KHV Original Story Collaborators : General Information [READ THIS. NOW]

So, what the heck is this?

Basically, we have multiple authors writing the same story. How will this work, you ask?

•Before the actual writing process begins, we're going to plan a basic outline for the story, meaning the setting, the premise, parts of the plot, and a few of the main characters to get the writing going.
•The authors will be assigned an order to post in. After the previous author has posted their chapter, the author next in line has two weeks to post their chapter. As I'm hoping that this would reach the length of a full length novel, this process will be repeated a few times.
•We sit back and enjoy this awesomesauce piece of story telling.


Plotting, we're supposed to do that together?

Well, sorta. I've been asking in the original thread for you to PM me ideas for plots, settings, and so on.

I urge you to still do that, and DO NOT POST YOUR SUGGESTIONS IN THIS GROUP. Depending on the amount of suggestions I receive, I'll post some, if not all of them anonymously in the group, so we can all vote on the best suggestions as objectively as possible.

Not to worry, this doesn't mean that you won't be credited for coming up with the plot for this entire thing. If your suggestion is chosen, full credit will be given to you. And even if your story-line doesn't end up being used, if you wish I'll mention whose suggestions we were considering here in the community.

ALL SUGGESTIONS MUST BE SENT TO ME BY SUNDAY AUGUST 28th, 11:59 PM PST (UTC/GMT -08) This is also when sign-ups end, unless we've already got 15 people by then. Voting will take place for the next three days, meaning that it will end on WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31st, SAME TIME.

As for characters? We're gonna be a lot looser about that. After our basic plot has been chosen, I will open a thread here where you all can leave templates for characters you think would benefit the story. This doesn't mean that the characters will be used. On the other hand, this character might be used in ways you did not intend them to be used. As this isn't an a RP, we the authors get to control every single character introduced in the story how we wish to, as long as it services the plot. I'll give more details on this in the character thread. There is no deadline for the character suggestions. Well, maybe the end of the story >.<


Writing process? Aren't you jumping the gun here?

Maybe, but I like to be thorough.

All of you who signed up will be placed in a random writing order, apart from me, as I will be the one starting the story. Like I said before, the person after me will have two weeks to write the second chapter, but if it is finished earlier, you can post it as soon as it's been approved. After this chapter has been posted, the third person in line will have two weeks to post their chapter, and so on, and so on.

What's that you say, you're not sure if you can make the deadline? No worries, just let me know as soon as possible (i.e. not two days before the deadline), no questions asked, and I'll either give you an extra week of writing time, or shift writing duties to the next person in line, and put you at the end of the loop. Unless you are the last person in the loop, then I'm gonna hafta get real clever about this.

As for the actual chapters, I do want to review all written material before it is posted, to ensure some grammatical standards, and that the story stays on track and respects what the other authors have posted. Because of this, I'd greatly appreciate if you sent me the chapters at least a couple days before the deadline, so that if bigger chunks of the story need to be changed, there is enough time for that. After I've given permission to post the chapter, you may do so.

I'd like to ask for two other 'Beta-readers', so that the work load can be distributed to more than one person, so that this won't turn into a complete dictator ship, and so that my material will also be checked. More on this in the Beta-reader thread.

Now, a little bit on the content. I'd like to remind you of the fact that Kh-vids is a site dedicated to a childrens' video game, and the overall rating for the site is PG-13. Let's not go over that rating. This means no graphic violence, sex, or overall disturbing imagery. As I personally tend to curse like a sailor, I'm gonna say a little profanity is allowed, as long we stay away from the f-bomb and other words not allowed on basic cable/pre-watershed. I'd also like to clarify that this doesn't mean that we won't allow any violence, implied sex, or somewhat unsettling imagery, as long as you give sufficient warning. Of course, if the mods aren't okay with this, we'll change the material to suit the correct standards.

There will be a word limit, with a minimum of 700 words per chapter. If there is a need, we'll also include a maximum limit, but I'm kinda doubting that we'll need that.

Thanks for reading this, and happy writing!

Questions? Suggestions? Post 'em below!

 

Question: How sacred are our characters, settings, etc?
What I mean is how easily will it be to kill off a new character, introduce a new one, venture to another place, gain money, fame, etc?

How restricted are we from one chapter by one author to the next author?

 

I was thinking PaWN's question as well.

Also, question, about inappropriate content, what exactly are the limits on violence. I'm almost positive you'll allow blood, but will minor amounts of... More extreme wounds be allowed, if the situation calls for it?

 

@PaWn, I think if it services the story, and is done in a way that respects the other authors commitments, anything goes. I've got no trouble killing off characters, etc. but I don't want to see people killing characters randomly because they don't like them, or characters being trapped by the bad-guys, only to be 'magically' transported to safety (especially if we don't have those kinds of powers included in the setting). Make sense?

@Britishism, if it's done tastefully, technically any kind of injury goes. Just don't describe them too much (i.e. you can say that a character has been disemboweled, but don't start describing the content of their guts. Preferably, don't even mention the guts >.<).

 

Yeah I get what you mean. One thing, will we have to give like an overview of what we want in our chapters to the group before we start writing heavily? Just so we can see what's expected of us and whether it's allowed to kill, introduce, journey, etc?

Actually mentioning the violence, I want to get an idea of the restrictions so will a line like 'he cut her so deeply that her insides dropped all over the floor' be considered tasteful or over the top?

 

Actually, that thing that PaWn wrote doesnt seem too bad compared to other stuff...
And what about for limits on romance?

 

If romance is allowed, I could do some extensive work on it. If I do though, I'd need limits - I go the whole nine yards.

 

@PaWn that isn't a terrible idea, although personally I'd prefer to write in 'private' and have the majority of the readers only see the end product. I think I'm gonna make that optional, if you want to post a summary go ahead, if not, then don't.

Well, like Ventus said, that isn't too bad compared to some stuff, but it's definitely very close to being over the top. I'm gonna leave it to your own judgment, but don't rely on gory details, please.

There can be romance, hook-ups, etc, as long as they don't become the central theme, I'd say. But this is just my personal opinion >.<

 

How thoroughly should we plan out the story prior to dividing up chapters/writing? I personally think that we should plan the key events of all chapters together, so that we avoid it becoming like an RP, and work out any disagreements beforehand. It'd really suck to get into an author-war, especially in this case, where everyone can god-mod.

 

It's true, we are going to have to plan this to some extent otherwise it will be an RP where the story just goes on without a true goal in mind. Key events of chapters and a few of the key characters should be agreed upon beforehand, I believe.

And yes (as much as I hate using this term) P is right, we shouldn't get into an author war over this. We should all agree that there are limitations in some of freedoms we have writing by ourselves to now working in a group. It'll be different but if we cooperate with each other and respect that the story as a whole is what we are aiming for, not just our segments.

 

If anything, to avoid it becoming an RP with no end in sight, we should probably start writing the ending once we have a good stable opening, that way we have a goal to reach and it can be easier to plan out events accordingly to end up at that point.