It started a few years ago when
the Writing Lines Group used to hold weekly ‘Chat’ nights. Any member who
wished to could join in the discussions which usually pertained to this genre
we love to write and read about.
An idea was introduced about
us writing a story together. Anyone interested was invited to take part in what
we at the time thought would be a short-lived activity. You can only imagine
our shock when the story took on a life of its own. Mind you, the story did not
get to point where it is today without hitting some bumps in the road.
Several time frames, settings
and story lines were put forth. As a small group of about sixteen or eighteen
members, we voted on these and then on a title.
We began with twelve writers
who each introduced anywhere from one to four characters. We had thought it
would just be a question of everyone taking part in what we later learned was
similar to a role-playing scenario.
We quickly discovered that was
not going to work. The story was moving along too fast and it became necessary
to set up a few guidelines. We decided that to start with each writer could
only submit up to four characters in order for all to have a fair chance
without the number of characters becoming overwhelming. Needless to say, this
decision was not welcomed by all and as a result we lost one of our
participants.
Because of the rapid
development of the story, a couple of other writers had to remove themselves
and their characters. By this time, we were getting ready to post our first
chapter and had to delete those characters. Fortunately, most were replaced by
other writers willing to pick up the slack. This did not present a problem at
this early stage of the story. However, that would soon change as the story
progressed and chapters got posted.
So another guideline came
into being. If a writer was no longer able to participate, his/her characters
would become the responsibility of the Mods (who will be named later). We soon
found ourselves down to eight writers and chapter two on the drawing board.
RL caught up with two more of
our writers and they had to drop out, leaving their characters to be taken over
by the Mods. By the way, the Mods had the option of giving the newly acquired
characters to any of the remaining writers who were willing to take them on. By
chapter four we were down to six writers. This number eventually dropped down
to five and finally resulted in the entire story being revamped and two of the
characters being totally replaced.
As readers, you may wonder
how we got the story to flow so evenly…as if there was only one writer. Well it
wasn’t without growing pains and a great deal of cooperation on the part of
each writer. As parts of the story were submitted by each writer, the parts
were reviewed and adjusted to fit the storyline by our two betas and our
‘mesher’.
Each writer had to be open to
his/her submitted part being changed in some way. Many things were taken into
account. Words, events, mannerisms, songs, published works were looked into to
make sure they fit the era of 1880.
For instance, words such as
‘hooked on’ or ‘flying high’ when referring to addiction could not be used.
Although truth be told, addiction and withdrawal were not actually spoken in
reference to drug usage before the 1920s. However, there really were no
adequate substitutes so we were left with little choice but to use addiction
and withdrawal. Medical developments were also studied in great detail. Most of
this research was done by the Mesher who for the most part was unrestricted by
RL pressures.
One of the tricks we used to
put out a scene was handing out ‘assignments’. An example of this would be the
discussion about what became known as ‘the switching’ by the younger men. This
entire scene was done by one writer and the other writers were asked if they
were comfortable with how their characters were written. These assignments were
handed out several times during the development of this saga.
We presently have only three
writers left, and so future chapters may be a bit slow in coming. But rest
assured, we are working on continuing the story.
Now to list who was who, and who wrote who for the
most part.
MODS: Mike, Jodie and Deb
BETAS: Mike and Teri
MESHER: Jodie
WRITERS & THEIR CHARACTERS:
Mike
Thomas Fields
Dr. Lakota Evans
Gille Wheaton
Troy Harris +
Levi Harris +
Teri
Wayne Bentley
Wesley Bentley
Samuel Boyd (in part) + *
Deb
Larry West
Quentin Bradley +
Halyward Spencer
Kelby Curtis (in part) + *
Jo
Kevin McCaw
Dallas Carter
Jodie
Galen Manara
Aiden Shea
Yancey Hayes
Raythe de Torgul +
Spyke Lambert +
Walker Drummond +
Thad Sawyer +
Jordan Adams +
Brock Foxx +
Brodie Baker +
Seth Edwards +
Nathan O’Sullivan +
Hendrik Van Der Berg +
Preston Chadwick +
Mitchell Wolfe +
Alfred O’Sullivan
Wallace Henderson
Shay and Jay Liang
Kelby Curtis (in part) + *
Samuel Boyd (in part) + *
(It is easy to see who had a lot of time on their
hands. LOL
And who probably had the most fun.)
Additional note:
*Indicates a replacement character
+ Indicates a character originally introduced by
another writer
wow what a job you have have done and so seamlessly. The story is incredible and you all have nurtured it and made it real to all of us. thank you so very muh
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda.
ReplyDelete