the way of here

What are collaborative books?

Think of them as wikis. Don't know what wikis are? No problem!

Collaborative writing allows each of us to add to a story. Or start a new story. It's essentially a word game.

Flavors of collaboration:

People like to collaborate in different ways. Some of us like a more freewheeling approach, spinning a yarn and seeing where it might organically grow. Others of us prefer to agree on a central framework and build off that that. Some stories may emerge as "Choose Your Own Adventure" creations with many forking plots, others may be more linear.

Given all these possibilities, how do you keep from destroying a story that's in progress?

Ground Rules:

Preface it! The first post of a book should establish the nature of the book. If you want the book to take a particular form, want to experiment with oulipo or microfiction, or want to keep the book in a certain genre, include that information in the first post. Likewise, if you want your author group to work in a certain way (for example, discuss "the plot" in a forum thread or preserve certain characters), then let people know. Also include details on how new writers can join in.

Comment! Comments are enabled on the book pages by default. Look at this as a way for the audience to respond. You can also discuss possible story directions in the comments.

Respect others' efforts. If you are lurking on a story-in-progress and want to join in, read the first post for the rules of the story, contact one of the authors, or ask in a comment how you can help.

Who owns these works?

It may be impossible to determine who added what part to a collaborative work. Therefore I ask that you allow the collaborative works to be licensed under a Creative Commons-Wiki 2.5 license.