Open Source Novel?

This idea is one I have had in my mind for about a month now. This idea is one where, there is a basic idea and plot for a novel, but then people can contribute, they can contribute little sections, whole chapters, or simply just ideas. This could make a great novel from a great idea using several people that do a little work for something big, and this is not a collaborative process, there is someone in charge who is running it, and decide what goes in it or not.

This is an idea I want your opinions on and think that it would work well. If this could work through a subreddit and a website with the current status of the novel.

P.S. The reason I placed it on this forum is that I need a forum to ask about this, and I do not know of any where this pertains to the topic, so here is the one I am most a part of and has very nice members.

This is a pretty cool idea, I think a simpler way of explaining it however would be: Someone is writing a book and constantly update a forum of what point the writer is up to (maybe even the entire story) and allow anyone to post comments for suggestions or maybe setup polls for how a situation goes.

Sounds cool, I might participate if it happens :P/>

I think the best way to have an 'open source' novel would be to basically let people all write different the bit after the previous person. A bit like that driving game where you make up a story where each person adds a word, except as many or as little words and they wish. I've got a feeling there was a forum game a bit like this.

The main problem I can see if you were to make every bit editable, besides people just Command + A, deleting it, is the almost certain presence of something along the lines of this:

lolololol
ur gay
[insert swear word here]
etc, etc

You get the point. Remember, rule one of the internet, everyone is a complete arse hole.

What you're referring to is known as Collaborative Fiction, and it's used primarily as an educational tool. The difficulty with collaborative fiction is that the style, tone, and vocabulary of different authors rarely will match well enough to develop a cohesive novel. Usually this can be avoided by compartmentalizing (e.g. Johnny works on plot, Freddy writes the story, and Zach makes the edits). If you have a group of very good writers, it is possible to write with similar styles and such, but even then outcomes may not be as cohesive as when authored by a single person.

So yes, it's possible, but not really as anything more than a method of learning or humorous recreation.

Bubba, on 21 February 2014 - 03:11 PM said:

The difficulty with collaborative fiction is that the style, tone, and vocabulary of different authors rarely will match well enough to develop a cohesive novel

This is why there would be the head writer, who would edit it a little to make it cohesive, and almost kind of blend it together, and flush out inconsistencies.

oeed, on 21 February 2014 - 03:57 AM said:

The main problem I can see if you were to make every bit editable, besides people just Command + A, deleting it, is the almost certain presence of something along the lines of this:

I think it shouldn't be editable, there should be submissions, that are judged, and probably edited. Things are chosen, not just added.