We Are One
May 14, 2008 by Intrepidteacher
A few weeks ago Lindsea wrote a post about non-linear thinking. One line in her post grabbed my attention, “I am just one continuous story.” It immediately made me think about how we are all one continuous story. We enter and leave each other’s narratives, sometimes leaving our mark, while sometime we are forgotten. We are connected by a shared, albeit sometimes, skewed history. I often feel that there is one story that runs through mankind/womankind, and we are sometimes offered glimpses into the plot and characters, but more often than not we stumble through our lives trying to figure out the ending, unaware that we are writing and reading it in the present.
What if we were aware that we are co-authors of this story? What if we actively wrote our part and shared it with others. What if we weren’t confined to write our stories alone? The teacher in me thought PROJECT!
Let’s write an ongoing collaborative story by the members of Intrepid Classroom. I have created a page on the wiki page for this project. The rules are simple: Go to the wiki and add your part. Most of you are good enough writers to know that the story should maintain some sort of coherent thread, but if there are times when you must be non-linear then work you part into the existing plot somehow. You can add parts before or after existing text. If you want to flush out a character you did not create simply add flashback or find some other technique to add information. Feel free to experiment with voice, point of view, time…..whatever. Have fun. No rules, no grades, just write!
I think it is okay to edit other people’s work, but I suggest you do not erase entire passages. If someone edits your work, you are allowed to go back and change things back, but let’s not get into a back and forth. Rememebr once its on the wiki it is no longer yours, it is ours! You can write as little as one line or ten pages. (For those of you who have never worked with a wiki page please read this.)
There is a website called Lulu that will publish our book when it is done. So let’s get to work. Go to the wiki, ask for an invite, and write your part of the story. I hope you don’t mind but I have started us off. I couldn’t help myself. Let’s see where our story will take us….
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
So, like a Round Robin?
*is thrilled to come home and find this waiting*
A couple notes on Lulu:
1. I know that a couple of years ago it did a “special offer” where if authors finished the goal of 50k words, then they’d publish the book for free. Just a heads-up for other authors doing NaNo this year (though I’m not sure that it’s going to redo the same offer… it actually seems as if they’ve gone free at this point…)
2. OH. EM. SQUEE! *the soda has not helped the hyperness over this idea* When you say publishing, do you mean online or in-hand?
– Julia
I like Julia’s question published online or in hand?
I like the whole idea. I mean you have make up the story as you go and yet leave in in places where others can catch up. It’s a real cool idea!
I mean we edit it, organize it, save it as a PDF send it to Lulu and get in-hand printed versions. We market it on our blog and sell it to people!
OMG YAY *faints*
I’m sorry for the “chat-speaky” comment, but … yay!
*runs off to write*
I think this is a great idea! I mean, not only will it help us collaboratively write a book and learn the depths of teamwork and cooperation, Intrepid Classroom will be starting to expand not only inside a computer but begin to write a book that can be read not in a computer. I really think it is a great idea, a chance for Intrepid Classroom to expand its identity and purpose.
Oh-em-SQUUEEE! *superflyingtacklepounces on idea*
I officially love it. I’m currently working on a manuscript that I hope to finish and get published someday, so this is something that really sounds fun. If we do finish it I would really love to get an in-hand copy.
About the marketing and sales and profits and such…who recieves the profits? you? me? random girl over there? Who is the copywrite written out to? In who’s name are we publishing it? As a minor do I need to have my parents sign a form or such?
@Bee You must be a friend of Julia’s with all those questions. Let’s not worry about all that just quite yet and just write.
Have some fun and write. Writing is not about copy writes, profits, and publishing. Writing is about writing so write. We will deal with the other issues later.
Wow that post was amazing because the way you put voice in to it was impressive. Look I also agree with that opinion of life we are a story but who writes the plot is us and we control everything and in the end we are just thinking of the ending when right now we should be enjoying everday because you never know whats going to happen. If anyone is a big fan of soccer I wold like you guys to know that at my website lima77.edublogs.org I’m writting about soccer.
@Julia’s ex-teacher (I believe it’s Mr. R??)
I just have a thing with copywrites. I don’t want someone stealing my work, no matter how bad it is. But I guess that you are write. Writing is about writing.
*runs off to get started*
BTW- I like to believe that Julia must be a friend of mine because she asks questions, not vice versa. I changed her and molded her to who she is today. (That sounds rather odd, i know!) *sticks nose in air with triumphant humph*
@Bee - One abbreviation, three words: LOL.
Copyright issues may actually correct themselves at this point. People who would take our work and present it to publishers (which I’m sure won’t happen, but you know, theoretically) wouldn’t be able to get it published anyway because of the fact that 100% of it is publicly on the internet. There’s a percentage of the manuscript to keep public in normal circumstances, but I think we are quite *protected* if we keep it public and set our minds on self-publishing on our method to get it keyboard and the net to ink and paper.
And I’m also interested in one of the questions that you posed. As minors, do we have to have parental consent? (I’ve already got it, just in case, but still…)
And what about the others, Bee? The crazy horsewoman sure added something, so did the overachiever, the one with all the good food added something else, eh? I’m not just a Bee-mold!
– Julia
If you guys spent even half the energy you are spending thinking about writing about what may or not happen with this piece when it is done, we may have more than four paragraph.
This is an exercise in collaboration and sharing of ideas. We are here to open up and share our thoughts with whomever is reading. We want to see what a story written by a group of disparate teenagers from around the globe looks like.
@bee I don’t want someone stealing my work, no matter how bad it is.
Nobody can steal what we are giving away for free. Stop fretting and start writing!