Story Weavers' Manifesto

From: Glantz <jglantz@int1.mhrcc.org>
Subject: Story Weavers' Manifesto
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 1996 09:58:48 -0400

Story Weaversı collaborative writing program:
Master/Mistress Story Weaver A. Description:
A  group where authors get together and write a collective story. The 
setting of this story is in a world of the Story Weavers' creation. 
Each author has their own character(s) who interact with the 
characters of other people or with the same author's minor characters.  
A Master/Mistress Story Weaver will be beginning a story with his/her 
character(s) (Like a GM in a PBeM) and (after checking by e-mailwith 
other weavers) other characters that are present.  Story weavers will 
then send posts to - the Master/Mistress Story Weaver for private 
messages and any questions they may have - or to the Master/Mistress 
Story Weaver and other characters for interaction dialogue.  The 
Master/Mistress Story Weaverıs main job is to check for 
inconsistencies, keep the threads spinning, and enforce the rules.

Note: Private conversations may take place via e-mail because not 
everyone witnesses the same thing.  As in real life, our characters 
see things from different perspectives (especially if the weavers are 
separated)

B. Rules
	1) ALL STORY RELATED POSTS SHOULD BE MAILED TO THE STORYıS 
Master/Mistress Story Weaver.  Who now resides at: 
jglantz@int1.mhrcc.org

	2.)NO FLAMING.  This group is for entertainment. If you have a 
problem with something that someone is writing, send them e-mail. If 
you have a major problem with someone's writing, you should e-mail 
other long-standing membersof the group to discuss appropriate action.

	3) NO INTERFERENCE.  Please do not interfere with the writings of 
people in another thread.  If they are planning a six-month (How do 
you plan this?) series of posts and you destroy their plot in week 
one, they are going to be a little less than grateful.  All attempts 
to interfere with a thread will be ignored. If you have an idea for 
how your character could help out in the thread, send e-mail to one of 
its Master/Mistress Story Weaver.

   	4.) NO LIMITS.  There is no maximum post frequency. Post often, 
just make sure that you don't replace quality with quantity.

	5.) NO MASS DESTRUCTION.  Please don't eat the city or destroy the 
universe.
	
	6.) NO CONTROL.  No one has the right to take over the city and start 
telling the other authors what they can and can't do. As long as 
people obey the rules and show a little consideration there is no 
need.

	7.) NO Onimpetents. We have seen quite enough sword-swinging 
warriors, ultra-powerful mages, and stealthy-beyond-stealth thieves.  
Characters in a story need personalities. This includes quirks, 
weaknesses, passions, moods, and opinions on matters of importance. 
Your character should have a reason behind everything that he/she/it 
does. Like an ordinary person, they will sometimes give in to 
temptation, catch a cold, feel like sleeping in, fall in love, make 
mistakes, and generally bumble through life.

	8.)  Combat will be run in two stages:  I present the initial 
situation, and give everyone 24 hours (hopefully sooner) to give me 
their first round's actions.  Those who don't respond in time are 
automatically surprised.

Then update the first round, and ask for a battle plan to cover the rest
of the fight (lots of if:then's).  With that, I roll the whole fight out,
then take any interesting results (kills, critical hits and misses, that
type of thing) and I write the fight out in condensed form.  If the fight is
particularly long, or something unexpected happens midway, I'll stop 
things, update, and ask for revised battle plans.

	9.)  Magic  is a talent like any other talent in this world.  Some 
people are talented to varying degrees, others arenıt at all.  Because 
of the danger of this ³talent² characters will become apprentices to 
learn to control it.  There are various schools of magic with 
different philosophical views of the subject, which often leads to 
conflict.

	10.)  Magical Items are very rare as the talent to control magic is 
held in both awe and fear.

	11.)  The Gods

	12.)  Other races: humanoid and non-humanoid

     
C. Questions:
     Q: How do I play?
     A: There is nothing to "play" this is a collective story, NOT a game.

     Q: What stops people from creating ultra-powerful characters?
     A: Nothing, BUT (and this is a MAJOR point), if you create someone who
     can do anything he/she/it wants with no limits, you will not be able to
     write a story with a good plot. How can you develop a plot without a
     conflict? There is also the matter of interaction with other
     characters. No one will want to write a story with you if your
     characters are all-powerful. It simply isn't interesting or fun in any
     way.

     Q: Who is in control?
     A: As long as you donıt break any of the rules or conflict with 
the overall plot, you have control over the characters that you write. 
This is an organized thread (one person [the Master/Mistress Story 
Weaver is in charge of the plot to a certain degree [See Description 
above].  ALL STORY RELATED POSTS SHOULD BE MAILED TO THE STORYıS 
Master/Mistress Story Weaver.

      Q: How do (future characters) start?
     A:  1. Read the group for a while.    2. Come up with a character 
and introduce him/her/it to the Master/Mistress Story Weaver in a 
similar setting.  Be sure to include a physical description and a hint 
of the character's abilities. Clarify the setting that your character 
is in so the Master/Mistress Story Weaver know if their people are in 
the same area as yours.  This not only stops toes being stepped on, 
but it also means that a Master/Mistress Story Weaver can pull your 
character in, rather than you having to jump in and hope for the best. 
If you don't know who started a thread, mail someone in it and ask 
them who you should ask.

     Q: How do I get all of the previous stories in one of the 
threads?
     A: Many Master/Mistress Story Weaver save most or all of their 
posts, usually on their host system or on disk. Contact the 
Master/Mistress Story Weaver and ask them for a copy of relevant posts 
or some background material. I'm sure they would be happy to oblige.

     Q: How can I use other characters in my post?
     A: Under NO circumstances should you interfere with another 
character or the story. You may have conversations OOC (Out Of 
Character) discussing the storylineıs direction, ideas you may have, 
or anything else that doesnıt interfere with the story or its 
characters.  If you wish to include other characters in your post, 
e-mail your idea to the Master/Mistress Story Weaver, if cleared by 
him/her then e-mail the weaver whose character you wish to include in 
your post and discuss your ideas.  If the weaver consents, you may use 
his/her character in your post, if not you must respect their answer.  
ALL STORY RELATED POSTS SHOULD BE MAILED TO THE STORYıS 
Master/Mistress Story Weaver.

 
 NOTE:  In order to maintain the (hopefully) high quality of stories 
being developed in this group the key will be a lot of 
behind-the-scenes work being done in email. Respect for one another's 
characters and not wanting to hog the limelight make for threads that 
are enjoyed by all involved. 

    
E. Weaver (Main) vs. Non-Weaver (Secondary Characters) (NWs)
Needless to say there must be bad guys and other characters that lie 
on the fringe of the story. These are referred to as NWs.  NWs are 
free for use by any player in their posts, within some constraints. 
Most NWs are free for use but are not permitted to be killed, some 
should only be used after seeking permission from the Master/Mistress 
Story Weaver via E-Mail.

NWs are usually introduced during some character interactions, and 
clarified with either an Master/Mistress Story Weaver posting, or and 
Master/Mistress Story Weaver paragraph in the original posting. These 
should give an idea of their general ability, their character (if this 
is not already clear) and conditions of use.

F. Timeline
Due to the non-instantaneous distribution of news, it is possible that
some postings will conflict, and the time stream will become tangled 
>from  time to time.  Needless to say this means some actions will need 
to be retracted, or clarified. This will rarely create any problems, 
but you should be aware that everyone else is aware that the time 
stream is sometimes irregular.  There may be a few ³time warp² 
postings needed to clarify these tangled threads.  If anyone is going 
to be absent for any amount of time, please let the Master/Mistress 
Story Weaver know and perhaps a solution can be reached before your 
absence.  In case of illness or any other unplanned absence, a 
temporary ³patch² may be inserted in order to keep things moving or 
the character may experience a solo adventure to be created and added 
later.  As for the inevitable Master/Mistress Story Weaver absence, 
consider it an opportunity for you to brainstorm ideas to improve the 
story.  Remember, from time to time all Master/Mistress Story Weavers 
will need help in moving the story along.
        
     7. Copyright Information (written by The Dreamer from alt.dragon 
inn)
	³This is a general summary of copyright information. I only claim 
that it applies to people in the United States. Copyright laws in 
other countries may vary greatly. However, from what I have heard, 
most countries have the same general guidelines.

     In the USA, anything you write is automatically copyrighted as 
soon as it's fixed in a tangible medium of expression. This 
specifically includes electronic media such as a file on a computer.

     This means that as soon as you send something across the net, it 
is copyrighted to you. While a copyright notice is not necessary, you 
can't collect statutory damages without one.

     A copyright notice consists of "Copyright, ". Additional 
information can be included such as the origin of the post or thanks 
to people who helped. The phrase "All Rights Reserved" can be included 
and has some  legal effect. When in doubt, include it. The word 
"copyright" can be replaced with a "c" inside a complete circle. The 
common computer abbreviation "(C)" currently has no legal standing.

     Incase you decide to prosecute someone for copyright 
infringement, you
need to have the copyrighted material in question OFFICIALLY 
copyrighted by sending a notarized copy to the appropriate government 
office in DC.

     There is set of "Fair Use" laws which state that someone may use parts
of your post to make "critical commentary".

     Before you can really do anything to someone who you feel has violated
your copy rights, you have to prove that they did so with malicious 
intent. A common defense is for the violator to say that he/she didn't 
know that the material was copyrighted. This is defense is eliminated 
by the inclusion of the copyright notice.

     If you want more information on copyrights, contact me (The 
Dreamer), a copyright lawyer, or the United States Copyright Office 
(202) 707-3000.

     Note: I am not a lawyer. What I have presented here is not to be
     considered legal advice, just a short summary of information I 
have gathered on copyrights.²