I notice that this board was originally intended as a forum for on the fly collaborations between SS residents.

It appears that there was initial interest, but that it quickly died down.

I would very much like to revive this idea, but am aware that they are clearly some problems when it comes to something like this, not least of which is the fact that a lack of structure and cohesiveness to the project can undermine and ultimately kill it.

I was hoping we could get into a debate about how it would be possible to run a collaboration without it stalling.

With the talent on the board, I think we could quickly knock together some interesting ideas.

Rick.

That's a good idea Rick.

Michel

I think so. Would anyone else be interested?

How would it work best?

In the past it has gone along the lines of the old game where someone writes a bit and then someone else does a bit and so on.

The good thing about that is that it is unpredictable. the downside is that it is unfocused and becomes open to abuse.

It would be better to try to come up with a way of keeping the project focused, so that we end up with a high-quality producable piece.

We need to establish some ground rules, for instance:

1. 10 page limit.

2. Genre set at beginning.

Etc

I'll act as the Producer or whatever. In the unlikely event of a dispute my say is final, just to keep things on track.

We can discuss the best way of creating something in this thread. Should we collude and get a set plan where the film is going at the start?

I think it would be a fun way of getting a piece together and also might be useful as a way of learning more about structure and charcater creation.

The biggest problem is that these usually turn silly -- or worse, downright stupid -- within a day or so.

I won't mention any specific names, but the biggest problem is that you have no control over who chooses to participate, dropping in 1 or 2 ridiculous or inappropriate lines.

I will not have time to play -- but as you want to host a thread with yourself as "producer" where you have final say -- I think I can help you out a bit with your experiment.

Since people know beforehand -- going in -- that their entries may be cut, drop me a PM if you want something deleted and I can do that.  Give me the specific post #.

It may increase your odds of success.

Just know that I will direct any "where is my post??!!" bitching directly to you.

I agree with Bert that things just get silly with these things.  At the very least, it goes in a direction that no one anticipates.

The only collaboration I participated in was 'The Donut Thread.'  I tried making a point with my 'contribution' but it was completely glossed over by other people.

Personally, I wouldn't want to collaborate wth anyone on a project anyway.  I have too many ideas in my head trying to burst out.  I don't have time to work on other people's ideas and I wouldn't want anyone toying with mine.


Phil

Do you not think it is possible at all?

With a set number of people who can be trusted. Character plans that we work on in advance so that they remain consistent?

Having it so that discussion takes place before people actually write so that a focus can be maintained?

Why don't try to work with people via pm?

Michel

I always thought a good idea for a collaboration would be to have a story revolving around a number of characters, each written by different writers, but overall intertwine to make up the final outcome.

I know this would be difficult but if you had an outline of the major storyline and then some flexability for each character you might get some interesting ideas.  Of course it's the linking the stories together to form the planned outcome which would ultimately be the difficult part.

Not at all sure if this would work, and I'm not putting myself forward here, but there are some good examples of these, Four Rooms, Pulp Fiction, Go, Timecode to name but a few.

Interesting idea Alffy. I think there would be some mileage in that.

Michel, that could well be the only way, though I still hold hope that someone comes up with a way of making it work on here.

There is a site called plotbot. http://www.plotbot.com.  It is specifically for this type of collaboration. I would suggest checking it out.

I am very interested in collaboration.

It's definitely a route to go.  I'm a perfectionist and have had success in other small writing endeavors, but I often feel I fall short in the research department.

Sometimes, in longer works I get bogged down in details; that's why I came to script.  It's a fresh concise approach to story.  It's visual.  It's specific.  It's another craft altogether as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, I'm definitely on board with this idea.

Sandra

I really liked ally's take on the idea.  I'd be in for something like that.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Do you not think it is possible at all? With a set number of people who can be trusted. Character plans that we work on in advance so that they remain consistent? Having it so that discussion takes place before people actually write so that a focus can be maintained?

I've seen it work with the Wild Card series.  George R. R. Martin got a bunch of sci-fi writers together and they did about twenty 'mosiac' novels.  IIRC, he gave them the general stories and they wrote it.

OTOH, Jim Shooter tried the same thing at Marvel Comics when he created The New Universe.  He gave the stories to the writers of each comic book and nearly destroyed Marvel in doing it.


Phil

The other thing to remember is that in a collaboration like this, all of the people involved have to maintain their commitment.  I've done a couple of collaborations, one of which actually made it to the stage, but the other four died after the first or second meeting.  

In college, I was with a group of pretty solid writers and we were going to create a soap opera for the school using a similar method to the one Phil decribed with Wild Cards (which I used to love, but after five books, started losing steam) where we each wrote a storyline with specific characters.  This collaboration lasted exactly two meetings.