Choosing is proving harder than it looks
Okay - so i've already reached my first point of difficulty - choosing who is selected to take the next step.
One the one hand - the story has a rough concept in my head - so I could choose options which would push it in the direction i had intended, but isn't that just writing a story in the traditional sense? On the other hand, choosing a comment which takes the story in a completely different route would make the story go in that direction, and thats closer to the core idea of collaboration, but would it get a bit flimsical? If someone suggests "take all your clothes off", or "read the secret code to access the secret room you've spent your life searching for" - the latter is more helpful to the plot (ps... you're not looking for a secret room.. this is just an example... or is it?? ;) however the former would be a) more amusing and collaborative, and b) more of a challenge for me to write the next step.
I think I know how i'll approach it, but we'll see how it pans out.
This morning for instance - two comments: stay still, or get in the car. One punches the pace up a notch, the other allows room to breath and consolidate - either should result in the next step of the story - i just have to work out how quickly to feed the plot through i guess.
So, I suppose by way of apology to those who don't get selected - it may be because i need to use a suggestion to push a plot element forward, i select the less interesting/amusing/flippant suggestion. Although I am determined to make it a little off the cuff, so amusing/flippant are all welcome. Maybe we will get the guy to "take all your clothes off", and wait for the aftermath.
One the one hand - the story has a rough concept in my head - so I could choose options which would push it in the direction i had intended, but isn't that just writing a story in the traditional sense? On the other hand, choosing a comment which takes the story in a completely different route would make the story go in that direction, and thats closer to the core idea of collaboration, but would it get a bit flimsical? If someone suggests "take all your clothes off", or "read the secret code to access the secret room you've spent your life searching for" - the latter is more helpful to the plot (ps... you're not looking for a secret room.. this is just an example... or is it?? ;) however the former would be a) more amusing and collaborative, and b) more of a challenge for me to write the next step.
I think I know how i'll approach it, but we'll see how it pans out.
This morning for instance - two comments: stay still, or get in the car. One punches the pace up a notch, the other allows room to breath and consolidate - either should result in the next step of the story - i just have to work out how quickly to feed the plot through i guess.
So, I suppose by way of apology to those who don't get selected - it may be because i need to use a suggestion to push a plot element forward, i select the less interesting/amusing/flippant suggestion. Although I am determined to make it a little off the cuff, so amusing/flippant are all welcome. Maybe we will get the guy to "take all your clothes off", and wait for the aftermath.
posted by webponce at 10:16 am
1 Comments:
I think the whole idea is that we, the readers, are trying to figure out the mystery. You should stick to your diabolical secret plan for the storyline, and if we're really not getting anywhere, drop lots of hints.
If you want to make the journey last longer, by all means allow us to go down all manner of dead ends, either helping us out by hinting at the right approach or by choosing suggestions which you think you can use to get things heading in the right direction again.
You could even deliberately use the 'wrong' suggestion if you want to confuse and/or frustrate us, although you probably want to avoid too much of that sort of thing because it'll harm the enjoyment of the whole thing.
Either way, you're the boss, so it's up to you. I definitely think we should steal the car, though.
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