  Short Stories
This week: Collaborative Writing Edited by: Shannon  
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week.
Read on for your chance to win a Teamwork merit badge! |
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I've toyed with the idea of collaborative writing for years, but I've never followed through. I've even had several people offer to be my writing partner, but until now I just haven't been willing or able to bring myself to do it. Perhaps it's because I'm so possessive of my writing (I don't like to share), but the idea is increasingly compelling.
How would you go about it? If you're writing a 2000-word short story, you could have one writer write the first 1,000 words and the second wrap things up. How about four alternating 500-word installments? If it's a novel, writer number one could be assigned chapters one, three, five, seven, and nine while writer number two would be responsible for chapters two, four, six, eight, and ten. You could start with an outline, or better yet, surprise each other with each and every chapter. It would be kind of exciting not knowing ahead of time where the story's headed or what happens to the characters until you read your partner's contribution--like crowdsurfing, but instead of falling into the arms of the crowd you're falling into the arms of your writing partner and trusting him not to drop you. It's an act of faith and surrender.
I've decided to make collaborative writing my last short story contest of 2014.
Here's your chance to win a Teamwork merit badge for you and a writing partner. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a 2,000-word (or less) collaborative story. Pick a writing partner and decide which of you will write the first 1,000 words and which will write the last 1,000 words.
Contest Rules:
Your story must be:
 Newly-written for this contest.
Any genre is fair game.
Rated 18+ or below.
No more than 2,000 words and written by TWO writers in 900-1,000-word installments. Neither writer should write less than 900 or more than 1,000 words. Word count must be provided at the bottom of the item, as well as the names of both writers.
Received by me no later than 11:59 p.m. WDC time on December 28, 2014. The writer writing the first 1,000 words will create the entry as a Static Item and keep it in his or her portfolio. After finishing the first half of the story, writer #1 will allow writer #2 to read his or her work and complete the story. Email me the item ID number in bitem format and write "Contest Entry" in the email's subject line. For help using the bitem format, please refer to "Newbie Hyperlinking 101 - Bitem Format" [E].
Edited only until the deadline.
Any entry not following these rules will be disqualified.
Only one entry per team, please.
 A minimum of five entries is required before a winning team will be chosen to receive the merit badges. If fewer than five entries are received, each author who participated will instead be given 1,000 gift points for their time and effort. If five or more entries are received, a winning team will be chosen, the authors awarded a Teamwork merit badge, and the story featured in the December 31, 2014 issue of the Short Stories Newsletter.
 I like surprises, so if a winning entry is chosen, I may gift the winning team something special for good measure.
Good luck, and thank you for reading.
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I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. Please do the authors the courtesy of reviewing the ones you read. Thank you, and have a great week!
|  | The Wager. (E)
short flash fiction piece - December 2008.
#1508365 by Dan  |
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This item number is not valid.
#2011690 by Not Available. |
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#1882403 by Not Available. |
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Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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The following is in response to "1,667 Words" :
Quick-Quill  writes, "I went to a writing conference and one speaker said he had read many stories by new authors and they end up being a 'BIOGRAPHY of a fictional character.' I wasn't sure what he meant until I sat next to woman who pitched me her book. It was exactly that!! When I asked what was her conflicts? what did the MC learn from the experience? What impact did his wife make in the story? She was clueless. It was just a biography of this guy and fixing up an old house. I later saw her pay money to pitch it to a publisher. She didn't get it. When others have told her the same thing she didn't understand what they meant. She is married to her story but it will never be a good book without the basics." Yes, the basics are ... well, basic. Something has to happen. The protagonist must change in some way. If it isn't relevant to the story, cut it. If an ancillary character isn't moving the story forward--if all she does is waste time, space, and the precious air your story needs to breathe, cut her. I agree with you 100%. 
chopstixd writes, "Obviously the NaNoWriMo virus has infected the Short Stories news letter. Come on December, bring back well structured, read in one sitting, condensed fiction." In defense of our editors, writing.com is a writing website, and NaNoWriMo is a once-a-year, month-long writing extravaganza. Some fantastic and very successful novels were written during NaNoWriMo (The Night Circus and Water for Elephants are two great examples). That being said, your wish is my command. It is December. Hopefully you will like the end result of our editors' efforts this month. 
The following is in response to "It's Raining Men" :
Joto-Kai  writes, "I found that my characters were lined up by gender, in a rather unusual (I think) way. MY sex was *always* the bad guy. Women were usually the protagonist, and always heroic. Even if they had a dark side, they still tended to make up for it. Heh, I guess that says more than anything about why I've been so unlucky in love."  Nah. We all have our preferences, and I don't even think most of us realize they come through in our writing. I didn't, or I never gave it enough thought for it to register, anyway. Thank you for reading and writing in! 
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Short Stories: December 03, 2014 Issue [#6684]
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