January 8th, 2010 / 12:09 am
Craft Notes

Collaboratively Written Short Stories?


Got an email from Dave Madden — who has an awesome book called The Authentic Animal: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press, and who also co-edits The Cupboard — requesting some suggestions that I thought y’all might be able to help out with:

I’m thinking of teaching [collaboratively written short stories] in my workshop one week, and am looking for some things to read. Any ideas of any, and feel free to define “short story” loosely. Fiction, though. Prose.

My brain has frozen. Can you think of any examples?

Tags: ,

96 Comments

  1. Lincoln

      early Raymond Carver?

  2. Lincoln

      early Raymond Carver?

  3. reynard

      titular has, i think, four collaborative efforts: the passion of mel gibson, seinfeld, nine stories, and ulysses; one of which you wrote on, chris. maybe you mean things that are more serious. anyway.

      we are currently taking submissions for ‘tender buttons’ – do it, people!

  4. reynard

      titular has, i think, four collaborative efforts: the passion of mel gibson, seinfeld, nine stories, and ulysses; one of which you wrote on, chris. maybe you mean things that are more serious. anyway.

      we are currently taking submissions for ‘tender buttons’ – do it, people!

  5. Mel Bosworth
  6. Mel Bosworth
  7. Christopher Higgs

      Haha! You’re right, Reynard! Viva la Nine Stories! Man, my brain is super fried this evening. Thanks, man. I think that’s probably exactly what Dave was looking for.

  8. Christopher Higgs

      Haha! You’re right, Reynard! Viva la Nine Stories! Man, my brain is super fried this evening. Thanks, man. I think that’s probably exactly what Dave was looking for.

  9. reynard

      sweet. i also agree with lincoln on early carver – obv there’s a lot of documentation to go along with that. you should ask jimmy if he has the correspondence from when you guys did nine stories.

      also: http://titular-journal.com/submit

  10. reynard

      sweet. i also agree with lincoln on early carver – obv there’s a lot of documentation to go along with that. you should ask jimmy if he has the correspondence from when you guys did nine stories.

      also: http://titular-journal.com/submit

  11. Lincoln

      If you are counting some of the stuff mentioned above as collaborative, then Barthelme has some stories where he takes old stories and changes a few sentences to make them his own.

  12. Lincoln

      If you are counting some of the stuff mentioned above as collaborative, then Barthelme has some stories where he takes old stories and changes a few sentences to make them his own.

  13. dan

      the bible, apparently.

  14. dan

      the bible, apparently.

  15. sasha fletcher

      there’s a barthelme story in flying to america that he started and someone else finished. i would call that collaborative.
      and i second lincoln’s mention of all barthelme’s cut up stories where he took old things from books and tinkered with them.

  16. sasha fletcher

      there’s a barthelme story in flying to america that he started and someone else finished. i would call that collaborative.
      and i second lincoln’s mention of all barthelme’s cut up stories where he took old things from books and tinkered with them.

  17. rion

      There is this great story in one issue of Phoebe….something about Afro Christ?

      It’s written by this collabrative team who call themselves Kurt Davidson. I couldn’t finish their novel, but that one story was gold. I’m too lazy to google Kurt Davidson to find the name of the story, but it is great….at least i recall enjoying it immensely.

  18. rion

      There is this great story in one issue of Phoebe….something about Afro Christ?

      It’s written by this collabrative team who call themselves Kurt Davidson. I couldn’t finish their novel, but that one story was gold. I’m too lazy to google Kurt Davidson to find the name of the story, but it is great….at least i recall enjoying it immensely.

  19. darby

      there’s a story in the apocalypse reader written by deb olin unferth and gary lutz somehow. justin can chime in maybe.

  20. darby

      there’s a story in the apocalypse reader written by deb olin unferth and gary lutz somehow. justin can chime in maybe.

  21. Roxane

      BJ Hollars and Brendan Todt write collaboratively. An example is here: http://www.pankmagazine.com/?p=492, and I just saw another story of theirs in…. a print magazine whose name is escaping me but when I remember, I’ll respond to this comment and I’ll be talking to myself online much like I talk to myself in real life.

  22. Roxane

      BJ Hollars and Brendan Todt write collaboratively. An example is here: http://www.pankmagazine.com/?p=492, and I just saw another story of theirs in…. a print magazine whose name is escaping me but when I remember, I’ll respond to this comment and I’ll be talking to myself online much like I talk to myself in real life.

  23. Cheryl
  24. Cheryl
  25. H. Bustos Domecq

      Above all: Borges and Casares (and Ocampo). Also Borges and, e.g., Kafka, in that he changed things outright when translating. Someone should translate Borges’ Kafka back into German then into English. And Borges and himself (i.e. his co-translations of his work w/ di Giovanni).

      Otherwise, novels come more easily to mind (The Gilded Age, Lucky Darryl, A Nest of Ninnies is a classic which could be excerpted, etc) but Rachel B. Glaser and John Maradik wrote a great collaborative story recently, and didn’t Harlan Ellison write a bunch? There must be countless others…

      Poems? Don’t get me started…

  26. H. Bustos Domecq

      Above all: Borges and Casares (and Ocampo). Also Borges and, e.g., Kafka, in that he changed things outright when translating. Someone should translate Borges’ Kafka back into German then into English. And Borges and himself (i.e. his co-translations of his work w/ di Giovanni).

      Otherwise, novels come more easily to mind (The Gilded Age, Lucky Darryl, A Nest of Ninnies is a classic which could be excerpted, etc) but Rachel B. Glaser and John Maradik wrote a great collaborative story recently, and didn’t Harlan Ellison write a bunch? There must be countless others…

      Poems? Don’t get me started…

  27. KevinS

      There’s that Burroughs/Kerouac novel that was released last year. That novel by Steve Almond & Jullianna Baggot (fictional letters back and forth) was a lot of fun I thought.
      I can’t think of it now but I remember a website (maybe part of a newspaper?) that featured collaborative fiction on their site.

  28. KevinS

      There’s that Burroughs/Kerouac novel that was released last year. That novel by Steve Almond & Jullianna Baggot (fictional letters back and forth) was a lot of fun I thought.
      I can’t think of it now but I remember a website (maybe part of a newspaper?) that featured collaborative fiction on their site.

  29. Justin Taylor

      Yeah, absolutely. It’s called “I Always Go to Particular Places” and it’s a doozy. Not to be a total schmuck, but the Apocalypse Reader can also be a useful teaching tool for showing how different approaches to the same theme can yield strikingly different results– Rick Moody’s apocalypse vs. Shelley Jackson’s vs Josip Navokovich’s. etc etc. So if you were to make your students all buy copies, you might get as many as two or three lesson plans out of it.

      Meanwhile, in helpful advice that does NOT benefit me personally, Christine Schutt & Diane Williams co-wrote a story for The Brooklyn Rail a while back. You’ll have to search their archives for it, as I don’t recall the name, but I can tell you it’s a doozy.

  30. Justin Taylor

      Yeah, absolutely. It’s called “I Always Go to Particular Places” and it’s a doozy. Not to be a total schmuck, but the Apocalypse Reader can also be a useful teaching tool for showing how different approaches to the same theme can yield strikingly different results– Rick Moody’s apocalypse vs. Shelley Jackson’s vs Josip Navokovich’s. etc etc. So if you were to make your students all buy copies, you might get as many as two or three lesson plans out of it.

      Meanwhile, in helpful advice that does NOT benefit me personally, Christine Schutt & Diane Williams co-wrote a story for The Brooklyn Rail a while back. You’ll have to search their archives for it, as I don’t recall the name, but I can tell you it’s a doozy.

  31. Justin Taylor

      A++

  32. Justin Taylor

      A++

  33. mike
  34. mike
  35. MoGa

      Reynard, I can’t wait to see what the Tender Buttons submissions turn up: my book exists only because of Tender Buttons.

  36. MoGa

      Reynard, I can’t wait to see what the Tender Buttons submissions turn up: my book exists only because of Tender Buttons.

  37. MoGa

      Nobody’s mentioned Lily Hoang? She finished a bunch of writers’ stories; I think she has a collection coming out.

      And over on my blog, my last several entries are rewrites of other (women) writers’ words. I’ve been doing these as daily warm-up exercises, to get the fingers going before digging in to this other thing I’m working on. I use every word that isn’t a preposition or a pronoun. This is weird timing, this post. I only started this three days ago, though I’ve got Kathy Fish, Kim Chinquee, Claudia Smith, Donora Hillard, Alexandra Chasin, Cami Park, and I’m about to post one for Lily in an hour or so. With many more to come . . . and every post includes a link to their stories. Anyway, enough tooting horns.

  38. MoGa

      Nobody’s mentioned Lily Hoang? She finished a bunch of writers’ stories; I think she has a collection coming out.

      And over on my blog, my last several entries are rewrites of other (women) writers’ words. I’ve been doing these as daily warm-up exercises, to get the fingers going before digging in to this other thing I’m working on. I use every word that isn’t a preposition or a pronoun. This is weird timing, this post. I only started this three days ago, though I’ve got Kathy Fish, Kim Chinquee, Claudia Smith, Donora Hillard, Alexandra Chasin, Cami Park, and I’m about to post one for Lily in an hour or so. With many more to come . . . and every post includes a link to their stories. Anyway, enough tooting horns.

  39. Tom Kendall

      Kevin Killian has written a number of collaborative short stories. His new collection ‘Impossible Princess’ features a number of them and he’s pretty damn ace too.

  40. Tom Kendall

      Kevin Killian has written a number of collaborative short stories. His new collection ‘Impossible Princess’ features a number of them and he’s pretty damn ace too.

  41. Rusty

      Harlan Ellison collected ten or twelve collaborations in his collection ‘Partners in Wonder.’ It’s notable only for a couple stories,one of which was with Robert Sheckley. It’s a who’s who of 50s and early 60s SF, though, and if I recall, Ellison talks about the terms of the collaboration in short intros. May be useful just for that.

  42. Rusty

      Harlan Ellison collected ten or twelve collaborations in his collection ‘Partners in Wonder.’ It’s notable only for a couple stories,one of which was with Robert Sheckley. It’s a who’s who of 50s and early 60s SF, though, and if I recall, Ellison talks about the terms of the collaboration in short intros. May be useful just for that.

  43. DaveM

      I knew I could count on HTMLGianters! This has all been a great help. Thanks, everyone.

  44. DaveM

      I knew I could count on HTMLGianters! This has all been a great help. Thanks, everyone.

  45. DaveM

      JT:

      Too late to order new books for the term (alas), but this is a definite candidate for future workshops and other courses. And what a dolt! I’d never seen this before. [smacks head]. Fine work!

  46. DaveM

      JT:

      Too late to order new books for the term (alas), but this is a definite candidate for future workshops and other courses. And what a dolt! I’d never seen this before. [smacks head]. Fine work!

  47. joe

      Nabokov’s “Eugene Onegin” follows the same.

  48. joe

      Nabokov’s “Eugene Onegin” follows the same.

  49. Mr. Wonderful

      When Swink was still a print journal, they used to have a section called Damaged Darlings in which one author would finish an unfinished story by another author. They got some pretty big-name writers to do it, as I recall.

      http://www.swinkmag.com/

  50. Mr. Wonderful

      When Swink was still a print journal, they used to have a section called Damaged Darlings in which one author would finish an unfinished story by another author. They got some pretty big-name writers to do it, as I recall.

      http://www.swinkmag.com/

  51. Lily Hoang

      thanks, molly! yup, i’ve got a collection of collaborative stories (due out in years) with the likes of the one & only blake butler, & some other people like brian evenson, michael martone, kathleen rooney, kate bernheimer, ted pelton, debra di blasi, etc. etc. etc.

  52. Lily Hoang

      thanks, molly! yup, i’ve got a collection of collaborative stories (due out in years) with the likes of the one & only blake butler, & some other people like brian evenson, michael martone, kathleen rooney, kate bernheimer, ted pelton, debra di blasi, etc. etc. etc.

  53. Joseph Young
  54. Joseph Young
  55. oliver

      Wu Ming

  56. oliver

      Wu Ming

  57. Sean
  58. Sean
  59. Andrew Ervin

      A few years ago, I was lucky enough to collaborate with the great hip-hop novelist Ricardo Cortez Cruz. Our story “Yin & Yang” is in Fiction International 39 and is about Anton von Webern and Jam Master Jay. And didn’t the Indiana Review devote an entire issue once to collaborative fiction? There’s also the series Dave Daley edited at the NY Journal News (before he went on to create Five Chapters). There were some amazing co-writtens stories in there.

  60. Andrew Ervin

      A few years ago, I was lucky enough to collaborate with the great hip-hop novelist Ricardo Cortez Cruz. Our story “Yin & Yang” is in Fiction International 39 and is about Anton von Webern and Jam Master Jay. And didn’t the Indiana Review devote an entire issue once to collaborative fiction? There’s also the series Dave Daley edited at the NY Journal News (before he went on to create Five Chapters). There were some amazing co-writtens stories in there.

  61. sasha fletcher

      was just gonna say that. good work mike.

  62. sasha fletcher

      was just gonna say that. good work mike.

  63. ce.

      What was the collabo-story posted here awhile ago (I think it was posted here, at least, though maybe on one of the satellite bloggers’ blogs) about sex with Conor Oberst?

  64. ce.
  65. ce.

      What was the collabo-story posted here awhile ago (I think it was posted here, at least, though maybe on one of the satellite bloggers’ blogs) about sex with Conor Oberst?

  66. ce.
  67. Cameron Pierce

      Siren Promised by Jeremy Robert Johnson and Alan M. Clark is one of the better collaborations I’ve read. That’s a novella, but Alan Clark might have a few story collaborations out there.

  68. Cameron Pierce

      Siren Promised by Jeremy Robert Johnson and Alan M. Clark is one of the better collaborations I’ve read. That’s a novella, but Alan Clark might have a few story collaborations out there.

  69. billy

      has anyone tried writing a collaborative story on etherpad? I have, but not very much. It’s real-time, like google wave, but less with the bugs. And other people can be invited to read your progress, in real time as well.

      etherpad.com

  70. billy

      has anyone tried writing a collaborative story on etherpad? I have, but not very much. It’s real-time, like google wave, but less with the bugs. And other people can be invited to read your progress, in real time as well.

      etherpad.com

  71. megan milks

      davis schneiderman has been working on a collection of collaborative short stories — i think he’s published stories written with cris mazza and lance olsen, among others. he and i did a collaboration that will be out soon in Mad Hatters Review (for their Mash-Ups issue, which will feature collabs of all sorts).

  72. megan milks

      davis schneiderman has been working on a collection of collaborative short stories — i think he’s published stories written with cris mazza and lance olsen, among others. he and i did a collaboration that will be out soon in Mad Hatters Review (for their Mash-Ups issue, which will feature collabs of all sorts).

  73. Matthew Salesses

      Old issues of Swink had these

  74. Matthew Salesses

      Old issues of Swink had these

  75. Brian

      yeah, yeah, they had a name for it . . . shit I can’t remember.

      lost and found maybe?

  76. Brian

      yeah, yeah, they had a name for it . . . shit I can’t remember.

      lost and found maybe?

  77. gesmizith
  78. gesmizith
  79. mimi

      And how about Hikikomori by Tao Lin and Ellen Kennedy?

  80. mimi

      And how about Hikikomori by Tao Lin and Ellen Kennedy?

  81. Stu

      Those are written by two different people?

  82. Stu

      Those are written by two different people?

  83. mimi
  84. mimi
  85. Stu

      Could’ve fooled me.

  86. Stu

      Could’ve fooled me.

  87. mimi

      OR, could’ve fooled me.
      Huh.

  88. mimi

      OR, could’ve fooled me.
      Huh.

  89. reynard

      send us something, molly! this is a public solicitation; hope that’s not illegal.

  90. reynard

      send us something, molly! this is a public solicitation; hope that’s not illegal.

  91. anelise

      or shelley jackson’s the doll games? it’s a hypertext piece she wrote w/ her sister pamela. hypertext also a great way to talk about “collaborative” (writer + reader) clickable fiction

      http://www.ineradicablestain.com/dollgames/

  92. anelise

      or shelley jackson’s the doll games? it’s a hypertext piece she wrote w/ her sister pamela. hypertext also a great way to talk about “collaborative” (writer + reader) clickable fiction

      http://www.ineradicablestain.com/dollgames/

  93. MoGa

      I will return to Tender Buttons and see what I can come up with. Thank you, yes, okay, good luck to me.

  94. MoGa

      I will return to Tender Buttons and see what I can come up with. Thank you, yes, okay, good luck to me.

  95. Mary Miller

      I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet, but in Swink’s print issues (1-3) they had a co-written story. They were called “Damaged Darlings,” and a writer would give another writer a story he/she couldn’t finish for whatever reason and the other person would take over. Quite good, particularly the one with Steven Barthelme.

  96. Mary Miller

      I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet, but in Swink’s print issues (1-3) they had a co-written story. They were called “Damaged Darlings,” and a writer would give another writer a story he/she couldn’t finish for whatever reason and the other person would take over. Quite good, particularly the one with Steven Barthelme.