Chain novel

Last updated

A chain novel or chain story is a type of collaborative fiction written collectively by a group of authors. The novel is passed along from author to author, each adding a new chapter or section to the work, with the rule that each subsequent chapter or section should elaborate and follow the plotline of preceding chapters or sections.

Contents

The story continues through the participation of others; no one knows what happens next except the next person to add to the story. This method of writing is a shared project and often leads in unexpected directions. This collaborative effort is used to stimulate creativity and the exploration of new ideas.

One problem with chain stories is they can become long and complicated due to the number of different people adding new bits and twists.

Legal theorist Ronald Dworkin has compared common law jurisprudence to chain novels by suggesting that judges, like chain novel authors, must elaborate and follow the laws set before them. [1]

Examples

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exquisite corpse</span> Surrealist automatic writing & art technique

Exquisite corpse is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilkie Collins</span> English novelist and playwright (1824–1889)

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist and playwright known especially for The Woman in White (1859), a mystery novel and early sensation novel, and for The Moonstone (1868), which established many of the ground rules of the modern detective novel and is also perhaps the earliest clear example of the police procedural genre.

Collaborative writing is a procedure in which two or more persons work together on a text of some kind. Success in collaborative writing involves a division of labor that apportions particular tasks to those with particular strengths: drafting, providing feedback, editing, sourcing, (reorganizing), optimizing for tone or house style, etc. Collaborative writing is characteristic of professional as well as educational settings, utilizing the expertise of those involved in the collaboration process.

In publishing, a note is a brief text in which the author comments on the subject and themes of the book and names supporting citations. In the editorial production of books and documents, typographically, a note is usually several lines of text at the bottom of the page, at the end of a chapter, at the end of a volume, or a house-style typographic usage throughout the text. Notes are usually identified with superscript numbers or a symbol.

Jack Dann is an American writer best known for his science fiction, as well as an editor and a writing teacher, who has lived in Australia since 1994. He has published over seventy books, the majority being as editor or co-editor of story anthologies in the science fiction, fantasy and horror genres. He has published nine novels, numerous shorter works of fiction, essays, and poetry, and his books have been translated into thirteen languages. His work, which includes fiction in the science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism, and historical and alternative history genres, has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, J. G. Ballard, and Philip K. Dick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald E. Westlake</span> American novelist (1933–2008)

Donald Edwin Westlake was an American writer with more than one hundred novels and non-fiction books to his credit. He specialized in crime fiction, especially comic capers, with an occasional foray into science fiction and other genres. Westlake created two professional criminal characters who each starred in a long-running series: the relentless, hardboiled Parker, and John Dortmunder, who featured in a more humorous series.

<i>In Our Time</i> (short story collection) 1925 Ernest Hemingway collection

In Our Time is the title of Ernest Hemingway's first collection of short stories, published in 1925 by Boni & Liveright, New York, and of a collection of vignettes published in 1924 in France titled in our time. Its title is derived from the English Book of Common Prayer, "Give peace in our time, O Lord".

<i>1632</i> series Novel series

The 1632 series, also known as the 1632-verse or Ring of Fire series, is an alternate history book series and sub-series created, primarily co-written, and coordinated by American author Eric Flint and published by Baen Books.

<i>Les Chants de Maldoror</i> 1868–1869 French poetic novel by Comte de Lautréamont

Les Chants de Maldoror is a French poetic novel, or a long prose poem. It was written and published between 1868 and 1869 by the Comte de Lautréamont, the nom de plume of the Uruguayan-born French writer Isidore Lucien Ducasse. The work concerns the misanthropic, misotheistic character of Maldoror, a figure of evil who has renounced conventional morality.

Collaborative fiction is a form of writing by a group of authors who share creative control of a story.

An addventure, also known as a collaborative gamebook, is a type of online interactive fiction that combines aspects of round-robin stories and Choose Your Own Adventure-style tales. Like a round-robin story, an addventure is a form of collaborative fiction in which many authors contribute to a story, each writing discrete segments. However, like a gamebook, the resulting narrative is non-linear, allowing authors to branch out in different directions after each segment of the story. The result is a continually growing work of hypertext fiction.

<i>Chimera</i> (Barth novel) 1972 novel by John Barth

Chimera is a 1972 fantasy novel written by American writer John Barth, composed of three loosely connected novellas. The novellas are Dunyazadiad, Perseid and Bellerophoniad, whose titles refer eponymously to the mythical characters Dunyazad, Perseus and Bellerophon. The book is an example of postmodernism, which can be seen in its metafictional content and its incorporation of stylistic elements that go beyond the traditional novel genre. It shared the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction with Augustus by John Edward Williams.

A vignette is a French loanword expressing a short and descriptive piece of writing that captures a brief period in time. Vignettes are more focused on vivid imagery and meaning rather than plot. Vignettes can be stand-alone, but they are more commonly part of a larger narrative, such as vignettes found in novels or collections of short stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Abraham (author)</span> American writer

Daniel James Abraham, pen names M. L. N. Hanover and James S. A. Corey, is an American novelist, comic book writer, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of The Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin fantasy series, and with Ty Franck, as the co-author of The Expanse science fiction series, written under the joint pseudonym James S. A. Corey. The series has been adapted into the television series The Expanse (2015–2022), with both Abraham and Franck serving as writers and producers on the show. He also contributed to Wild Cards anthology series shared universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Science Fiction Writers' Circle</span> Writing Group in Glasgow, Scotland

The Glasgow Science Fiction Writers’ Circle is a group of amateur, semi-professional, and professional fiction authors that has met regularly in Glasgow, Scotland since 1987.

Collaborative or collective poetry is an alternative and creative technique for writing poetry by more than one person. The principal aim of collaborative poetry is to create poems with multiple collaborations from various authors. In a common example of collaborative poetry, there may be numerous authors working in conjunction with one another to try to form a unified voice that can still maintain their individual voices.

A composite film is a feature film whose screenplay is composed of two or more distinct stories. More generally, composite structure refers to an aesthetic principle in which the narrative structure relies on contiguity and linking rather than linearity. In a composite text or film, individual pieces are complete within themselves, yet they form a whole work that is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James S. A. Corey</span> Pseudonymous authors of the science fiction series The Expanse

James S. A. Corey is the pen name used by collaborators Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, authors of the science fiction series The Expanse. The first and last name are taken from Abraham's and Franck's middle names, respectively, and S. A. are the initials of Abraham's daughter. The name is also meant to emulate many of the space opera writers of the 1970s. In Germany, their books are published under the name James Corey with the middle initials omitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of books</span> Overview of and topical guide to books

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to books.

Chain writing, also known as relay writing or estafet writing, is a type of collaborative writing in which a group of authors collectively write a piece of literature by each writing separate, subsequent sections of a larger story or critical work. The term was coined in 2015 by Madeira and Montanero in a thesis dissertation.

References

  1. Sunstein, Cass R. (29 April 2015). "How Star Wars explains constitutional law". The Washington Post . Retrieved 25 June 2017.