January 8th, 2010 / 12:09 am
Craft Notes
Christopher Higgs
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: st. martin's press, the cupboard
early Raymond Carver?
early Raymond Carver?
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!
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!
Shudder Pageant, the collaborative internet phenomenon by xTx and, well, me.
Available as free download. Click links at top of review for PDF and MP3.
http://fullofcrow.com/crowreviews/2009/12/shudder-pageant-by-xtx-and-mel-bosworth/
boogatz.
Shudder Pageant, the collaborative internet phenomenon by xTx and, well, me.
Available as free download. Click links at top of review for PDF and MP3.
http://fullofcrow.com/crowreviews/2009/12/shudder-pageant-by-xtx-and-mel-bosworth/
boogatz.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
the bible, apparently.
the bible, apparently.
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.
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.
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.
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.
there’s a story in the apocalypse reader written by deb olin unferth and gary lutz somehow. justin can chime in maybe.
there’s a story in the apocalypse reader written by deb olin unferth and gary lutz somehow. justin can chime in maybe.
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.
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.
There’s a collaborative fairy tale in progress here:
http://fairy-tale.tumblr.com/
There’s a collaborative fairy tale in progress here:
http://fairy-tale.tumblr.com/
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…
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
A++
A++
http://www.airforcejoyride.com/lmas.html
http://www.airforcejoyride.com/lmas.html
Reynard, I can’t wait to see what the Tender Buttons submissions turn up: my book exists only because of Tender Buttons.
Reynard, I can’t wait to see what the Tender Buttons submissions turn up: my book exists only because of Tender Buttons.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I knew I could count on HTMLGianters! This has all been a great help. Thanks, everyone.
I knew I could count on HTMLGianters! This has all been a great help. Thanks, everyone.
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!
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!
Nabokov’s “Eugene Onegin” follows the same.
Nabokov’s “Eugene Onegin” follows the same.
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/
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/
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.
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.
kathy fish and i finished each other’s really short stories, http://vipsonvsf.blogspot.com/2009/10/joseph-young-and-kathy-fish-collaborate.html
kathy fish and i finished each other’s really short stories, http://vipsonvsf.blogspot.com/2009/10/joseph-young-and-kathy-fish-collaborate.html
Wu Ming
Wu Ming
http://www.thecollagist.com/archive/August2009/Monson/index.html
I believe Monson “wrote” this essay by gleaning memoirs of sentences (he had some help, too). A true collaboration.
http://www.thecollagist.com/archive/August2009/Monson/index.html
I believe Monson “wrote” this essay by gleaning memoirs of sentences (he had some help, too). A true collaboration.
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.
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.
was just gonna say that. good work mike.
was just gonna say that. good work mike.
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?
http://htmlgiant.com/web-hype/conor-oberst-sex-by-kendra-grant-malone-and-tao-lin/
Found it.
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?
http://htmlgiant.com/web-hype/conor-oberst-sex-by-kendra-grant-malone-and-tao-lin/
Found it.
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.
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.
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
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
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).
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).
Old issues of Swink had these
Old issues of Swink had these
yeah, yeah, they had a name for it . . . shit I can’t remember.
lost and found maybe?
yeah, yeah, they had a name for it . . . shit I can’t remember.
lost and found maybe?
up! http://www.wumingfoundation.com/english/biography.html
up! http://www.wumingfoundation.com/english/biography.html
And how about Hikikomori by Tao Lin and Ellen Kennedy?
And how about Hikikomori by Tao Lin and Ellen Kennedy?
Those are written by two different people?
Those are written by two different people?
I thought so.
http://www.bearparade.com/hikikomori/
I thought so.
http://www.bearparade.com/hikikomori/
Could’ve fooled me.
Could’ve fooled me.
OR, could’ve fooled me.
Huh.
OR, could’ve fooled me.
Huh.
send us something, molly! this is a public solicitation; hope that’s not illegal.
send us something, molly! this is a public solicitation; hope that’s not illegal.
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/
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/
I will return to Tender Buttons and see what I can come up with. Thank you, yes, okay, good luck to me.
I will return to Tender Buttons and see what I can come up with. Thank you, yes, okay, good luck to me.
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.
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.