways of writing these options are “bad” choices. The important thing is, to give other authors a chance to extend your episode.