It's been two months since I last used this title and got almost 80 votes, and I've been working on my plan since then. To read the original article, go here.
Today is the day that it all begins and I'm so excited to be sharing this!
Over the past few weeks, I feel like I've learned as much about the new steemit as I did in my first couple of weeks, way back in August 2016! I've gotten on dlive, I've learned how to use discord (sort of, but that's probably debatable) I've met some really, really cool people that want to work toward a better steemit and what better time to launch the #costeem hashtag than right now?
So, here is what I'm talking about.
I've been an author now for over ten years. Some good, some bad, but all of it fun. I love telling stories, but I want to share that with as many people as possible, and that's where you come in!
In my original article, I talked about working like James Patterson to partner with the best storytellers around me,and I think I've finally run across a plan that can help us work together, so that everyone will benefit, so here it is!
This evening, I'll be launching a brand new tale. If you have no idea what I write, check out The Wishmonger or 8 Minutes to Sunday for a taste. I think I'm a decent storyteller, but I want to have some fun with it!
This time around, I won't be the only voice in the story, in fact, any of you out here can join in. Here's how it's going to work.
This evening, I'll be sharing a basic premise for a tale that I've been working on for a while, it's a post apocalyptic, scifi, fantasy, "Harold of the Apocalypse" about a guy that can see the future, lives in it, in fact. Harold starts out going it alone, but, finds over time that a community is the best way to survive the apocalypse. I'll be laying out a rough plot outline with some major points I want to hit, some characters, the setting, and a few other "world building" tools.
**You'll want to pay attention to these, if you intend to participate. Here's why.
**
Tomorrow, I'll be sharing the first chapter of the story, then....
Once, I've shared the first episode, it's up to you what happens next!
That's right, I'll be asking each of you to write the next part of the story! But, to make this a good story, we need a cohesive feel, so, while I'll gladly promote all submissions, only one piece will be selected to add to the "canon" of the work.
It will need to abide by the following rules.
- It must accept what's come before as the narrative of the story, and continue on from where it has left off. All characters, settings, items, ideas established before, should be assumed true in our story universe.
- It should stay true to the style of storytelling established by previous chapters. This will be hard for beginning writers, but a worthy challenge!
- It needs to be written in clear English, with good spelling and at least mostly free from major errors. (not saying I won't use a good idea, even if it's a bit rough)
- It should be between 500 and 2000 words. Anything less, or more, will not be considered.
Once I've published the first part, you can "submit" your chapter by publishing it to your blog, and leaving a link in the comments of the first chapter.
I'll allow two days for submissions. On day three, I'll create a post featuring links to all of the submissions, and ask the audience to vote for their favorite, by first, upvoting the link post, then, voting on the blog of the author they favor most to be the next part.
This next bit is essential!
You may only promote your submission with "unpaid" promotion tools. You can use busy.org, chainbb, steepshot, dmania, dtube, dlive, or steemit to create posts promoting your chapter, you can share it on any free social media, you can use discord post promotion pages (please upvote others if you do) but you MAY NOT BUY ANY VOTES OR PAID RESTEEM SERVICES!
Your votes must be organic.
Any post found to have used bots to upvote will be disqualified.
I will allow two days for the voting, before selecting the next chapter. I will choose from among the top three voted posts the chapter I feel best fits the narrative and style of the story and add it to the official chapter links.
Then I will add the third chapter myself, splitting the revenue with the chosen author of the second chapter for the third chapter post!
Every other chapter (even numbered chapters, I'll write 1,3,5,7,etc you can submit for 2,4,6,8 etc) will be open for submissions, so please don't hesitate to submit again. The same author may be chosen, or a new author for each chapter, depending on the quality of the posts submitted and the audience's response!
What is in it for you?
First, I hope you'll see this as a fun way to write. Collaboration is one of the best ways to shape our voices and get heard.
But, the reality is, we'd all like an audience and more upvotes too, right?
We'll be sharing all of these posts on a common hashtag, which I will announce this evening. This should drive traffic for your blog.
I'll be sharing links to EVERY single chapter submitted in the two days, provided you've at least TRIED to fit your post into the story. This should get you some eyeballs on your work as well.
If your chapter is selected, you'll have a chance to earn SBD from the next chapter I share, plus, have your link added to the list of chapters for the "official" story.
Finally, when all is said and done, I'll be editing the chapters together, into a final novella (I'm aiming for 20 chapters on this first one) and putting it up for sale, splitting half of the royalties among all of the other authors. (I will keep half for running the project, editing and design, publishing and marketing)
So, if we work together to promote this contest as wide as possible, big things can happen for you, even if you're not selected, but, if you work hard, submit every time, you may be surprised to find that your writing gets better!And your odds improve to be included!
One final element. I will be choosing at least two chapters in each round to critique. I will pick work I feel shows promise, but just isn't quite there yet and suggest edits. This may be what you're looking for, a professional writing coach, at no cost to you! I'm doing this because I want to be the guy I wish I'd met when I started out.
All authors will need to agree to a creative commons copyright, making the work public domain. All authors will receive credit for all of their work! And payment will be as outlined above, based solely on upvotes and subsequent sales of the published story, with no guarantees or advances.
If this sounds cool, let me know in the comments, and upvote and resteem to get this spread as far as possible! I'd love to see 20 submissions for each chapter!
TIME FOR DOLPHINSCHOOL BOOTCAMP AGAIN!
CLICK THE PIC FOR DETAILS!
Congratulations @markrmorrisjr, your post has been selected by the @asapers for a resteem and a feature in our brand new curation post. Issue 24
What does this mean for you? Well first an upvote from some members of the team, we are no @curie but who is going to be unhappy with some extra upvotes. Second each post featured in the article will receive a 10% share of the curation post.
Keep up the great work and please consider supporting the @asapers with a follow and an upvote on the post you feature in. Please wait seven days for payout.
Your friendly @asapers
Giving back A.S.A.P
Thanks guys! Appreciated!
How cool!! I love this idea. I write fiction and the closest to this type of story I've written is a series of three short time travel books. I'm game!! This sounds like a lot of fun and will get me writing fiction again! Bring it on, @markrmorrisjr!
hey, all right! resteem it, if you've got room. I'd love to have some great writers on board and I'm sure you've got a few among your followers!
Done!
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
I will participate for surem tried it myself to a month ago. To write a steemit bestseller together, quite similar like you are trying. I hope it succeed !!! Have a great day !!
How did that go, @verhp11? I think it's a very cool idea!
The idea was cool, but some people said to participate but eventually didn't, that was to bad..
Great! I'd love to get a resteem too, I know you've got some writers following you.
Resteem done !! :)
thanks!
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
As a fan of your teachings, i am going to try really hard to take part in this! Sounds fun. Sorry I can't do the dolphin school though...not enough time in the day unfortunately !
No! Not at all, but drop by the roundup posts if you can and leave an encouraging comment. If you're bored, next week, drop in the server and encourage, that's what I'm looking for, but don't feel bad about it. you're starting to gain traction here and school is going good. That's great!
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
Fascinating idea, I'd quite forgotten about the previous post. I definitely like the story line and the community concept, which is quite a real life battle for me. I don't think my writing is that good but somewhere along the line of the competition / initiative I might get a spurt of creativity and be in a position to act on it, holding thumbs! I 100% support the organic vote angle and you know I definitely support your varied talents, so BIG upvote and GIGANTIC resteem for this one
Well, be a curator and upvote your favorites, or at least give them encouragement in the comments, which costs you nothing.
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
A "content creator" I'm not, but this sounds like something I could get into. Maybe I just need a little inspiration, which this concept could provide quite handily.....
Absolutely! And you'll get several shots at it! hell, I don't care, submit three options for each chapter if you want! LOL Yes, writing fiction is something you just have to DO to start getting it.
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
My story telling is shocking, but here is a nice upvote ...comment and resteem for you this is a great initiative you are doing @markmorrisjr
nope, you need to at least submit once, I can guarantee you'll do as well as many others. It's about shaping your craft. You'll have fun.
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
WARNING - The message you received from @steempowerup is a CONFIRMED SCAM!
DO NOT FOLLOW any instruction and DO NOT CLICK on any link in the comment!
For more information, read this post: https://steemit.com/steemit/@arcange/phishing-site-reported-www-steemitfollowup-ml
Please, don't spam my posts with your warnings. I appreciate what you're doing, but A: I didn't get that message, B: I don't want your links in my threads, thanks.
I love post-apocalyptic literature! I can't promise I'll always be able to participate by submitting a chapter, but I definitely want to read the story and read the submissions of others. Sounds like a great community building opportunity.
Not asking for every time. I'd like to see several authors get added before it's over. So, when you can, throw one in the hat!
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
This is a really awesome idea!! When I taught high school English, I used to have kids start by writing a sentence or title then pass their paper to the person behind them, and continue to do so until their original was back on their desk. The collaboration was amazing and so much fun. That's what your idea reminds me of!! Love it!
I'm also going to drop this link in @newbieresteemday's contest channel to hopefully grab more writers to join in on the fun.
Cheers!
Here are the story details, first chapter goes up tomorrow, submissions open for chapter two after that!
Sounds familar :)
Well, no original ideas in this world. LOL
Others will adopt this too chances are, Following the footstep you placed first on Steemit :)
Great idea. Thanks for the invite @markrmorrisjr, hope it's not too late to participate
Have not posted the first chapter yet. Starts today.
Upvoted and resteemed. Can't wait to give it a shot!
Great! Glad you're here!
Nice initiative! Two days for writing a chapter, including editing it, polishing it, seems like a very ambitious plan!
Good luck!
Thanks, I hope you'll consider contributing.
I don't think I will. This week my first book was launched, and in combination with some other (book) projects going on, and the very tight deadline on your project, I will not be able to contribute.
Well, thanks for the great comments, and I hope you'll follow it. I'm interested to see what I'll get in response.
OK now I read this four times.... apocalyptic novel....one of my favorite genres. Years of experience writing.... 30+... years of being a paid author/writer- 20+
Gonna check out more now
Is that your resume, or mine? LOL
How awesome!! This sounds super fun and is very cool of you to do! I dont know how good mine will be as Ive only been writing for a short period but I have a great imagination. Im willing to give it a good try! Looking forward to it!
That's perfect! The goal will be to help those who have good ideas to improve, so even if you're not in the top on the first go round, by the end, you might be!
For sure! Im going to have to make some time to do this! Thanks for the opportunity!
I'm just doing what it takes to attract attention here these days, without buying your way to the top. But, I love the idea of taking others with me too!
And thats why youre awesome! ;)
Aw, thanks, you're making me blush. LOL
this sounds interesting!...I have been part of a collaborative writing group for quite some time and the story we are writing has been going on for years actually and still is. It is a fun way to write and gets your creative juices flowing. I will be interested to see how this one goes and possibly engage.
upvoted and resteemed!
Awesome! Well ,I need curators willing to upvote the chapters and help us share to a wider audience too, plus, cheerleading, especially for those that might not be that confident in their work yet. You'd be a great asset in whatever way you choose to get involved. Thanks for the comment. The group sounds like fun!
This is another awesome idea, @markrmorrisjr. How I wish I was a fiction writer right now... ;0)
Well, you are a great cheerleader! So, help spread the word, upvote a couple of chapters in each round, everyone can contribute. But, if you tried, you might find you are better at it than you think. This is learning experiment. Go for it!
simplymike is my name and cheerleading is my game ;0)
I might, actually. I did write some fiction when I was younger (a lot younger - lol)