Pass-It-On, A Collaborative Novella Project
Writers wanted!
Help write a novel with others, each building upon the work of the person before. “Pass-it-on Novellas” invites community collaboration through a pass-around, collaborative book. The books-in-progress will rotate from person to person and each will contribute a part to the story until there are finished novellas. The program culminates in the reading of the finished works.
Register by July 7 (button on the bottom of the page).
Facilitator Johanna Sweet writes:
"Remember those ads that cropped up at the end of magazines and stated: ‘We Need Writers,’ and maybe you felt a twinge of curiosity and wondered, could I be a writer?”
WE NEED WRITERS.
Adult participants of all writing skill levels will collaborate on writing a multi-chapter “book,” with each writer contributing a chapter (approximately 3-5 pages long, double-spaced). Writers will have 3 to 5 days to complete their chapter.
If you choose to participate, we will add your name to the names of seven+/- additional writers and assign you a chapter and its function, for example: Chapter 1—Establish the setting and introduce between one and three characters; Chapter 3—Introduce the primary conflict of the story; Chapter 7—Following Writer Six’s writing of the story’s climax, tie the loose ends together.
You will not know your fellow collaborators until the story is concluded, then all will be revealed and published for participants to enjoy! You will, however, be sent all chapters leading up to your assignment so that you will be able to continue the tone and direction of the work. Sound like fun? In August we will host a reading of the finished products.
Each writer will be sent an assignment sheet describing his/her role in developing the plot. The novel is set into motion with each writer being given a certain amount of time (approximately 5 days) to add to the work before sending it back for the next writer to continue. Pass it on!
Dates: Sign up on our website by July 7. On July 8 we will send you your assignment and approximate date when it will be your turn with the (digital) book. Writing for the first chapters begins July 8, 2020
Questions and Answers:
What if more than seven writers sign up?
That is our hope. We would actually like to generate several stories simultaneously.
What if a young writer wishes to participate?
If there is enough interest on the part of writers in the 13 - 17 age range, we will organize a youth novella.
What if a writer under the age of 14 wishes to participate?
Again, if there is enough interest on the part of five to seven pre-teen writers, we can coordinate that as well.
Facilitator, Johanna Sweet, is a resident of Castine, has taught writing and literature at high school and middle school levels in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and, more recently, at Maine Maritime Academy. Her poems have appeared in a variety of publications, and her articles have been published in the English Journal, the National Council for Teachers of English magazine. Corona Island is her first children’s book and will be released this summer by Penobscot Bay Press.