I've read through some of the stickies here and read many times that when creating a storyline that you shouldn't ask others for help as it will lessen the story. Personally I do not think this is so. I personally have a narrow way of thinking. I'll always take the same path to the store. I'll always perform the same tasks to get a job done. Because I have a tendency to do the same things, I feel that any storyline I may come up with would be also be too narrow in it's plot. I was thinking of starting a story (announcing it's opening) and the game's "world" settings and asking others to help complete the story to overcome this bottleneck. Do you other user's think that this would be a very good idea? Keep in mind that I would keep a strict rule base in the story to keep people from "ruining" the game.

Collaborative writing can work if one person is clearly the head writer/editor, taking all the other people's suggestions and weaving them into a stylistically unified whole. Whether anyone will actually be interested in contributing their ideas if they don't get to be in charge is another question though.

Based on the number of responses compared to views, I think you're right about people being unwilling to participate. I would be doing any and all editing to the storyline like you mention. Its the only way I can think of to keep the story from taking "wrong" turns, especially since "right" and "wrong" are defined by my thoughts. Details pertaining to the story's world would also be provided as a guideline to allowances. It would not be like a normal "continue the story". It would have many more rules.

I'd be glad to assist in a more supportive role. Due to my upcoming classload and current screenplay I'm writing, I won't be able to participate in a large role, but I'd be glad to assist you in any way I can.

I could try and help. Keep in mind I tend to write very VERY dark. So if that conflicts with the style you are looking for I am probably not a very good idea.

"Because I have a tendency to do the same things, I feel that any storyline I may come up with would be also be too narrow in it's plot."



Did you ever see the movie Crank? If not, you should watch it. Crank, is very close to a perfect movie. For everyone who did see it, let me explain.

Crank is an action movie. In an action movie, you want to see lots of violence, killing, general destruction, and maybe sex and drugs if you can work those in. If you aren't looking for one of those, you should redefine your view of what an "action" movie really is.

Crank, does every one of these things very quickly. As a result, there is little to no time spent on the plot. This isn't even close to a bad thing, because as you'll notice "plot" isn't in the Action Movie criteria. I say, plot just slows it down. In a pure action movie, you would have guys in red and guys in blue, and they would just start shooting each other, and you would know that they're fighting for some reason and then just watch. Many people take this route with the Bourne movies, and those have a lot of plot.

So the point is:

Short Shot Short #1
Simple Plots = Okay.


For the most part, Hamlet is about revenge. For the most part, Romeo and Juliet is about love. Simple isn't bad, it's streamlined. As for doing the same thing over and over, you can slice that a lot of different ways. Sci-Fi movies often have people going into or leaving space, and many of them don't suck at all. John Woo movies always have people sliding on their backs and shooting pistols, but those suck every time after the first one. Sometimes, following an outline = good, sometimes it = bad.

If you're worried about a plot being too cliche (which is a word made for people who don't understand tradition (this is on the part of the viewers and of the people who butcher tradition with bad copies)), then follow a checklist to make sure you don't do the same thing as everyone else.


Let's take a crack at it and see what comes up:

What kind of a scene?
Action.


Ok, what do I not see in action movies?
Guns!

No, don't be an idiot.
Grass!

Grass? Fine. How is the grass used?
To choke them!

No, too obvious. How else?
It explodes!

...The grass, explodes?
Yeah, and it's touch sensitive!

Ok, touch sensitive exploding grass. That's the place. What's happening?
A fight!

(Obviously...) Name a thing that happens.
A chase scene.

Ok, one weird suggestion, one normal one. A chase scene through exploding grass. What's the motivation?
Continued survival!

...And?
And, someone is trying... to...

Don't hurt yourself.
Uh....ow, ow, ow...Rig and Election!

...Wow. That might actually not suck. WTG me. Let me try and work some magic:

Two men run down a blind alley toward a seething crowd in the park. It was a hot day, and the gyrations of the multitude only helped to set everyone on edge. They had gathered to protest the candidacy of one Harold Meller, convict, murderer, rapist, extortionist, senator, future president of the United States. The man was a lunatic. The only thing crazier than him was the way public opinion polls always seemed to put him a little bit ahead. Everyone saw him for who he was, but it looked like he would win anyway.

The crowd pushed forward when the lectern microphones hummed on. He stepped out onto the platform.

Two men burst from an alley into the crowd and sprinted toward the first speaker stack. That's where the bomb was. The one in front was overused ex-special ops Arson Deaththrottle. He had seen so many plans to take over the world that it was almost dull to him, but it wasn't. And this time, he had powers.

Arson heard the dull thumping footsteps of a seven foot tall three hundred pound space ninja guardian robot that had been following him for the past two levels. The guy wouldn't give up. Occasionally he would take too much damage and explode, but he always respawned at the next checkpoint.

Anson rocketed into the crowd and scaled the speaker stack with a single bound, crouching at the top for the last few inches of height. He took the bomb and tossed it onto the stage.

The future president laughed as two of his space ninjas jumped out from etherspace and slashed it open. It wasn't a bomb at all! Arson realized. Instead of exploding and killing everyone, it sent out liquid nitrogen that froze everything nearby--killing everyone!

Arson watched in horror as members of the crowd shattered and sent their body fragments flying into non-frozen spectators, mortally wounding them in the process. Whenever the frozen bodies fell they shattered into the grass, sending dozens more shards flying toward all non-plot-essential characters. This had gone on long enough. Arson held up his fists which started to pulsate red with energized pain. "It's time for a bossfight..."


And so on and so forth. In this example I added the element of mockery which, if nothing else, made it pretty entertaining for me. But you can do stuff like this too, and you can do it without being lame, which is something I promise I'm working on. Just think of an idea, and think of a place you've seen it before. If you've seen it a lot, then change one part and check it again. Continue until you feel a dull throbbing behind your eyes, or else are satisfied with the result.

Short Short Short
Just keep doing your best until it works.




Sorry to everyone who is now blind. I put in the Short Short Shorts for you.