Young Writers Society

I think it is far past time that we discussed how storybooks are today.

For the past few years, I have been writing and developing the art of writing storybooks. I've done quite a bit of work on it and over time I've developed some ideas on what works and what doesn't.

What I'd like to know is what conclusions other people have come to. I figure that if we share our knowledge, we can probably solve each others problems and make our current storybooks longer and of better quality.

So, let's compare notes! What have you tried, how did it work, and how can we make it better?

My biggest thing is a focus on strong leadership. Without guidance, a storybook usually falls into randomness. What's everyone think? I think this thread is a great idea--tossing tactics around and giving feedback always helps.

I'm probably going against the grain here -- the usual wisdom on these forums is that a storybook should be open and free and shaped by the writers. Now I agree somewhat with that, but I'd like to suggest something else. The problem with handing the plot completely in the hands of the writers is that every person has their different ideas of where they expect the story to go.

For example, if it's a fantasy storybook, and the group are travelling, one writer may be focusing on developing his character better, and then another might simply be like, DRAGON! Thus I think there needs to be governing rules in a storybook where you have to discuss with other members a potential large/storybook-changing event. It is imperative a discussion thread is there and it used DAILY. Also, I think co-posts need to be promoted a lot more, something that links in. Co-posts enable writers to share ideas and make a post that satisfies both characters.

Going back to plot though, I think you need a firm grounding before we begin. In the same way we would know what to do in a Star Wars storybook simply because the world has been created and defined, I think we need to do that for original worlds. "Fantasy" world never works because people come up with different things. I'm wary of forcing things upon people, but an unprepared storybook often seems confusing to me because I'm never sure where my character really fits in.

I do acknowledge that unprepared storybooks have gone well, and prepared storybooks have gone badly, but I think that might be to do with motivation of writers, which is something else to touch upon.

I personally think that storybooks could be made a little less open to the authors. My greatest fear, as a storybook writer, is to be confronted with a blank page with no idea of how to begin. Maybe prompting writers with the bare bones of a plot could help! Although there's a lot to be said for storybooks being used to encourage writers to "go wild" and let their creativity flow, the time I usually turn to storybooks is when I have no creativity. To me, a storybook gives me the opportunity to just write. I don't need to think about the plot because it's mostly there already! I use storybooks to keep in practice and to simply enjoy writing.

Clearly, not everyone wants to be a writer that leads and adds the twists and turns that make for an interesting storybook, so I don't believe everyone should be required to do this. I would opt for a more leadership orientated system where the creator of the storybook takes on the responsibility of directing the plot and adding twists as he or she feels fit. But, if the storybook is going to succeed, it cannot be solely down to one person; that would be a tough job indeed.

So, I suppose the most effective system might be one where the leader has, for want of a better word, mini-leaders in different time zones to answer questions and give advice when the main leader is off-line. It relies on more than one person being willing to lead, but if the mini-leaders were also responsible for motivating writers to post it could help keep the storybook going.

I think one of the best ways to keeping people interested is to chat to them about the storybook. People will often forget to post, and if that is the reason behind it then there is no reason why they wouldn't post if they were reminded! Big or small conversations on MSN/YWS Chat could get people involved with choosing what happens next and building the enjoyment of writing it. Just because there are leaders in a storybook doesn't mean they won't listen to ideas from all the other writers; I think it's important that everyone has a chance to voice their ideas, even if the final decision is made by the writer in charge.

Finally, before I write an essay, I think that the leaders of a storybook should feed writers ideas every now and then. I've been thinking about starting a storybook for some time where I give the writers a choice of challenges that they have to solve to progress the plot. My reasoning behind this is to keep the storybook at a high pace to keep it interesting and constantly moving. It is very easy to let a storybook slide to a stop and watch it die, so if I was in charge then that would be what I'd do.

Sorry I wrote so much!

Charlie

I don't like discussion threads, they were novel in their time, but in recent stories, they would just fade into obscurity and never be seen again.

Instead of making them, I've decided to rely on PM's when I need to talk to a single author and blog posts when I want to communicate with all the authors. All that is needed is to post the permanent link to the story thread.

I think this will work better because, by posting it in the story, more people will see it, and it will also help record how the story ideas change.