Progress report 2
So we’re 10 days into the wikinovel experiment and now that things have quietened down, for the time being at least, there is an opportunity to take a breath and see what we’ve learned, if anything, so far.
Let’s kick off with some statistics - since we launched on February 1st, 60,000 individuals have visited the wiki and more than 1200 have created an account. At launch there was a single line on the page - ‘There was no possibility of taking a walk that day’ and since then there have been 600 pages created and more than 7000 edits.
And what is on these pages? Well, the story so far is more like three/four or five stories with no master narrative yet emerging. Penguin editor Jon has called for wiki-ists (wikitas? wikitors?) to take hold of the novel and pull a plot together, but it is already clear that many are reveling in the creative anarchy that the site provides. But here and there, amidst the chaos there are little islands of calm - a chapter made entirely of links, a choose your own adventure story that seems to be going places, and lots more, hidden from the turbulence of the front page.
The reaction to this project has been incredible, with a huge deal of interest from all over the world. Some blogs have questioned our sanity, others have coherently critiqued the entire premis of amillionpenguins, and others have sagely commented that the discussion pages and list of edits are as interesting, if not more so, than the novels themselves. Fay Weldon called it ‘writing without responsibility’ and perhaps most wonderfully, the project has inspired poetry.
We’re only a third of the way through this project, but already we have seen some great things written (and deleted), enough vandalism to keep us going for the rest of the project thank you very much, a lot of nonsense, some fascinating conversations taking place about writing and about collaboration and some real thought and energy being put into answering the question of whether a community can write a novel.
I’ve started thinking of the site as a giant, ever-expanding sandbox - anyone can build there, but there is always the possibility of getting your sandcastle kicked over or incorporated into someone else’s project. Whether one huge, ornate and architecturally coherent sandcastle will ever take shape I don’t know, but there are some fine and interesting smaller constructions going on,
There’s still a few weeks to go, so there’s still time to make your mark on A Million Penguins - or just have a read and let us know what you think here, there or somewhere else…
jeremy
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February 14th, 2007 at 2:10 am
“Penguin editor Jon has called for wiki-ists (wikitas? wikitors?) to take hold of the novel and pull a plot together”
A difficult task since sand slips through the fingers and it only takes one to kick down a sandcastle built by many…
On the statistics side, of the 1200 registered accounts, how many have actually participated by writing, editing, defacing, erasing, etc..? My impression, from scanning the history pages, is that there may be fewer than 100..
February 14th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Hi,
I can’t help but love and hate this wiki novel. It keeps changing. It is the perfect combination of florid words and cheap, ‘pennydreadful’ pulp - drama and absurdity. It gives it a unique charm.
February 14th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
It’s been interesting to see how different contributors wax and wane, and how we all inadvertently say a lot about ourselves by our style, our discussion and so on.
The desire to “make it happen” is quite strong in some people, balanced by the desire to “let it happen” in others.
February 14th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
I enjoyed reading the stories and found it great to discover how inventive everyone is - the ideas are many and varied but full of fun. I hope this really is not “The End”. I feel this is one of those things that can go on forever! Of course it can get out of hand and the editor might wish to draw the line.
Why not do it again - the experiment seems to have succeeded. Very enjoyable.
February 14th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Wow, This project idea is facinating. The knowledge of it is now making the rounds amoung my writer and Journalist friends. It will be interesting to listen, to learn how many of us have signed on and are investing time into this project. I haven’t dared yet to begin to read the work that has already been accomplished because I know I will be consumed for hours and I must set aside time for this adventure…
February 15th, 2007 at 12:16 am
I feel (happily) trapped between letting it happen and wanting to make it happen. A confusing, scary and fun place to be
February 15th, 2007 at 4:23 am
It’s time to manage the site. The “free for all” banana scribble is purely destructive. Self-management can’t work when changes can no longer be undone.
February 15th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Some reviewers have written about this experiment that ‘it resembles a novel written by a monkey’ (I wonder if the banana person is having a go at either that review or us.. not sure…) I personally think that this project has a lot more merit than such a review, but here is a thought…. a monkey may be able to ‘write’ a novel, by cobbling together a series of words to create some kind of theoretical free flow work, but only humans can read it, and give the text meaning and significance, cheers to everyone, let us keep going
February 15th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Jeremy (Jon, ConstructionDestruction, Sentinel68, et al.):
Might I suggest a look at the TWO (Tin Woodman of Oz) movie project wiki and their processes:
http://wiki.hash.com/index.php?title=Main_Page_Two
Collaborative yes, but not without some editorial constructs. As with anything chaos begets chaos and organization—well, you know.
Perhaps some modicum restraints are in order if not for this current experiment then perhaps the next.
Nevertheless, It’s captivating–watching you unpack your foray into all this.
Speaking of which, tell The Penguin MarCom folks over at corporate to loosen the wait-and-see reins. It’s time to promote this endeavor more prominently across the Penguin core and regional sites.
This is going to be a success regardless of the novel’s outcome. Makes good business sense to capitalize on that.
Go penguins, go.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Hi, I agree that complte anarchy begets discord. It creates a vacuum of the strongest or sneakiest… so it seems to me… I have developed a kind of code of wiki novel, that i operate from myself.. it goes like this…
(this is my own philosophy that i try to apply to how I work:
1. Although the following is always up for argument, there is a difference between creative licence and ’sabotage’ where it appears the person (whether it be for comedy purposes or nuisance factor, comes in and changes a whole lot of words to make the text incomprehensible and unravels a continuity or plotline or renders a comprehensible text incomprehensible. Such could be labelled as ‘vandalism’ and could be deleted. Building upon, developing, jumping off from others work seems to be the goal. A major shift of genre would arguably need to be explained and one would imagine it to be resisted in most instances
1. as far as possible, try to keep other’s work in the text and as intact as possible. I will not normally consider deleting or replacing someone’s work , but i have added to the end of people’s texts, edited wording and spelling and tried to take cues as I understood them from the writer, but of course the intention of an author is always up to interpretation. 2. Build upon or at least jump off from characters already established and try, if possible to connect them to an overarching theme, sub theme, ploit and sub plot, if they present themselves. 3. If it is not possible to connect disparate themes then find a good explanation for the differences: namely either multiple writers or a single writer with so many different ideas that he/she needs to put them down even if they are scraps and variations and totally different genres. 4.1 I don’t believe (so far)I have actually created one wholly new character, but have developed, adapted or “jumped off” from others already created characters. 4.2. I do not subscribe to the view that we need some strong external controlling force to come it and render some kind of ‘order’ to the disorder. At the same time, i am not into total anarchy where one might possibly be trying to sabotage rather than construct. 4.3. My view on what is ‘good’ and ‘meritorious’ does not follow the following logic: the “traditional”, if somewhat melodramatic spy/mystery aspects of the current project are the good bit and all the other bits are the dross. I believe we are seeking to be both sincere, constructive, community oriented (not supressing minority voices, or genres for that matter).
February 16th, 2007 at 7:41 am
Well - you’ve got the million monkeys at the keyboard. But it ain’t Hamlet.
Poor Editor. You’re doomed! Doomed I tell you!
February 16th, 2007 at 9:04 am
People are entitled to their opinion, but I think that those he describe this work as the work of a million monkes are just snobs and also highly disrespectful - I think the work is not that of a monkeys, it is artistic and good and above all it is human, intriguing and interesting, and often very amusing.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:48 am
[…] In dem begleitenden Blog heißt es denn auch an einer Stelle: And what is on these pages? Well, the story so far is more like three/four or five stories with no master narrative yet emerging. Penguin editor Jon has called for wiki-ists (wikitas? wikitors?) to take hold of the novel and pull a plot together, but it is already clear that many are reveling in the creative anarchy that the site provides. But here and there, amidst the chaos there are little islands of calm - a chapter made entirely of links, a choose your own adventure story that seems to be going places, and lots more, hidden from the turbulence of the front page. […]
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Yes, there are some hidden jewels and some good writing. It’s a pleasure to read.
February 28th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
[…] The Crowd is almost like a child, it is amused by something for a while, but it loses interest eventually, leaving those serious enough to persist alone to create their product. Perhaps one could also assume that Penguin’s publicity worked too well. I think, that if they are to run a second project it would work a lot better than this one, and I’m not saying that this one worked badly, but, you know what I mean… I’ve started thinking of the site as a giant, ever-expanding sandbox - anyone can build there, but there is always the possibility of getting your sandcastle kicked over or incorporated into someone else’s project. Whether one huge, ornate and architecturally coherent sandcastle will ever take shape I don’t know, but there are some fine and interesting smaller constructions going on,ve started thinking of the site as a giant, ever-expanding sandbox - anyone can build there, but there is always the possibility of getting your sandcastle kicked over or incorporated into someone else’s project. Whether one huge, ornate and architecturally coherent sandcastle will ever take shape I don’t know, but there are some fine and interesting smaller constructions going on, http://amillionpenguins.com/blog/?p=21 […]