CoG Writer's Guild

[Doctor Setebos]

Okay, since everyone else is re-starting their old EvAv groups, guilds, and gangs on CoG, I'm up for reviving the Writer's Guild here, as well. Who's in?

In the past we've had sentence starters that have generated some great flash fiction, and I'd like to do more of that since it seems to be the most accessible form of writing for our group. I'd also like to do some more photo fiction, where people can write something based solely on a posted image.

What else? What other kinds of writing projects should we entertain? I'm open to any ideas.

Sentence starters will begin appearing very soon. Hopefully, this statement is met with cheers rather than groans. :rolleyes:

[Typical Michael]

I wish I could still write like I did in high-school, but all I have written in 4 years have been history papers. Not really all that creative.

[Khrymsyn]

I used to really dig the sentence starters =)

[Kielaran]

Woohoo! I loved reading these before. Maybe I will do more contributing this time around.

[shunoshi]

I haven't written in almost 10 years now. Perhaps I'll give it a shot this time around. Reading the sentence starters was always good entertainment.

[KingGorilla]

Oh sweet christ yes. And again, rip my articles to shreds, I can take it.

[JRR006]

I didn't participate very much (like, twice maybe) but I always enjoyed reading people's work. The sentence starters were fun! Looking forward to seeing them again.

[alienmastermind]

Count me in.

[Xerxes]

Good warm up for NaNoWriMo 2008.

[VerseD]

I'm in for sure. I'd be all over some Sentence Starters, and I'll try to post some other writing exercises from classes and whatnot as people get into it.

[Doctor Setebos]

First sentence starter (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=566) has been posted. More to follow in the coming days.

[Crittias]

In like Flynn.

[Spacetronaut]

I'm in. I'll take a crack at the first sentence starter tomorrow.

[National Kato]

I'm in as well.

[Xerxes]

I'm going to make all my sentence starters game related. :)

[Doctor Setebos]

I'm going to make all my sentence starters game related. :)Extra points if they're all about River City Ransom.

[Xerxes]

Extra points if they're all about River City Ransom.

How about the fictitious Righteous Chaps. (http://cighteouschaps.ytmnd.com/)

[Doctor Setebos]

I'm going to make all my sentence starters game related. :)You know, that gives me an idea. I should make some of the sentence starters follow specific themes. Maybe one has to be noir style. Another scifi. Another fantasy. Maybe throw in a romance just for fun. Every now and then, one must be set in a video game world of your choosing. That could be entertaining. :D

[shunoshi]

You know, that gives me an idea. I should make some of the sentence starters follow specific themes. Maybe one has to be noir style. Another scifi. Another fantasy. Maybe throw in a romance just for fun. Every now and then, one must be set in a video game world of your choosing. That could be entertaining. :D

That's a great idea. Everyone writing on the same theme would make for good reads.

[Khrymsyn]

You know, that gives me an idea. I should make some of the sentence starters follow specific themes. Maybe one has to be noir style. Another scifi. Another fantasy. Maybe throw in a romance just for fun. Every now and then, one must be set in a video game world of your choosing. That could be entertaining. :D

That'd be awesome. =)

[Shadowstorm]

Oh hell yeah, count me in.

[Young Al Capone]

I am in like Flynn, whoever-the-fuck that is.

[Spectre-7]

I am in like Flynn, whoever-the-fuck that is.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/images/flynn.jpg

[shunoshi]

I think another fun activity would be a continuous story thread. You can start the thread with a short blurb (maybe limit posts to 50 words or so) and every post should continue the story. Things tend to go off the deep end, but can be very entertaining to read. The only problem I see is simultaneous posting. I guess the first in wins and the loser has to try to rewrite their part to follow?

Just an idea.

[Doctor Setebos]

I think another fun activity would be a continuous story thread. You can start the thread with a short blurb (maybe limit posts to 50 words or so) and every post should continue the story. Things tend to go off the deep end, but can be very entertaining to read. The only problem I see is simultaneous posting. I guess the first in wins and the loser has to try to rewrite their part to follow?

Just an idea.We toyed with this idea previously. One thought that came up was "calling out" the next author. So, the first poster makes the initial post and at the end says "shunoshi, you're up". You do your follow up and then call out the next author, so on, so forth.

It's a great idea and I'd love to do it. Maybe we can utilize Protagonize (http://protagonize.com) for an effort like this.

[National Kato]

I like the call-out addition to shunoshi's idea. Since we have this thread to list who's in the 'guild' we can call-out people who have shown interest in participating.

[shunoshi]

It's a great idea and I'd love to do it. Maybe we can utilize Protagonize (http://protagonize.com) for an effort like this.

Wow, this sounds really interesting. I'm almost wholly sold purely on the comparison to "Choose Your Own Adventure". Holy crap, I loved those books when I was a kid.

[Xerxes]

I like the call-out addition to shunoshi's idea. Since we have this thread to list who's in the 'guild' we can call-out people who have shown interest in participating.

Yeah... You'd have to have a list.

[crazyD]

I'm down for the call out writing thing.

[Aggort]

Can't wait to get these started again!

[Xerxes]

Make it so...
http://rodtsentrum.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/jean-luc-picard.gif

[National Kato]

Well, if Picard is behind it...

[DangerousDaze]

I just gave the sci-fi sentence starter a go. It's good fun! Count me in. :)

[Xerxes]

Can we kill characters that other people introduce. This could be a blood bath. @_@

[shunoshi]

Can we kill characters that other people introduce. This could be a blood bath. @_@

I didn't even think of that. :eek: I don't see why not.

The more I read up on this Protagonize (http://protagonize.com/) site, the more I like it. Our story would spawn into a multitude of stories. I really dig this idea.

[DangerousDaze]

Hope you don't mind but I went ahead and created a CoG Social Group (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/group.php?groupid=3) for the Guild. That's probably a more convenient way of tracking membership than a thread and easier to track and maintain. Social Groups are a new feature of this forum so it's all still contained right here in the colony.

/edit - it's also proudly displayed in your forum profile for all to see!

[shunoshi]

Hope you don't mind but I went ahead and created a CoG Social Group (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/group.php?groupid=3) for the Guild. That's probably a more convenient way of tracking membership than a thread and easier to track and maintain. Social Groups are a new feature of this forum so it's all still contained right here in the colony.

/edit - it's also proudly displayed in your forum profile for all to see!

Good call, DD. I keep forgetting that this site has social groups as an option.

*EDIT* Nice group description, alliteration is always a winner.

[Doctor Setebos]

Hope you don't mind but I went ahead and created a CoG Social Group (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/group.php?groupid=3) for the Guild. That's probably a more convenient way of tracking membership than a thread and easier to track and maintain. Social Groups are a new feature of this forum so it's all still contained right here in the colony.

/edit - it's also proudly displayed in your forum profile for all to see!I wholeheartedly approve of what you have done. :D

[shunoshi]

I don't suppose the next sentence starter is going to hit in the next two hours...? I'd really like to jot it down and take it up north with me for the weekend. :D

[Young Al Capone]

I don't suppose the next sentence starter is going to hit in the next two hours...? I'd really like to jot it down and take it up north with me for the weekend. :D

I think today is the free-for-all if I remember right. No theme, no word limit.

[shunoshi]

I think today is the free-for-all if I remember right. No theme, no word limit.

Yeah, that's why I was hoping to take it up north with me. I'll have a good chunk of time to write while I'm up there. Looking forward to it.

[Doctor Setebos]

I think today is the free-for-all if I remember right. No theme, no word limit.I was planning on every 5th starter to be a free-for-all. The next one would be four.

But seriously, why would you need the next starter to be posted in order to work on a FFA? Couldn't you do a FFA all on your own? :D

In any case, number 4 is going up in 5 minutes. :)

[Young Al Capone]

I was planning on every 5th starter to be a free-for-all. The next one would be four.

Ah yes, that is right. My mistake.

But seriously, why would you need the next starter to be posted in order to work on a FFA? Couldn't you do a FFA all on your own? :D

No, I need direction to my freedom, choices are often very difficult to make. How am I supposed to do things my own way, if I am not doing exactly as you say?

[shunoshi]

I was planning on every 5th starter to be a free-for-all. The next one would be four.

That's what I get for listening to Young Al.... :rolleyes::D

[Young Al Capone]

That's what I get for listening to Young Al.... :rolleyes::D

It is true, I take my own advice with a few pounds of salt.

[Doctor Setebos]

#4 is posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=931).

I think a couple of writers might like this one. :D

[shunoshi]

Well, after digging around protagonize.com for a bit I was disappointed to learn that there are no options for "invite only" stories. Every story appears to be public and anyone can add a branch to it. I was looking forward to the idea that we could do a CoG member story....

Oh well, I'm going to keep digging around for secondary project ideas.

[crazyD]

You could just send a PM and leave a note in the thread with who has to post next.

[Doctor Setebos]

#5 was posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1135) several days ago and I forgot to mention it here.

Oops! Sorry! :rolleyes:

[Generation ABXY]

I went ahead and signed up for the group as well, hopefully I'll be more active in the starters once my PC is repaired. (This laptop doesn't do so well with...well, anything - there's like a five-second delay in OpenOffice Writer, and a single pop-up ad will cause IE to freeze like a deer in the headlights.)

Still without much else to do, I have been making some headway in my novel, so some good may come out of this after all. :D

[shunoshi]

#5 was posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1135) several days ago and I forgot to mention it here.

Oops! Sorry! :rolleyes:

I'm surprised there hasn't been a single reply to it yet. Is everyone as busy as I am?? I had no time to write at all last week.... :(

[Young Al Capone]

I'm surprised there hasn't been a single reply to it yet. Is everyone as busy as I am?? I had no time to write at all last week.... :(

I was crazy busy last week, and also don't know enough about the renaissance to really feel confortable writing about it. So while I have the sentence starter opened up in Word, I am also trying to research the material so I can give it a go.

[shunoshi]

I was crazy busy last week, and also don't know enough about the renaissance to really feel confortable writing about it. So while I have the sentence starter opened up in Word, I am also trying to research the material so I can give it a go.

Yeah, the Renaissance period is a bit daunting. I'm unsure of what to do as well since it isn't a period that I'm very familiar with. If it wasn't specifically tied to Europe I'd just write about Japan. They were deep into the feudal period during the same timeframe and I know plenty about that. :p

I'm hoping to get something written tonight.

[Doctor Setebos]

Sorry about that, guys. I guess not everyone has a Renaissance-period steampunk story nestled in the back of their minds, huh? That must just be me. :p

No problem! This week's starter should be easier to cope with, and next week's should prove to be particularly entertaining. :D

[Young Al Capone]

Nice, I am looking forward to them. I also plan to do #5 alongside the new one this week, just need a little time to work on it. I am currently job hunting, so I haven't had time for much else.

[Doctor Setebos]

#6 has been posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1457). It's a good warm-up and prelude to next week's starter. :D

[Generation ABXY]

#6 has been posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=1457). It's a good warm-up and prelude to next week's starter. :D

Ah, so we're getting a horror starter for Halloween, eh? Can't wait to see what that delivers! Hopefully I'll be back up and running by then so I can participate, too.

[Doctor Setebos]

I am Jack's massive fail, guys. Sorry! I had meant to post a great horror-themed sentence starter last week for Halloween, but had an extremely busy week both at work AND at home, and it completely slipped my mind. :(

Of course, with every sentence starter posted, I've noticed fewer and fewer responses. Is interest in the starters dwindling? Is NaNo going to completely take all the creative juice out of everyone for the month of November?

We can hold off on creative projects for a while, maybe re-group in January when things have calmed down a bit. Thoughts?

[Young Al Capone]

I am certainly still interested, but have been currently consumed by job searching. I plan on playing catch up as soon as I have a solid source of income once again.

[shunoshi]

I am Jack's massive fail, guys. Sorry! I had meant to post a great horror-themed sentence starter last week for Halloween, but had an extremely busy week both at work AND at home, and it completely slipped my mind. :(

Of course, with every sentence starter posted, I've noticed fewer and fewer responses. Is interest in the starters dwindling? Is NaNo going to completely take all the creative juice out of everyone for the month of November?

We can hold off on creative projects for a while, maybe re-group in January when things have calmed down a bit. Thoughts?

NaNo is rocking my face. I can safely say it is the ONLY writing I'll be doing this month.

On a side note, your play on Palahniuk made me smile.

[Kielaran]

NaNo has consumed me. I love these, but will definitely not do them this month. I don't have the time (or energy).:(

[Generation ABXY]

Same here; in fact, I'm barely finding time to do NaNo (though I will keep at it until the end of the month).

[Doctor Setebos]

Sounds good. I'll hold off on the sentence starters for a while to give you all a chance to keep up on NaNo.

Good luck, writers! :D

[Doctor Setebos]

Hey all! Regular weekly sentence starters will resume next week. Happy New Year! :D

[Doctor Setebos]

#8 has been posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=4295). Once more into the fray, me harties! :D

[Doctor Setebos]

#9 has (finally) been posted (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=5422). Sorry for the ONE MONTH delay, folks. Smooth sailing from here on out. :p