Entering chapters

The point of an interactive story is that writers interact: take in what the people before them have built up, add their bit and then let someone else take a turn. The guidelines we have composed are all there to promote this interactivity -especially important since this story is still in its early stages- so we can all benefit from as much creativity and inspiration as possible.

There is also a editing guide for the technical side of things, like which codes to use to make links, and which layout. There is a link to this page under each editing box (in the same line as the 'Save Page' button).

Guidelines for New Chapters

• Aim for a chapter of between 500 and 1500 words: long enough for a significant event to take place, but then it's time for someone else to take over.

500 words is about one page when typed up in a word processor at 12 pt Times, 1500 words is about three pages. This is what we think of as an ideal length of an interactive story chapter. Long enough for a significant event to take place, with all the descriptive details you want, but not long enough for a series of events.

A series of events would allow one author to change the course of a thread too much; other writers must have the opportunity to jump in and take it into a different direction, so not to alienate a group of readers/writers. With the additional bonus that there is not one, but always two directions that the story can take.

We understand that on some occasions (though let this be exception rather than rule) your idea for a specific story twist does not match our ideals, that is why we wrote you should aim for 500 to 1500 words, rather than set this as a strict limit. However, if you find yourself with a chapter that is less than half, or more than double our guide figures (that is, less than 250 or more than 3000 words), please see if you can add to it (in case of a very short chapter) or (in case of a very long chapter) see if you can either offer options earlier on, or trim it a bit.
In the past we've turned a blind eye on these cases so you will find some older chapters that are longer, but from now on you will be asked to change you chapter should you ignore this guideline.

Proposal: What if we amend this rule so that you can enter a chapter below 250 words or over 3000, however:

• if you enter a chapter below 250 words, you implicitly grant other users the right to add to it (it is seen as an 'incomplete' chapter)
• if you enter a chapter over 3000 words, you implicitly grant other users the right to enter a breakaway option somewhere in the middle, wherever they see fit (i.e. an option to continue with this chapter or to go to my brand new one)

What do you think? Comment on the Talk page

• Let someone else take over: don't post twice in a row in the same thread - not unless the thread has been dormant for at least one week.

Note that due to the rapid pace in which chapters are posted, we've change the waiting period from two weeks to one.

Again, this rule is there to make sure one author does not 'hijack' a thread and takes it off too far. However, there is a way around it: if you feel this guideline is restricting you because you've got a good plot bunny and with the word limit you had to offer up options to others too early, try posting in the Challenges & Swaps Forum. If you can find someone to write a (short) 'middle' chapter (maybe in exchange for you doing the same in return) that means you can continue in the thread.

• Try to think of two options that could sprout two interesting, viable threads.

One may be tempted to steer the story in the desired direction by posting one obvious and one unfeasible option. But our readers are creative and may come up with wonderful things you may not have even thought about. So even if you have a very clear idea of where you want the story to go, try to also think of an alternative. Create a blank cheque option if all else fails (think along the lines of a "It's Boromir!" / "It's someone else!" kind of split).

BUT MAKE SURE YOUR OPTION IS UNIQUE - OTHERWISE YOU'LL JUST LINK TO ANOTHER CHAPTER
The links to your brand new options should turn up red (i.e. as empty pages). If the turn up blue, this means the page already exists and has text in it.

Enter options in this format:

----

What happens next?

* [[Your first option goes here]]

* [[Your second option goes here]]

• Spell-check before you post

Some mistakes are fine, we all make them, but no one likes reading a text full of typos -or worse- factual mistakes.

So read your chapter before you post it, spell-check, and if you know yourself to not always notice your own mistakes, get someone else to read it.

Of course it speaks for itself your chapter needs to be a continuation of the one before it, reflect the option chosen, and you cannot change events that have happened in the thread (i.e. the route the reader takes to get to your chapter) so far. For example, if in one of the chapters in the thread before yours it says that Faramir has been Captain of the Ithilien Rangers for just a month (which will always be the case, since this is mentioned in chapter 1, the start of all theads) you cannot change that to several years unless you flash forward several years.
So make sure you've read all that has happened beforehand.

You can always ask for a beta-reader.

• All squicks are welcome, but do post warnings at the start of your chapter if you introduce a new one to the thread.

This interactive is part of the Faramir Fiction Archive, and our visitors are used to a little something. We all understand there will be sex, there will be AU.

Still, all stories at the Archive are posted with warnings as there are readers who prefer not to read certain things (think child abuse, bestiality, kinks). For this reason, chapters at the Interactive should have similar warnings.
So if your chapter contains anything you think might put some people off, start your chapter with a warning.

• There is the possibility to reserve a chapter. If you want to work on this chapter without the risk of someone posting it before you're done, you can claim it.

For all the details on claiming, why and how, see Claiming.

We hope all these rules summed up like this do not sound too overwhelming. If you keep to a rule of thumb of one to three pages of text and use you common sense, you'll be fine. Most of all it's supposed to be fun.

Editing Chapters

It is possible to edit chapters. Your own, but also someone else's. We trust you are all mature adults and will respect each other's work, but if a troll should come in and maim or destroy chapters, previous versions can always be restored (see the history tab on each chapter).

If you choose to edit your own chapters, bear in mind that people use information from previous chapters to build on, so avoid making plot changes if there are already chapters entered after yours. And even if they have not yet been entered, there might already be someone working on a continuation of your chapter. So keep changes minimal: spelling and layout, that sort of thing.

If you want to edit someone else's chapter, please do not go beyond adding brackets ([[ ]]) around character and location names to create links. Anything else, post it on the chapter's discussion page first. And of course, for the discussion pages the same rules of decency apply as anywhere else where you can provide feedback.

Related Links

• Practical editing help
• Guidelines on claiming chapters
• Chapter List