What the hell - let's do a chain story...

[joy_of_cooking]

I'd like to see a true chain story. No input from others, no set groups. Just a chunk of story from one author that gets picked up by another and continued. Your section is yours and you step away from anything but reading after you've contributed your part

I'd do that

I enjoyed writing my chapter (although I think I may have had an easy job, going first) and really liked reading what the others had written. If something similar happened again, I'd definitely want to take part.

And I'd like to also say thank you to everyone for participating!

Yep, agreed, had a great time and it was the only story I have completed on a long time. Would definitely do it again if anyone else were interested.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

With ours, the characters were never really fixed. As a result, Adamir, about whom the story revolves, is never properly understood. A ruthless director, but is he a romantic innocent or is he complicit in a supernatural evil?

I agree with the last part, but I don't really agree that the story revolved around him. In the planning stages the story was likely to center on Lucy and Mina. As it turned out it ended up centering in Lucy and Mircalla, which actually worked out quite well, but it was disappointing that the relationship between Lucy and Mina (which was a focal point in the planning stage) never organically developed. It just kind of happened at the end out of the blue.

I actually though that the ending was pretty good. I thought that it could have been better but it still worked. I liked that it maintained the mysterious feel, but it should have tried to at least tie up some of the loose ends - one being just what was Adamir all about? It could have tied up some of the loose ends and left some loose, gave more wrap up yet still maintained mystery. We don't have to be told everything, but we should have been told a couple of things. However, if the end had tied up everything and Lucy and Mina and Mircalla rode off into the sunset, that would have been a disaster, so Omenainen made a good choice not to do that. Omenainen also had a tough job with all of the characters and their unresolved plot lines that he had to gather up and put some sort of bow on.

The later chapters must have been very tough since the Vladan and Valeska characters put a huge left turn into the plot out of nowhere. They were never discussed in planning, yet Erozetta and Omenainen still managed to bring it home with enough readable cohesion. That is commendable.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I viewed Lucy and Mina in a more positive light. Concluding with Lucy as a desperate, needy lesbian and Mina as a psychological mess turned it into a morality play on the evils of lesbian depravity.

I am interested in the chain story idea where each author just takes off from where the previous author concluded, much like a series of interconnected vignettes. It had me thinking of Calvino's "Castle of Crossed Destinies" with the characters telling their tales through the lay of a Tarot deck. It might be fun and interesting to write such a chain, where the next author has to take off from some scene or instance in the previous tale.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I viewed Lucy and Mina in a more positive light. Concluding with Lucy as a desperate, needy lesbian and Mina as a psychological mess turned it into a morality play on the evils of lesbian depravity.

Interesting. I didn't get that at all. If anything I saw it more as a realistic depiction of friends turned lovers which damages the friendship, either that or just the psychological impact of being involved with a possible vampire (vampires are often depicted with psychic control abilities - and indeed Lucy and Mircalla seem to have some sort of psychic drawing connection at the end) messed one or both of them up and they don't know how to cope because they're not sure what happened. My biggest question is just how did Lucy and Mina go from friends to lovers? The progression is never nurtured. It just happens.

 

[Erozetta]

Interesting. I didn't get that at all. If anything I saw it more as a realistic depiction of friends turned lovers which damages the friendship, either that or just the psychological impact of being involved with a possible vampire (vampires are often depicted with psychic control abilities - and indeed Lucy and Mircalla seem to have some sort of psychic drawing connection at the end) messed one or both of them up and they don't know how to cope because they're not sure what happened. My biggest question is just how did Lucy and Mina go from friends to lovers? The progression is never nurtured. It just happens.

Same. Not just the damages to friendship through being lovers, but there was a vulnerability with both Lucy and Mina seemingly enthralled by Mircalla at times then she seemingly just ups and leaves them both. My interpretation of it was that Lucy and Mina find solace in each other, though there is clearly underlying damage from the experience.

I didn't get any hint of depicting lesbianism in anything but a positive light and potential place of healing for both of them.

I also didn't get desperate or needy from Lucy. Just the opposite, I felt she came out more empowered and sure of herself, until in the presence of Mircalla again. Which lends some question as to whether or not Mircalla *was* the supernatural element or not. Or if it was Anna and Adamir, or if their bond/situation was a whole other animal that happened to clash on set.

I do love that we can all see different things in the storyline though and read into it different ways even though we all worked on it.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I also didn't get desperate or needy from Lucy. Just the opposite,

I can see how desperation could be interpreted on Lucy's behalf. For Mina, she had been crushing on her best friend for some time, and in the end she got her wish, her friend/crush became her lover, yet something is not right between them, so Mina is not blissfully happy as she thought that she should be, and that is a mindfuck for her. For Lucy, I think she does deeply care for Mina, a dear friend turned lover, but she also feels guilt (probably pretty intense guilt) because Mina is not her #1. What she really wants is Mircalla. Mircalla is the one who took her to heights that she didn't know existed (on set). On top of that, there is this supernatural pull between them which Lucy probably doesn't know is supernatural, and Lucy has to at least explore it or she will evermore feel resentful of Mina tethering her down away from her true desire. I can see how that could be interpreted as sexual desperation. Tio has a case there.

But I don't see any moralistic play on lesbian depravity. I don't see a case there.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I'm not interested in a literary analysis argument; the story's done, and we can each have our own take on it. I'd be more interested in moving on to another form of collaboration.

 

[Omenainen]

@Tio_Narratore here is demostrating one of the perils of working together with other authors, which is that people do get possessive of stories, even when they're not their own. This is why we agreed that AlinaX had the veto rights and others didn't.

So you know yeah, Tio, we have all heard you disliked my chapter. It's okay. You'll live. I believe in you.

For my part, the trickiest part was that being the last, I had a bunch of characters and loose plot ends and hints and possible foreshadowings for things that contradicted one another. I take responsibility for that, because I did not participate when others had their chapters in the works, so it's obnoxious for me to come in after the fact and bitch about continuity. Then again, if I had been more involved with previous chapters, I might have been as blind to these mismatches as everyone who was more involved. Reading the whole preceding story back to back was a perspective no one else in the chain did. It's hard to keep things straight even in one's own writing, when story gets longer, let alone others'. Anyway, I don't think any of that was bad enough to ruin the thing, and I do think we managed to craft a continuous, plotty story between us, and I am superbly proud of all of us for that. I'm glad I had this experience and I learned from this. It was interesting.

Future chain stories, well. If the things are just loosely connected, then it's kind of similar to, say, Amorous Goods event where the premise is kind of the same. I think chain story sounds more like it "should" be a single story, but then there's the problems with continuity the longer it gets. I guess never say never, but I'm definitely not doing this every year or maybe even every decade. Then if someone comes up with some kind of a killer idea, who knows. I reserve the right to act on a whim

 

[AlinaX]

I agree with the last part, but I don't really agree that the story revolved around him.

I meant it was supposed to. I set him up as the mysterious [Vl]adimir, a powerful central figure, ruthless and manipulative… but no one really wanted to pick at that thread.

the Vladan and Valeska characters put a huge left turn into the plot out of nowhere. They were never discussed in planning,

No, but this was an exercise in writing a chapter where the main story is glimpsed through outsiders. They could have been quietly forgotten, except that Erozetta wove them into a conspiracy theory.

whether or not Mircalla *was* the supernatural element or not. Or if it was Anna and Adamir,

The irony here is that Anna was quite deliberately written as a vampire. Yes, her story became Ch. 6, but she was written before any other chapters. If Still hadn’t adopted her, she would have remained a minor character.

one of the perils of working together with other authors, which is that people do get possessive of stories,

Yes, and especially characters. So, advice for future collaborations: if you create characters, be very clear about what other authors can and should do with them.

 

[StillStunned]

The irony here is that Anna was quite deliberately written as a vampire. Yes, her story became Ch. 6, but she was written before any other chapters. If Still hadn’t adopted her, she would have remained a minor character.

Huh. I wrote Anna as completely mundane, if slightly strange. Highly capable and absolutely devoted to Adamir. For me, the supernatural was in whether Mircalla (check name) was in fact being taken over by Elizabeth Bathory's spirit, or whether her visions were just a side effect of a diet sustained by pills.

The sex scene at the end of my chapter involved Mircalla and Anna, by the way. At least, that's how I wrote it. Mircalla only imagined it was Elizabeth.

 

[Omenainen]

See everybody, we set out to write something, but none of us knows what we actually wrote, but honestly, it’s great! Come read it!

 

[StillStunned]

See everybody, we set out to write something, but none of us knows what we actually wrote, but honestly, it’s great! Come read it!

We did what George RR Martin, Patrick Rothfuss and Scott Lynch haven't managed to do for the past decade or more.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I'm not interested in a literary analysis argument; the story's done, and we can each have our own take on it. I'd be more interested in moving on to another form of collaboration.

You opened the discussion on the interpretation of the ending. Just sayin'

 

[Tio_Narratore]

You opened the discussion on the interpretation of the ending. Just sayin'

Yes, I know. I was only expressing my view, and then trying to indicate that I hadn't raised it for discussion, just for information. The story is finished; It's not how I would have finished it, but it wasn't mine to finish, nor is it mine to decide on the interpretation of the conclusion. Omenainen's chapter was well written and it was his to write. Alina wasn't happy with my chapter; that's why she wrote her prologue. We didn't commit to liking each other's take on the characters and the plot; just to writing our parts.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I meant it was supposed to. I set him up as the mysterious [Vl]adimir, a powerful central figure, ruthless and manipulative… but no one really wanted to pick at that thread.

Uhh, I did.

Adamir quite cleverly (let the intruders intrude so that he could catch them) and ruthlessly (threatened them with captivity) manipulated them into being in the movie.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Yes, I know. I was only expressing my view, and then trying to indicate that I hadn't raised it for discussion, just for information.

Then consider our interpretations likewise information.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

Then consider our interpretations likewise information.

Of course. I wasn't arguing with them, nor did I expect others to agree with me. By the way, I did enjoy reading everyone's contribution, whether or not I agreed with the content.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It was quite amusing reading through this thread, I must say. It seems that no one among you, authors, has a clear grasp of what happened in the chain story.

Anyway, there's plenty that can be learned from your experience here, and I feel this thread isn't getting its rightful attention from the rest of the AH, even though it's the only thread that's about actual writing.
I assume they likely feel like they would be intruding or something, but I think it's a shame for this topic not to be fully discussed.

 

[PennyThompson]

 

[Omenainen]

It was quite amusing reading through this thread, I must say. It seems that no one among you, authors, has a clear grasp of what happened in the chain story.

What happens in the chain story, stays in the chain story.

That category might be the best place in this site to bury the bodies, anyway. Nobody goes there. My chapter has been on the new list since it was published in April, and it has.. lemme check… a whopping 1417 views!

 

[pink_silk_glove]

What happens in the chain story, stays in the chain story.

That category might be the best place in this site to bury the bodies, anyway. Nobody goes there. My chapter has been on the new list since it was published in April, and it has.. lemme check… a whopping 1417 views!

Mine was published in December and has 1498 hits (and a score of 4.13 while everyone else in the chain has a Red H).

I think that all the different takes on what happened in LCB is because we had a complex plot grown from a very interesting plot seed that allowed so many ideas. It doesn't have anything to do with any of the writers not understanding. For instance, the other chain story (Matchmaking) just has a dead simple premise that is impossible to not follow with perfect accuracy.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

What happens in the chain story, stays in the chain story.

That category might be the best place in this site to bury the bodies, anyway. Nobody goes there. My chapter has been on the new list since it was published in April, and it has.. lemme check… a whopping 1417 views!

Yeah, there seems to be an inverse correlation between the complexity of doing something like this and readers' interest. Yet the whole project must have been both frustrating and fun, and has likely taken some of you out of your comfort zones. The whole idea is appealing to me because such projects have an equal chance of becoming a total mess or a masterpiece.
I guess much depends on how well your writing styles complement each other, but also on how good your guidelines and rules are.

 

[Tio_Narratore]

I think in LCB, we were writing more of a collaborative story rather than a chain. But I think also the story lacked a bit in collaboration. The result was interesting, and not at all bad in overview. Since people are talking in terms of views and scores, it would be nice if we had that as an overview from the readers: what did those who read the whole tale think of the whole tale?

On the other side of things, I did enjoy writing with others, and is anyone interested in a chain story of vignettes, no direction or overview, just the next author starts his story from an incident or character in the previous vignette, that connection making the link to form a chain?

 

[AlinaX]

Alina wasn't happy with my chapter; that's why she wrote her prologue.

I didn’t have a problem with your chapter, but the very beginning needed more of a focus on Cachtice and Bathory.

Uhh, I did.

Yes, but not as a possible vampire.

 

[Bamagan]

I think in LCB, we were writing more of a collaborative story rather than a chain. But I think also the story lacked a bit in collaboration. The result was interesting, and not at all bad in overview. Since people are talking in terms of views and scores, it would be nice if we had that as an overview from the readers: what did those who read the whole tale think of the whole tale?

On the other side of things, I did enjoy writing with others, and is anyone interested in a chain story of vignettes, no direction or overview, just the next author starts his story from an incident or character in the previous vignette, that connection making the link to form a chain?

Connected vignettes would be more my speed, for what it's worth.
On a related note, the Story Games get cross-posted on both the Story Game Hub and the appropriate hub for whatever category they're assigned. Anyone think it would be worth petitioning Laurel and Manu to consider doing the same for Chain Stories? They occupy a similar conceptual space, to my way of thinking, and it might help with boosting views.