Multi-author Fanfic epic- Anyone up for it?

Recently, I?ve been looking back at Del Rey?s big, multi-author epics, and it?s been hit home to me once again that while there are things I?ve enjoyed about them, to say they?re seriously flawed would be an understatement. Legacy of the Force, in my opinion, started out with some strong ideas but ended up a trainwreck; Fate of the Jedi is still in progress but could easily go the same way (I?ve not given up hope yet, though); New Jedi Order is far and away the best of the three, but even it is hardly perfect.

So, I thought to myself, could the Force.net fanwriters do it better?

Here?s my proposal- a group of writers from these boards (I?d think 3-4 at minimum) get together to plot out and write a multi-fic series covering an overarching storyline- hopefully allowing something big, with different authors bringing different strengths, while at the same time including enough dialogue between authors that the story flows well naturally (I?d think at minimum, authors should read each other?s fics in the series as they?re posted; at most, authors could beta each other). Exactly what format the series would take would depend on how many authors are interested, but personally I?d prefer something more akin to the NJO (authors do standalones or short arcs in succession) rather than LOTF/FOTJ (rotating authors), since I felt the former flowed better.

Plotwise, I was thinking something in the Hundred-Year Darkness or the early New Sith Wars, since those periods haven?t been explored much in profic- but as I?ve been getting a bit burned out on Sith between LOTF, FOTJ, KOTOR, Legacy, and Knight Errant, if someone else has a different era to suggest or a particularly juicy AU idea, I?d be all ears.

I know this would be a big commitment, and if no one feels up to it I understand completely- but I think if we try to work from Del Rey?s successes, learn from their mistakes, and bring our own strengths to the playing field, we could do something really impressive.

Anyone with me?

 

This honestly sounds like a really interesting idea. I've been writing an epic myself at the moment, but it could be really fun to do a multi-author series as well, and prove that it CAN be done right, despite what LotF and FotJ may be showing. The NJO format was far superior to what happened in LotF and I think that would work really well for this, but on the other hand that just makes the rotating author thing seem like a challenge. An unexplored era would be really good fun, but hey, we could even rewrite LotF . Actually that could be interesting...

Anyways, great idea! I for one think I could be up for this, depending on what we decide on, but very good suggestion.

 

It has been done sucessfully in Beyond.
Too bad I forgot the name of the team and story. I think Striker was on it?

 

Children of the Force by the ForceChildren writing team


edit: ...I'm dropping letters occasionally...

 

It is possible, but you have to make sure you agree on the overall story arc before unleashing each other. Profic has the benefit, or perhaps the problem, of the Flanneled One directing the story's traffic, so there are some administrative hurdles to jump for it to work. But it can for sure.

 

Thanks for the support! I hope to be able to get this to work out. I don't particularly want to do an LOTF rewrite, both because I'd rather a project like this break new ground and partially because I think the whole "dark Jacen" plotline has already been done much better in fanfic than either LOTF or just about anything else (seriously, look up YodaKenobi's series "Legacy of the Sith" for a great look at Dark!Jacen, among other things). Anyway, whatever era is decided on, assuming this gets off the ground, I'd love to have you.

Oh yeah- definitely. Personally, I never start writing something until I have it plotted out in my head, and I'd assume something similar for a group project- I don't want to take sole control, since I'm just one fan who likes to write, but I definitely think there should be an agreed-upon plot-arc and major characters before anything gets rolling.

Also, glad to see that this has been done successfully before, albeit in a different era. Thanks everyone for replying!

 

That's cool, the LotF ting was only half-serious , a new era would definitely be really goofund to explore. Hell, my own epic is set in the far future, 800ABY, so I know the joys of crafting a new unexplored era. I hope this gets going

 

I'd be interested in getting on this, contingent on the viability of the plot.

 

USJS has been here on the boards with various authors adding their characters to a large story and there is of course the TIS on beyond.

Depends on the plot and area but I like to participate

 

Glad to be seeing some interest . I've already mentioned my (very general) ideas for plots/eras- what are the kinds of things the rest of you might be interested in doing (I think establishing era- or AU- is a pretty important first step before getting into more specific stuff)?

 

Sounds interesting. As before, it depends on what the other intangibles of the story arc are.

 

So... anyone have any other general era/plot ideas, or should I start working up a Hundred Year Darkness or New Sith War outline to use to pitch the concept to people?

 

This is a really awesome idea. Glad to see people doing something like this

 

I think this is an awesome idea and a superb learning experience, too.

Personally, I've always had trouble teaming up with someone because the ideas would vary and you'd get into pointless arguments. Too stubborn for your own good and all that but still...I'd really love to give it another try.

 

Wow- YodaKenobi posted in my thread. In any case, thanks for the support, and I get what you mean about conflict between authors (professionally, I think this was particularly obvious and painful in LOTF, where you'd have certain subplots *cough*Fett*cough* that only one author cared about and disappeared when said author wasn't writing) but that's why I'm hoping for a more NJO-esque format (so authors can play with ideas they personally like in their own fic/arc, while still building towards the meta-arc, whatever it turns out to be). I do think everyone should be on the same page concerning said meta-arc before any serious writing starts, just to make things go smoothly, and I think that's tricky but doable.

 

So what would you want to write about? Which era would you prefer?

 

Is there anyway I could get involved?

 

Whichever we do, count me in as someone who can and will cover the diplomatic/political edge of it.

 

@Ceillean: I could go with either one, though I'm kind of leaning towards New Sith Wars at the moment. However, I don't want this to just be my show, which is why I'm fishing for alternate opinions as well.

@JediDingo: Just stick around; if this gets off the ground you'll be right at ground zero . I'd love to have anyone who's interested.

@DarthIshtar: Thanks a lot! Glad to hear it .

So just for reference, writers who've expressed interest/ potential interest in working on the project so far:

Websinger2
DarthIshtar
Earybird-obi-wan
JEDIGUNSHIP
JediDingo

Anyone I missed/ feel like chiming in?

 

I don't have a whole lot of writing experience, so I don't know if anyone would want me writing for this...

But I think it's a great idea. I'd love to read it and maybe contribute a little bit at some point if people were ok with that.

 

New Sith Wars would be very interesting indeed! I think it would be cool to see Darth Ruin's rise and fall, and a hero that we all agree on to bring him down over the course of the story.

 

This sounds like a lot of fun, but I know I'm too flakey to hold up my end when it comes to these things.

I'm looking forward to reading what you guys come up with, though.

 

I would be up for it, I think. I can give a more definite yea or nay once the topic is defined more, but I should be able to at least do a short story. I'd love to do a comic, if I have time to do so.

Edit: Okay, so I kept myself up excitedly thinking of all of this instead of studying for my exams... lol.

I have two characters I'd really like to use - a human force-sensitive street rat type character, and a Zeltron sith-in-training/pop star. ...yes, pop star. There hasn't really been a Sith yet to really focus on passion, so that's her shtick. Originally I had the idea that she would be inciting violence/distrust against the Jedi order, but that's pretty flexible.

 

Great idea. I'm not familiar with any of those eras, though.

Good luck!

 

Come on, LLL. Research up and join me on the Dark Side!