To allow myself a blatant bit of bombast for a moment, you
have now arrived. This is where we not only tolerate bad writing, we
encourage it! Overwrought phraseology, ridiculously graphic (not to
mention inaccurate) metaphor, plot ideas to make the strongest reader
cringe, creative grammar with questionable stylistic merit . . . Lay
it all out on screen here so everyone can laugh at you.
Up to Apollyon's homepage.
The Format
It's quite simple, really. We've all, at some point, played
storytelling games. One person holds forth till (s)he is out of
ideas, patience, or whatever else it requires to further build a
story. The conch is then passed to the next in line. The story is
thus continued to either a satisfactory conclusion or an utter waning
of interest (usually, sad to say, the latter). The Bad-Writing-Project
(tm) is not very different. The stories have been started. Read
through them, and if you wish to sign on, use the sendmail at the end
of the file (or send email to rebell@nyx.cs.du.edu) with your
addition. It will then be checked for anything blatantly evil
(something strongly encouraged, of course), then entered into the
larger file for public consumption and universal trashing. Entries
will be headed by contributor name(unless specifically requested?), so
please don't write anything you wouldn't like to eventually be held
responsible for. Needless to say, don't worry about inserting
anything I wouldn't want to be held accountable for. I refuse
to be held accountable for anything herein. I take all the credit,
none of the blame (see disclaimer). I do, however, reserve the right
to delete anything I dislike. Therefore, don't try to sabotage a
story. While I don't believe in censorship, I do believe in taste.
There's no need to keep it prudish, but I refuse to allow it to become
a dumping ground for every 13-year-old's fantasies. If you can't deny
your need for cheap porn, leave me alone and have some fun with rec.arts.erotica.
Back to Choices
The Dream
Would I allow it to be this simple? Not a chance! So far
we've only discussed words. These are, of course, the most important
part. All cliches aside, the fact is, you can't tell the story
without words. On the other hand, I want to take advantage of the
Project's existence on the Web. Whereas the written story remains the
primary object, I welcome any submissions of anything that will
further the cause. Though I'm not sure where I'll fit anything just
yet, I'll make every effort to find space somewhere. Please, once the
stories have become fleshed out somewhat, feel free to create
illustrations, appropriate sounds and even mpeg files. We can link
them all. If anything in your part of the text links well to
something else; that's what the web is for! Let's get hypertext links
all over the place! I love the idea of an interactive book
and will do anything I can to make this into one. All ideas are
encouraged, will be considered and will hopefully be included. Mail
verbal suggestions, UUDECODED files or info on where to get them via
through anonymous ftp here
(or, if your browser is primitive, send email to rebell@nyx.cs.du.edu).
Back to Choices
The Disclaimer
As I said before, I refuse to take any blame for anything
written for the Bad-Writing-Project (tm). Whereas I will act as
editor, and will delete complete entries if I deem it necessary, this
will only be done in the event of an entry that somehow harms the
overall story. Continuity breaks, whole sections that consist of
nothing but what some genius believes to be onomotopoetic funny noises
or the like will be uniformly pulled, but nothing else. If a writer
feels the need to publicly humiliate an acquaintance, spread vicious
rumours or divulge state secrets, that doesn't interest me in the
slightest. If it's relevant, if it helps the story (of course, as
editor, only I may decide which virtues I seek in a
story), it stays. For these items I take no responsibility. If you
want to protest something written on The Project, take it up with the
individual author (of course, anonymous postings all fall into my
hands. I refuse to take responsibility for them, though. If you want
something removed or altered, and it's been posted anonymously, take it
up with me and we'll come to some sort of agreement. Just remember, I
refuse any legal association unless my specific actions caused or
worsened the situation).
So far we've discussed the possibility of negative results of
The Project. Let's now get into the (however unlikely) eventuality of
positive results. I realize that The-Bad-Writing-Project (tm) is a
collaborative effort. I realize that many contributors may put an
awful lot of work into their submissions. I also realize, however,
that I am a greedy S.O.B. I'm providing the storage space for this
silliness, I'm editing the whole thing, and I will probably find out
in the near future just how much of my time something like this can
take up. Consequently, if anything good should somehow come out of
this little game, if this turns out to be publishable in some type of
profit-earning format (tree-murder, for instance), it's all mine. I
will gladly make some sort of bow towards those who help, but the fact
remains, no credit (or other benefits) will be shared. This is your
official notification. When it comes down to a question of ownership
and legal rights (intellectual property as well as anything else), I
retain them all. With the receipt of any submissions, it will be
assumed that this disclaimer has been read and that all future rights
to the work have been forfeited. Whatever ends up in The Project
. . . It's mine, all mine! You hear me? It's MINE!!!
Enter The Bad Writing Project
Apollyon's Homepage
apollyon@mindvox.phantom.com