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An-chan
04-24-2010, 02:55 PM
I proudly present - finally on a board near you:


The Exquisite Corpse

The Writing Game That Makes no Sense!


What is this game about?

The Exquisite Corpse is a writing game in which all participating people write a page-long part of a story without knowing what the person before them wrote about. (I will go to the details of how this is done in a minute.) As such, it is a light-hearted, fun game with a very crazy result - how could a story written without knowing what happened on the previous page make any sense? To participate in the making of a corpse of a story like this, you don't really need to be a good writer, nor do you need to have a lot of time in your hands. All you need is the motivation to write one page of text, no matter how little sense the page makes in itself, and the small bit of responsibility that comes from having to keep the game running smoothly and the parts posted in the right order.

So, this is an easy, fun game, and chances are you'll want to take part.

How does the game work?

When there's a list of participants, the list in randomised to determine the writing order. The first person on the list starts the story, writing it in a text editor that you can somehow get to show pages (which is almost any text editor, really). Immediately when the person reaches page two, they stop at the word that is the first word on the second page. If the sentence was left unfinished, then so be it. Then, this person takes the last sentence of their part, no matter how unfinished it is, and PMs it to the next person on the list. This person now takes the sentence and, without knowing any original context or anything of what happened on the first page, writes another page to the story, starting with that very sentence they got. Again, when they hit page two, they take the last sentence and send it to the next person, who does the exact same thing. This cycle is repeated with every participant until the last one. The last person finishes the story as they see fit, regardless of their part's length: they can make a real ending or just write one page like everyone else. Then, when the last person is ready, they poke the first person on the list to tell them that the story is finished, and declares it in this thread. After that, everyone posts their part in the correct order and finally found out what happened before the only word they saw of the previous page.

In other words:
1) The person before you sends you a sentence with which to start your part of the story.
2) You write one full page more and stop at the first word of the second page.
3) You send the last sentence, finished or not, to the person after you on the list.
4) This person goes to 1) and repeats the cycle.

The name of the story, meanwhile, is decided in this thread by the people who manage to post fastest after the story is finished. Everyone is allowed one word, and the title will consist of four words. The corpse may not be posted until it has a name, so one hopes people will be swift in posting at this point. *:3

Also, if you're wondering what the point is... There is no point. This game is meant to be played just for general lols, not to improve yourself as a writer or somehow enhance your skills in speedy writing. And, trust me, it is a lot of fun.

Any rules?

You may not, at any point, discuss your part of the story with any of the other participants. You may not mention the sentence you got or the one you sent forward, and you may not speak about your part in public where the other participants could see it (for example, the JavaChat/chan).
Everyone has one full week (which is seven days) from the day they get their word to the day they must send a word forward. This isn't to rush you, this is to keep the game running smoothly. If you absolutely can not make it before the deadline, send the word you got to the next person on the list and either post here or poke An-chan to get moved to a later spot on the list if you still wish to participate in the making of the corpse.
The time limit applies also to the person finishing the corpse. They can write as much as they want, just as long as they're done with it in a week.
The corpse is to be kept at a certain level of decency at all times. Yes, it is called "a corpse", but that doesn't mean you get to make it something the forum rules wouldn't allow. No explicit sex, no super-ultra-mega gory stuff, nothing criminal, please - let's keep this at R at maximum. Innuendo and mild gore and other similar stuff is allowed, just like normally.
You may not begin posting the corpse until the title has been made. No, you may not name it yourself. The first person on the list makes the thread and posts the beginning first. They must add the tag [Corpse] to the title when posting the thread. A link to that thread will appear when the time comes.


Participant list:

Ole Schooler
Mizan
The 100th Member
bobandbill
Skyfyre
Empoleon
txteclipse
An-chan
Shrike Flamestar

If you wish to participate, post in this thread and be added to this list. It will be randomised as I add all participants here, so don't wonder if you were the first one to sign up and ended up as the last person on the list.


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Ole_Schooler
04-24-2010, 05:54 PM
*raises hand* Here to sign up!

Just one question, though. When doing the title-word-determination-posting-thing, is that on this thread, or a new one?

Shrike Flamestar
04-24-2010, 06:26 PM
Hey, wasn't it the last line/sentence that the next person gets? Just a single word has a very high chance to not be very helpful at all; I mean, what if that word happens to be "the"? (which is apparently the most common word in English) Yes it's not supposed to be coherent, but just a single word doesn't give people much of a starting point.

Also, for reference, perhaps you should link to the old corpses from PC:
Ho-oh's Incoherent Blank Continuum (http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=156212)
Thine bony, fiery Quetzacoatl (http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=163506)
Discombobulated Dish-washing Wonder Malarkey (http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=172089)

But anyway I guess I'm in.

Iento
04-24-2010, 06:41 PM
I am IN. Let's go forth and rock this corpse.

An-chan
04-24-2010, 06:42 PM
*raises hand* Here to sign up!

Just one question, though. When doing the title-word-determination-posting-thing, is that on this thread, or a new one?

That's in this thread when the time comes. No use making a new thread just for that. *:3


Hey, wasn't it the last line/sentence that the next person gets? Just a single word has a very high chance to not be very helpful at all; I mean, what if that word happens to be "the"? (which is apparently the most common word in English) Yes it's not supposed to be coherent, but just a single word doesn't give people much of a starting point.


Hmm, you have a point there. You and your funny un-words... Let's make it the last sentence, then. I'll change that in the rules now, and then add you both to the list of who's participating.

And thanks for the links, Shrike. I'm not adding them to the first post because they're sufficiently findable in your post, though. *^-^

Also, for those who wish to know: I think we'll probably start the first round sometime around next week.

Latios
04-24-2010, 08:58 PM
I'm so in. And I'll try to refrain from making this into some epic crazy sci-fi wtf-my-brain entry this time.

Mizan
04-24-2010, 09:56 PM
Hell yes, I'm joining. Sign me up. Please and thanks.

bobandbill
05-06-2010, 12:29 PM
In because I said so.

Liam
05-06-2010, 12:31 PM
... I'm in.

*goes back to irc*

An-chan
05-06-2010, 12:37 PM
So, guys, I'm thinking this'll be launched this Sunday, unless someone has a complaint about that. So, if someone still wants to participate, or you need to be bumped up or down on the list depending on the level of busy you think you'll face, you have a few days left to post about that now. Each person's turn takes a week, so you can count the time until your turn pretty easily. As it is, Ole Schooler is the one who starts with the first page. *:3 Any questions you have and suchlike, now would be a good time to ask those.

I'll post the start-up post on Sunday!

Ole_Schooler
05-06-2010, 01:32 PM
I get to start? Really? *does little jig* Yays!

Must start collecting plot bunnies now...

Empoleon
05-08-2010, 03:40 AM
This sounds excellent. Put me in.

Skyfyre
05-08-2010, 06:07 AM
*wants in* This corpse needs moar sexy! *:J

An-chan
05-08-2010, 12:20 PM
Okay, so we now have ten participants, which means this will take ten weeks to finish. That's quite a long time, but I hope everything goes smoothly! You can send your part forward before a week has passed, but the person receiving it doesn't have to send it out until their scheduled time - this is because I know some people are busy and requested a certain week for a reason. Also, like I said, if it seems like you can't make it, drop out or poke me to bump you down on the list in time so that the game isn't stalled because of that. It takes long enough as it is.

And, with that...

COMMENCE WRITING! Ole Schooler goes first, and she must send her sentence to the next person, that being Mizan, by next Sunday (her time or my time or any time that suits you, just as long as it's Sunday somewhere). Yes, it's Saturday now, but starting is always hard so you get an extra day for that. It's totally not because I mixed up days, either hahaha *>>

Don't worry, it doesn't have to be anything fancy or coherent or special. Just a page of the kind of story you see fit and doesn't break the rules. *:3 I hope everyone has fun!

Ole_Schooler
07-30-2010, 03:44 PM
So, according to my extensive calculations (i.e. counting on my fingers), barring any delays, the exquisite corpse should, hopefully, be done. (Well, done two weeks ago, but still...) I'd like to ask, who currently has it? Who has had it? Do people still have their bits? I mean, I have mine, but...I wanna know what happens!

An-chan
07-30-2010, 05:06 PM
It's with Shrike currently, and he's apparently quite close to finishing his part now. There were some delays with some people, but all in all, the corpse has been progressing in a rather timely manner, for which I thank you all. Once I get the green light from Shrike, you may all begin the race to post one of the four words that make up the title of the corpse. :3

So, not much longer to go!

An-chan
07-31-2010, 06:10 AM
And we have a finished corpse! Thus, it's time to come up with the title. For fairness' sake, I'm not going to post the first word myself, but it'll be up to any of you to do that. Just pick a random word, any word, as long as it fits the ratings and general common appropriateness, and post it here, bolded. Since there's a character limit (I think?), you'll probably have to say something else besides that one word in your post. Anyway, for clarity, bold the word that is for the title. Once the title is done, I'll declare the posting to begin.

Only four words can make it in! Go go go!

Shrike Flamestar
07-31-2010, 06:15 AM
I think I'll take this first word. Despite saying I had left, I have not.

Viral

This is in no way related to my part. Nope. Nuh-uh.

Iento
07-31-2010, 06:17 AM
I'll take the second.:D

Doom

Not related to my part >.>

Skyfyre
07-31-2010, 03:14 PM
Too cut you boys and your doom and gloom off, Fluffy. You're welcome!

An-chan
07-31-2010, 05:39 PM
Okay then, I'll snatch the fourth word.

Moods.

And so, the title is "Viral Doom, Fluffy Moods" (I added in the comma to make it make sense, lol). So, Ole Schooler is now to create a thread in the fanfiction section with the title "[Corpse] Viral Doom, Fluffy Moods", and then everyone posts their part as per the order they were written in. If you forget who was before you, there's always the list in the fist post you can use to check.

May the posting begin!