Young Writers Society

Forgive me if none of this makes sense, for it is early early morning.

Storybooks are an important and seemingly undervalued writing instrument. They are a great way to improve your writing skills in a fun and exciting environment.

Question #1: What is in it for me?

Answer: Practice, Practice, and more Practice. The best part of it is that you don't realize your practicing when you write because you are having fun while your doing it. You learn basic writing stuff (my spelling and typing is the work of years of storybooks), you learn teamwork, and most importantly, you get a sense of how a story really works. Also, it is an easy way to earn points.

Excuse #1: Storybooks are stupid.

Response: The neatest part of Storybooks is that you can actually join a Storybook and change it until it becomes interesting. One particularly skilled writer entered the stupidest and soppiest teen drama storybook ever created and turned it into a funny fantasy storybook, simply by introducing a stupid dragon. So, if it is stupid, then you can change it. No one is stopping you.

Question #2: What's the catch?

Answer: There is no financial catch. The only thing you have to do is follow the rules set out by the original creator, or changes set out by the collective writers. Nothing else.

Excuse #2: I'm not interested in any of the storybooks.

Response: Creating a new storybook is easy. Why don't you try it?

Question #3: How come you're freaking out when my super ninja kills everything?

Answer: Usually when people try Storybooks, they try developing characters. To understand why people are freaking out over your character, you have to understand the concept of balance in a character.

Short Spiel #1: Characters live and die by their believability. This believability is the measure we use to balance a character. Characters that possess divine powers are generally unbalanced to the limit and generally negate any difficulty that would otherwise be there. Stories with these characteristics inevitably fall into the realm of boredom because any challenge is gone.

Not to say that God characters can't be written for, simply that these God characters must be balanced. Greek Mythology deals with the idea of balance frequently. In general though, God characters throw balance out the window. I advise you not to attempt god characters until you have mastered mortal characters.

Excuse #3: Everyone will think my characters are lame.

Response: Many of my characters have started off rather lame, but as the story progressed, my character began to develop. Characters will always be lame at the beginning.

Question #4: How can I get people to follow my plotline?

Answer: The best way to get people to follow your plotline is to integrate your plotline with their own. Not only does this allow your characters to interact, but it allows you to set a tone for the story. Four writers wandering around on their own don't have as good a story as four writers wandering around together.

Short Spiel #2: Teamwork is an important part of Storybooks. You'll find that as your characters start working as a team, the writers will also work as a team, making the process that much more enjoyable.

Excuse #4: The other writers are mean to me.

Response: This usually doesn't happen unless you break the rules. If you break a rule, rewrite your post to be in compliance. It is usually better afterwards anyway.

Question #5: What is the worst thing you can do in a storybook?

Answer: Killing an active character or taking over someone elses character.

Long Spiel #1: Having difficult plotlines are just fine with most writers because they are able to choose their characters destiny. Characters are deeply personal to the writers who created them and write with them. Killing someones active character without their consent usually starts a flame war that escalates until the storybook is torn apart.

Taking over another persons character is also in that boat. I once had a person take over my character. Were it not for sheer self control, I would have melted the person with flames. As it was, my return post was not happy.

At this point, I should point out that taking over a persons character is different from interacting with that persons character. Interaction is when one person describes another persons character interacting with his or her own. Generally, no new details about the other character is introduced, and all the dialogue, movement, etc. are done with respect to the other writer.

Taking over another character is different. The intruding writer usually creates new details about the character and makes the character do things that the writer doesn't want the character to do. They are not written with any respect or regard for the pre-established character.

Paradoxically enough, the above two are acceptable under certain conditions.

Question #6: What conditions?

Answer: Generally, when a writer has been inactive for a long time (usually a month or longer) then the character becomes a non-playable character. At that point, anyone who wants to take over the character or kill the character can. Do this only after consulting the other writers, in case they have an idea which could involve the character. Then again, there are always resurrections.

This is perfect Grif, it might make more people pay attention to the story books, i hope so anyway.

Thanks for the anoymous compliment, lol.

At first, I thought storybooks were absolutely stupid. This was in TYWC, by the way. But then I saw the stupidest story around. It was called "Teenz that are Crazy!!" and this was how it started:

Here are 2 characters- a girl and her boyfriend... please create their friends.

Jess- finds out she is in trouble- 16 and sexy!!

Dave- finds out he is part of Jess's trouble.

Please create their story!!

I, of course, thinking myself a better writer than most (this was three years ago) decided to enter a dragon in the mix. A shape shifter dragon. I was expecting people to flame me, but that was not the case at all. Instead, I've forged online friendships, got to be a better writer, tried out new techniques, and, because I was writing with several good writers, I got one on one contact with them, and since we were partners, they were willing to critique all my work, no complaints. It's really rare to find a critic like that, so it just made it better. But the best part is that I got my sister to write and read. She used to hate fantasies... but once she read this story, she opened her mind and began writing. Heck, she's a better writer than me, lol. And that makes me proud.

So yes. Storybooks are worth your while. Without storybooks, I would still be a struggling writer, but with the support, enthusiasm, and everything else, I am now much better.

Give it a shot.

Question #7: What should I avoid other than bad characters?

Long Spiel #2: There are many things to avoid.

First, you need to avoid getting overly technical. Stories that get real technical die because the writers begin to focus on details or get turned off by it.

Second, don't add in divine intervention. It is possible to do it, but not recommended due to the sheer difficulty of it.

Third, avoid cliches like the devil himself. One or two won't harm you but when a story loses it's imagination it goes downhill fast.

Fourth, avoid overly restrictive rules when making a storybook, a story should be able to change directions.

Excuse #5: I can't think of anything original.

Response: If you don't think you can, you never will. To combat this, believe that you can. You'll be surprised how quickly the original ideas come.