What existing platforms use crowdsourcing to develop creative writing and editing?

Question

What existing platforms use crowdsourcing to develop creative writing and editing? What are the barriers in developing an active community? Why would this not work? Has it been tried? Was it successful? If not, why did it fail?

The idea I have and would like to develop is described below.

Open.Write.Collaborate.Edit.Refine.

"Like GITHub but for creative writing."

User would have their own library of stories they created or are following.

Users could:

• Follow a developed story by copying it into your library as a version, providing input by leaving comments by line or modifying the document and providing what sections of the story are impacted. Similar to track changes on Word. If you think your changes could help the story you can Push the edits to select users who have copied the same story into their library. Then those with the story copied out can choose whether they would like to incorporate the edits into their own version. When the edits are incorporated it track who made the edits and pulls in any additional comments. When the edit are not incorporated it creates a branch of the original story in your library that other people can copy out and provide input.

• Create a story from scratch and get input.

• Help develop specific elements of a story:

  • plot summary
  • location descriptions
  • assumptions
  • character summaries
  • inner monologues
  • script notes
  • notes on pitch and tone
  • Story boards
  • Structure graphics

"A community for writing and getting input on your writing."

Does something like this already exist?

I imagine it more for groups at the start, allowing friends to develop a story together.

Does this site have plans to develop similar tools?

Thanks.

Answer 1

There is StoryTimed, and Protagonize both of which my sister recommends, which are the closest sites I could find to what your looking for.

Answer 2

As a writer, I can't think of anything more damaging - especially for young writers - than to be inundated with editorial contributions from others. The editorial process is a one-to-one correspondence in which the relationship between the writer and the editor is paramount in terms of calibrating the importance of the feedback. The idea that the feedback of a group of people would contribute to the the quality of a story reminds me of the old saw that if you gave a roomful of monkeys with typewriters they would eventually come up with Hamlet or War and Peace. Well, no, they wouldn't because they wouldn't have the artistic sensibilities required to recognize Hamlet or War and Peace. A roomful of idiots cannot improve the quality of you work, but neither would a roomful of geniuses because their respective advice would cancel out each others advice. Robert Heinlein, in his rules for writers, said that a writer should never revise anything, unless an editor specifically asked for the revision with a promise that the story would be purchased upon revision.

Answer 3

StoryWars is a pretty new writing site that focuses on building each other's stories. Each chapter is written by several people, before voting commences. Then the winner gets his/her writing as the next installment in the story.

Maybe this is what you're looking for?