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Giving The Power To The People
Building an online community to create collaborative publications - essentially books written page by page by different people from around the world - may sound like an ambitious project but its happening today thanks to the power of the Internet, and more importantly, the power of people.
It may sound foolhardy and unlikely to work in practice, but the concept of scores of unconnected people, perhaps even hundreds or thousands, working together to create group produced publications is proving incredibly successful.
Some contributors see it as an opportunity to showcase their previously hidden creative talent to a wide audience of supportive and like minded potential authors. Others like the chance to influence a book's storyline as it develops, and perhaps introduce new characters, scenes or even unexpected twists and turns. For many, collaborative writing is just about joining in and being part of something special which could actually result in published books which they have helped write.
Whatever the motivation people power is having an impact, and more and more people from every walk of life and from every region of the world are getting involved and spreading the word.
The concept will never mean the end of individual writers penning fantastic individual works (and so it shouldn't as where would we be without our rich culture of great literature from around the world), but it may make the traditional publishing industry sit up and think. After all why would the aspiring author go through rejection after rejection only to learn that many book publishers are increasingly focused on just finding the next blockbuster, when they can publish freely on a collaborative writing site and gain instant exposure and feedback?
More fundamentally the concept of online collaborative writing could be seen as the next true social evolution of the Internet after communication and networking. These Web 2.0 practices have, rightly or wrongly, gained much international publicity and rocketed the value of some social networking sites into the stratosphere.
But did they lead to the creation of anything tangible or enable previously unconnected individuals to work together on singular projects? Were they focused on providing a voice to the previously unheard and have they worked to harness creativity or instead, unwittingly, highlighted the fact that true creation has been missing from the world-wide-web?
Giving web users the world over the means to actually create written works of all kinds which they can later see in print (be these fictional stories, poem, academic works, business documents and so much more), opens up the true potential of the Internet.
Some critics are already saying this e-revolution is Web 2.5 the next step the Internet will make but as always its up to the people to decide. They will choose with their mouse clicks and their referrals, with their chats to friends and emails to colleagues. But from small beginnings great transitions have occurred and although its still in its infancy, collaborative writing is gaining momentum.
Famous authors and high profile celebrities are now joining in and starting fictional stories for others to add to. Jeffrey Archer, author of epic tales such as Kane and Abel, and Joanne Harris, who penned the book Chocolat that became a Hollywood film of the same name, as well as childrens author Dick King-Smith who wrote the book that became the film Babe, are amongst those that like the idea of giving the power to the people. For them its a great way to see how works they start end up when many voices contribute to the mix.
Whatever your view, online collaborative writing is a novel idea.
BONUS : Go With The Flow- When Your Character's Don't Listen
The most important skill a writer needs is the ability to go with the flow. Though you may have sat down to outline your novel, and you know exactly what you want them to do and when, it doesn't always happen that way. As you write, you will learn your characters. They may become someone you never expected them to, and sometimes they refuse to do what you want them to do.
Often it is when you try to make the character fit the mold created in your mind that you get writers block. I've found that the only way to overcome this is to sit down, write, and let your characters do the talking.
When I sat down to write my novel No Matter What I had two main characters in mind with several secondary characters. Though I never intended for Blake (one of those secondary characters) to play a role that was vital, the novel would not be the same if he had not. I found that as I wrote, Blake wanted to do his own thing, and as an author, I spent many an hour trying to make him do something differently. In the end, Blake won the battle and I let him be who he wanted to be.
That's not to say that you should not write an outline. Outlines are very useful tools for completing your project. There are many different ways of outlining a project. My personal style is to outline as I write. What I mean is that I write a chapter then go back and review it. Once I have reviewed that chapter, I outline what I want to happen in the next chapter. Some people write and outline at the beginning. There are pro's for writing and outline and there are pro's for not writing an outline. Ultimately, it is up to you--the author--to decide if you work better with or without one.
Remember that it is your story, but it is vital to have realistic characters. Forcing a character to go in a direction that is not true to the character makes that character less believable and will jeopardize the quality of your writing. That doesn't mean that you have no say so, but it does mean that when you are stuck, try just letting it flow, you might find an interesting twist that you didn't think of but your character did.
The most important skill a writer needs is the ability to go with the flow. Though you may have sat down to outline your novel, and you know exactly what you want them to do and when, it doesn't always happen that way. As you write, you will learn your characters. They may become someone you never expected them to, and sometimes they refuse to do what you want them to do.
Often it is when you try to make the character fit the mold created in your mind that you get writers block. I've found that the only way to overcome this is to sit down, write, and let your characters do the talking.
When I sat down to write my novel No Matter What I had two main characters in mind with several secondary characters. Though I never intended for Blake (one of those secondary characters) to play a role that was vital, the novel would not be the same if he had not. I found that as I wrote, Blake wanted to do his own thing, and as an author, I spent many an hour trying to make him do something differently. In the end, Blake won the battle and I let him be who he wanted to be.
That's not to say that you should not write an outline. Outlines are very useful tools for completing your project. There are many different ways of outlining a project. My personal style is to outline as I write. What I mean is that I write a chapter then go back and review it. Once I have reviewed that chapter, I outline what I want to happen in the next chapter. Some people write and outline at the beginning. There are pro's for writing and outline and there are pro's for not writing an outline. Ultimately, it is up to you--the author--to decide if you work better with or without one.
Remember that it is your story, but it is vital to have realistic characters. Forcing a character to go in a direction that is not true to the character makes that character less believable and will jeopardize the quality of your writing. That doesn't mean that you have no say so, but it does mean that when you are stuck, try just letting it flow, you might find an interesting twist that you didn't think of but your character did.
