ScarletRose:  am having a bad hair day

I will be stepping down as a mod of this board because I'd like to see someone take over that has a high interest in storytelling and I don't have the time to devote to this board like I had wanted.  The main mod should be someone that will help with advancing the story (participate on a regular basis) and should have some level of skill in writing (IMO).  I know there are people out there with good story writing skills becuase they have posted here.  It would be nice to get someone that has regularly participated in  previous storychains.  (to give participants a chance at modding a board where they have a high interest).

If interested, contact Eriisa or one of the other Globals or you can leave me a PM and I'll pass it on to them.

Thanks ;)

let me know if there are any errors.  ;)

Murder at the Spring Thing

granny2billy: You're the best. Thanks for that. I'll post the story on the webpage soon. ;)

SafariGal: big gaps are not an issue. I've jump started a stalled story before. Once the April 27th post was made, starting a new story was inappropriate. The guidelines above are for everyone to follow, including me. Including you.

It makes sense to me to finish a story before starting a new one. Rather than simply begin a new one, it is more respectful to help with the current one. The ONLY exception is if the authors of the current story want to move to another story and collectively they don't want to finish the current one, that works for me. But since they have invested a lot of time, it's only respectful to allow them to make this decision.

I haven't heard from everyone so until this matter is fully settled, I'd like to wait before starting a new story.

We have heard from two key writers but there were others. Once people have had a chance to state their view THEN it will be decided. Otherwise the guidelines are meaningless.

Does this board want to end the current story and allow for the new story to continue. Or do we finish the first story?  If we choose to end the first story, I suggest we work towards the conclusion.  Your feedback is important.  

SafariGal:  I do pay attention to this board.  And I know that starting a new story when the other one isn't finished will simply kill the first story.  And likely, the story you just started, will not finish either. 

Generally it's up to the starter to finish a story.  I can easily add that to the above guidelines.  The guidelines are there for a reason.  You chose to ignore them.  Imagine now if someone else decides to start a new story.  Are you ok with that?  and then another story starts too.  And another. 

The rules says ONE story at a time.  The proper thing to do is to PM me rather than make up your own rule.  And the CURRENT story had an entry the DAY BEFORE you posted a new story.  So it was still active.

But go ahead, operate by your own rules here.  I still haven't decided what to do about this.  Try not to worry as my options are open.  I'll let you know as soon as I've made a decision.  Trust me that I will do something.

Oceans Apart:  I tried that in a PM and was ignored.  I'm deciding on what to do next.  Some people like to make their own rules.  

Cowboy Dan was lost in thought.  This was the last place he wanted to be at the moment, he had other things on his mind.  He pushed those thoughts aside and looked around the room.  A lot of his friends were here and he knew he'd be glad he came later.  He always felt better after being with his friends.  As he walked about the room, he heard his name being called. He knew immediately who it was.  She was the only one that called him Danny.  Most called him Dan even though his given name was Daniel.   He turned to look and saw Scarlet waving at him.  She always brought a smile to his face. 

"Hi Scarlet.  Good to see you here tonight," he said.  He walked toward her and removed his hat. 

"So how is Scarlet doing tonight?" he said. 

granny2billy:.
.
.
.

                )
           .-"(" "-.
         .-|`'---'`|
         | |       |     ____
          \|       |  .'` __ `'.   ____
          `\       /  |  '--'  |.'` __ `'.
      jgs   `"---"`   \`------`/|  '--'  |
                       `------' \`------`/
                                 `------`

granny2billy:  who knows, it's a dead end I think.  Time for a new one of just some story chat.

Foxy Lady:  She lived in a mut hut deep in the forest.  Being a very ugly witch, she lived alone, which is normal for an ugly witch.  And being that all witches are usually ugly, most do live alone.  But she was not like the other witches.

Her name was Zelina.  She wasn't always an ugly witch.  In fact, she wasn't always a witch at all but a beautiful young lady.  A peasant farmer's daughter.  But a spell had been cast upon her by Volgorf, an evil wizard.  Volgorf had seen her beauty and wanted her for his wife, and when she refused him, he cast a spell upon her and banished to live out her days deep in the forest of  Kradnref. 

time for a story tag.  Someone start and keep it going daily (otherwise they die on the vine.)  We'll try to end it in a week.  Perhaps the starter can also determine when to end it.  But if we give it a time limit, say a week, then we'll probably not let it just sit  ;)

Anyone interested?

Skyking:  We've sort of lost our way here.  lol

Jon Spelman


Time upon a once, there was a prince who wanted to get married. But he decided, for some reason foolish, that he wanted his wife to be a very real Cessprin. So about traveled he all through the world to real a find one. But every Cessprin he met was not real enough quite. There plenty of Cessprinces were, but they whether real enough were, he not figure out quite could. There was some always thing that did not right seem quite.

So home came again he and was sad quite, for he much so wished to find a prin realcess. Well, one storm a bit later little, a terrible night came on. It lighted and thunded. The stream rained down. It was fearful quite.

There then a door at the knocking came. Prince the open down to went it. Was a woman young it who out stood the door side. But, oh my, she how awful looked the rain from and the weather heavy. The hair streamed down her water and her clothes and into ran the top of her shoes and out ran at the heels.
"Are you who?" asked Prince the.
"I am a Cessprin," declared she.
"A Cessprin!" thought Prince the, but he nothing said, only into guest bed went room the, off took the bedding all, and springs on the pea a put. Then laid he the pea upon matty twentresses, and then feather twenty goose beds them upon. This pile huge on the Cessprin had to all night sleep. Test was it a.

The morning next, Prince the asked the Cessprin she slept how.
"Oh, miserably, oh," said the Cessprin. "I slept at hardly all. Know's what goodness in my bed was. I upon hard lay something. I turned and tossed all night. Now am I blue and black overall."

But happy was Prince the, for he now saw that she was indeed a very real Cessprin because all the way through those matty twentresses and those feather twenty goose beds, she had pea the felt.

And so Prince the and Cessprin married were and happily ever lived after. And was put the pea in a museum, and it is now there still, unsome less body has off it carried. Me believe, a true this is story, and have I heard it as I told it. You thank I for to it listening. End the.

for more

Foxy Lady:I once heard an entire story told this way and the guy had me in stitches  :)  I'll see if I can dig it up.  It's a great story too.  ;)

Foxy Lady:   Once upon a time there was a little boy.  And he was fishing down by the pond when he spotted a frog.  He decided to catch the frog and as quick as a flash, he grabbed hold of the frog.

The Frog said:  "Wait sir; If you let me go I will grant you one wish.

And so the boy let the frog go. ;)

But you have to add to the story and change the words around so some of it's backwards  ;)

Time upon a once, was there a boy little.   And this boy little, was down fishing pond the by, when he frog a spotted.  He decided to frog the catch and flash as a quick, he hold grabbed of the frog. 

The said Frog: "Sir wait, Let me go if, grant you wish one will I.

And so the boy frog the go let.

.............

Dolittle: 

Skyking:  He found the box in a little grove of trees in the property just behind his house.  He had been looking for a good tree in which to build a treehouse.  At the base of an old oak tree was an hole and something inside the hole caught the boy's attention.  Something sparkled.  He reached inside and pulled out the small box.  It was covered in jewels of red, yellow, and purple.  Certain he had found a treasure chest, he tried to open the box.  But it was locked.  Quickly he felt inside the hole in the tree to see if he could find the needed key.........

was there a little boy.

Groucho: The End.   

The Story So Far:

It was a dark and stormy night. Sebastian had no choice, he was on a mission. He had to care for cissy, Jody and Buffy. Sebastian padded down the marble stairs into the trainstation, keeping to the shadows
hoping he was not too late. The sack lunches weighing heavily against his vest. He wished he had stayed with the royal family at times like these.

of course he was a mere whipping boy for the prince...it really wasn't his place to think such things. When the prince made an error it was he wh recieved the punishment...one should never strike royalty after all.

Once Sebastian had reached the level where the trains were, he started looking for platform 9 3/4. Naturally, it wasn't visible. But he knew he'd have to pass through the seemingly solid partition between platforms 9 & 10, if he was to get to Hogwarts.

The queens maid hoped Sebastian had recovered from the last thrashing he had recieved. The prince's tutor had been quite angry that day...Sebastian had looked rather dazed. Hence Sebastian's reasons for becoming a butler/nanny for an ordinary American family.

(If only the money were as good) he thought to himself(still, money was,nt everything, maybe he would even get a day off now and again) t took Sebastian a little while, but he came to realise that he stood upon a platform in the New York subway station somewhere near 42nd street....not somewhere in London.

With a start he realised that the bright lights of London were now the Big Apple of NY and he must have fell asleep on the train and thought he was back home.


He took out his brand new state of the art tribane mobile phone and texted "I have arrived, r u here? Wave if you r"

something waved back...and it looked more like a troll than a person...at first he shudderred...then he understood that it was just the mistress of the house in a fur coat

He replaced the phone and walked up to her. "Mrs Itch?" He inquired. "Yes, Sebastian right? I am sorry but my husband Ivan had an important meeting to attend too so I came instead, lets get you home you must be really tired after that journey and hungry too I bet!"

And with that she turned and walked away with Sebastian hurrying after her.  (definately fake ) he thought to himself He hoped that the coat was the only thing that was fake about her.

But alas! she was a virtual cyborg.The light of day brought the truth to light.He decided to grab a
taxi while she was plugged into the wall recharging. And the taxi drove him away into the dawn never to be seen again, at least by the Itche,s!

He was never seen again cause.He didn't pay his fare.Where could he be? Hmmmm in Taxi Land? Now this Taxi Land was like a dark black hole...............

Foxy Lady:  At this rate we'd finish this story in 2008 ! ;)

Foxy Lady:  I agree.  Then End.  Time to move on to something new.  A month between posts on a story is an indication that the story is dead. 

amandalove:  Looks like this story has lost conscienceness too.  Perhaps we should end it as it is and just chat here. ;)

Beyond the Bermuda Triangle 9. July 2006


Jim was flying his
lear jet over Cuba on his flight to Brazil. He was a representative of
a coffee company in Florida who was checking on companies in South
America. All of a sudden all his gages were malfunctioning and he was
loosing control of his plane....


...He found out a bird had hit one of the engines...

...Suddenly, the plane started to dive!

...The engine sputtered and choked as it tried to stay alive...

...As
his plane spiraled down out of control Jim spotted a flash of emerald
and tan through the clouds. As his plane sank lower he realized it was
an island in a part of the ocean where no island should be.

...Was his fantasy becoming true?

...What fantasy was that?

...The island was incased in a fog or clouds. Soon his plane floated down. Till it reached the island.

...The
fatiague from such a disorienting experience had caused Jim to question
his perception of his surroundings.Could it be?......could that really
be a Chuck E Cheese in the distance?

...Jim had dozed off and woke hours later on the island and his plane was no where in site. No wreckage whatsoever.

...He saw the Chucky Cheeser again and discovered that the island fabricated marages of what ev er you think about.

"What strange place is this?" Jim thought. "Whatever one thinks about, the Island creates a mirage of it. "

Suddenly
it occured to him that such a situation could lead to trouble. What if
he were thinking of something that led to a dangerous or even deadly
mirage?

He hardly had time to think about that last question
when a shudder surged throughout his body. Was he now seeing things?
What was his last thought? He didn't have time to wonder any longer.
Something was moving in the distance. Something big. And it was coming
his way.....

The very idea that Jim could manifest his own best
or worst fears intrigued Jim.For to even dread the worst meant he must
at least revisit that minefield of emotions.

the ground
trembled, the trees shook in the distance... it reminded him of the old
king kong movie... coconuts were falling everywhere... BOOM! earth
geysered! BOOM! BOOM! ROARRRRrrrrr! The giant ape retreated in anger!
the coconuts were setting off land mines! jim thought "oh this is just
dandy" and forced himself to think of 'good' thoughts...

But no
matter how hard he tried, the huge ape just wouldn't disappear. Land
mines continued to explode as coconuts continued to fall. Suddenly,
another huge creature appeared in the distance. "How can that be?"
thought Jim. "I wasn't thinking of a creature of any kind!" Then just
as suddenly, the huge ape disappeared and the explosions ceased. But
the beast in the distance grew bigger and bigger as it came closer and
closer.

"This is madness!" Jim screamed as he desparately
thought of peceful things. A quiet stream running through the valley
appeared. That was Jim's thought. But the beast wasn't. And then it
suddenly occured to Jim. Not only was he not alone, but the thoughts of
others became a reality to him as well! It was one thing to control his
own thoughts but the thoughts of another? Impossible.

And then
he saw the other. The person was running towards him with the beast
following. They were too far away to tell if it was a man or a woman.
But whoever it was, the beast was chasing after them. And both of them
were running straight towards Jim.

Then,all at once Jim sensed a
presence from behind.The ape had returned and was running its fingers
through his hair while making grunting sounds.In an act of defiance Jim
swung around and screamed at the top of his lungs "get your stinkin
paws off me you dirty Ape."

THUMP...THUMP...THUMP...THUMP... Jim
looked up at a placid Kong... SCREAM! They both looked towards the
high-pitched SCREAM source but saw the T-Rex first! It was bearing down
on a golden haired slight woman in a flowing flimsy white wrap, who
gathered herself and dove into the deep blue stream...

Jim pointed- Well don't just stand there king! Go save her! Help her!

The
giant ape ROARED and sprang forward covering ground fast and low...
almost losing Jim as he jumped on and clung on to the ape's hairy calf
with both hands...

The T-rex skidded to a stop on the thick green verge at the stream and BELLOWED a challenge back!

"Bawkkkkkkkkk
Bawwaakkkkk" Scarlet comes running through the trees, arms up above her
head sheilding herself from the swooping Pteranodons. Her white guaze
dress snags on a stump and tears at the hemline.


Glancing
all around she turns and runs directly toward a figure in the distance.
The Pteranodon drops even lower and nips a bit of her hair, he swooshes
upward shuffling a breeze and a clasp of blond tresses hangs lightly
out of his clenched bill. Grabbing at her scalp she steps up her pace
and screams a bit.. but, exhaustion soon took over and she collapsed
onto the ground.. Looking up she swings her hand to shield her eyes and
stares directly into the eyes of.....

a tiny field mouse.

Out from the woods comes a Fox with a few mouse traps and sets them around the island.

But
that tricky little mouse isn't about to be fooled by the mouse traps.
He's seen them before and knows how to avoid them. Meanwhile, the mouse
is occupied staring back into the eyes of the stranger.

the next post I'll be reposting the entire story so far.  Please be sure to always link your contribution to the last one otherwise I may miss it when I put the thing together and post it on the web. ;)

Since I cannot decide what's to be allowed in or not (except in some obvious cases) I have included all contributions. I think that the starter of the story can help decide on when it's finished.  I'm assuming that we don't want them to drag on forever. ;)

Basically I view all the types of collaborative stories the same way.  It's a group effort.  There are many different ways of handling it but basically I think we need to allow some freedom and flexibility in story tag efforts and not be too rigid.  But for informational purposes I post the following. 

Definitions

Story Circle
One person begins a tale and stops after a few sentences. The next person picks up the story thread and continues it, then stops. Next person adds to it and so on until the tale comes to a resolution. The story could begin with a pre-selected title or subject to guide the improvisation. Try recording the story circle on a tape recorder for later listening.
http://www.storyarts.org/lessonplans/lessonideas/#circle

Chain Story:
-Everybody knows what a chain story is, right? If you want to participate, please add one sentence to the previous sentence. Alternating, at least, one other person would need to add a line before you could add your next sentence.
-A chain story is a story written bit by bit, by many different people.
-Each person takes a turn moving the story along and each new person who takes over must maintain some consistency in the narrative while being free to take the story in other directions.

Story Tag
Story Tag is a multi-author, round robin type of cartoon. One person starts it, another person continues, and the cartoon keeps going until someone ends it
 Story Tag 1
Story Tag is a multi-author, round robin type of cartoon. One person starts it, ... Story Tag 01 is the product of two authors: Gel and Dustball. So is Tag. ...
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/98457 -

Round Robin
A round-robin story is one that is started by one person and then continued sucessively by others in turn. Whether an author can get additional turns, how many lines each person can contribute, and how the story can be ended depend on the rules. Some Web sites have been created for the telling of round robin stories by each person posting the next part of the story as part of an online conference thread.
A Round-robin story, or simply "round robin," is a type of collaborative fiction or storytelling in which a number of authors each write chapters of a novel or pieces of a story, in rounds. Round-robin novels were invented in the 19th century, and later became a tradition particularly in science fiction. In modern usage, the term often applies to collaborative fan fiction, particularly on the Internet, though it can also refer to friends or family telling stories at a sleepover, around a campfire, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round-robin_story

I found these definitions on a number of web sites.  It was a hard thing to find much information on and I was surprised.  If anyone has an "official" definition I can post on the web site, that would be great.  PM me. ;)

Guidelines For Collaborative Stories (impromptu, story-tap; round-robin; chain-story)

Respecing the Work of Others - Since this writing effort is collaberative, remember that some writers have spent a lot of time working out the details of their contribution. Please respect the plots that others have written. Feel free to add to a storyline but first be familiar with the entire story before adding anything new.

Stay consistent with the theme of the story. Add new characters and new twists, but don't change things so that the story theme changes also. The best way to do this is to be familiar with the story and always build off the last entry. Take cues from the last entry and build on it.

How much should a person write? --- As little as a sentence and as much as a few paragraphs. Try to avoid giving only a word or two. Write enough so that then next writer has something to build upon. And in every case, be very sensitive to the direction and theme of the story. Introduce new characters and situations but don't write things that will drastically change the story. Avoid long additions.

Since the stories will be housed on my personal site, and available to everyone on the internet, keep it rated "E" -- for EVERYONE

Always proofread your addition.

I've posted the basic storytag guidelines above. It is only the abreviated version.  Check out the links for more specific information.

People will be expected to have read the complete guidelines for storytag using one of the links provided.

It's only fair to everyone that we are all on the same page.  It is after all a collaborative effort and we must all be playing by the same rules.  agreed? ;)

If anyone has any further comment, please PM me.  I plan to restart the story (out of respect for those that want it to be continued) and hopefully we can conclude it.  Then the group will decide where to go next. 

I am not trying to complicate things, only facilitate some organization to this board.  ;)

I've listed on the WebSite possible board activities.  They are not etched in stone so if people don't want something, that works for me too.  Here they are....

Brainking StoryBoard activities:
-Story Tag
-Sharing of personally authored stores (providing just a link to the website - please don't post entire stories)
-Story Chatter (chatting about either the story tag -after it is completed- or chatting about members story submission)
-Chat (related to what's currently happening on the board. The only time "chat" will be discouraged is when we are in the middle of a StoryTag exchange. During the creation of a collaborative story chat will be greately discouraged. ;)
-Other ideas that may come up  ;)

to be continued  :)

Hopefully I'll be posting something later today with regard to what's next.  Also, guidelines are done (mostly) and the information is currently up on the web site  ;)

groucho-m@comcast.net will work.  ;)

Foxy Lady:  Thanks.  I have an old Web program but it still does the job and uploading is fast.  It does all the work.  

ScarletRose: People can send me any story they have written (as long as they aren't of adult content ;) If you find another story, send it and I'll put it up. It only takes a few minutes to add anything and the more work I putinto the site, eventually it will only require a tweak here and there ;)

this link and then click on "IYT Story (just a test)" you'll get an idea of what I am thinking for posting stories (either once they have been written or member contributions  ;)

Foxy Lady:

Foxy Lady:  My bad. I read "can't" when you said "can."  ;)

Foxy Lady:  WebTV can't get them? What do you get and does it not work on all of them?

Foxy Lady:  Thanks.  Now if someone sends me a story, I can test out how that works and if people like it.  And I hope people check out the links pages too because there are several links up. 

Foxy Lady:  Neither was I when I went along with it.  I was just going with the flow. 

So far ONLY TWO people have given me feedback.  Just so folks know, after FRIDAY I'll be posting the guidelines again and we'll see where things go.  If you want to know the direction of my thinking, read below. 

;)

If anyone has a story they have written and are willing to send it to me, I'd like to post it on the web site and see how it works and then what ya all think  ;)

ScarletRose:  I'll see if I can find some definitions.  I can see something like what you posted working well if people were of the same writing skill level.  But even though I have a good imagination and am a storyteller in a semi-professional way, I don't write as well as some of the stories I've read on here.  I don't know that we can expect the same level from everyone.  The website could accomodate a more serious storyline or even a private FS.  But in the public forum, it's a different matter.  I agree that it's a lot of fun. 

I hope people check out the web site and let me know what they think of it and my ideas behind it.  Critical comments welcomed too.  I'm going forward with my ideas on the premise that "If you build it they will come" so criticisms may help in shaping what I am trying to do. 

As for this forum, much of it is up to the folks.  ;)  But as a public board, many of the rules for participation are set by the Users Agreement ;)

Supper time.  Let me hear your thoughts on what I've said and all that  ;)  Be sure to check out the website (it's posted above)  ;)  I just started it last night so......don' t expect much  ;)

The Whisper:  "If people choose to make long, descriptive posts, that's great. If
people choose to make short to the point posts, they should have that
right too. Being this is a public board, all posts should be encouraged
as long as they are on topic."

ScarletRose:  I thought it was a story tag.  Maybe it has a different name.  There's StoryTag, chain stories, and Roundrobin stories.  I thought these were all the same. 

I hope you'll think about the changes I'm proposing and then people like you who do write alot will have an additional outlet (the website working in conjunction with this board)  ;)

The Whisper:  if someone starts a story and others can add to it, then, whoever adds
to the story makes the twist or the turn. I don't think it is fair to
say "This has to be serious" or "This can be silly." The thoughts and
ideas of those who participate are what counts and what makes the story
original

And Floozie said something I'll probably include as well.  Pluse other suff.  I'm working on it now.  :)