> > > I think most everyone who's read DotA has probably been inspired to *attempt* their own version, I know I have. One major element that was not included in the forum threads is simply the conflict of one writer/character vs. the other. At the end of each chapter, I could easily visualize Sam or Dave sitting back in their chair, folding their arms, grinning to themselves, and saying "Let's see you write your way out of this one."
> >
> > You hit the nail on the head. That's *exactly* what we were doing when we wrote that, and that's why it was so rewarding. Attempts Dave and I have made to recreate that writing bliss haven't done so well, because we already covered the ground that made it fun. We tried again, some years later, with a different approach: rather than trying to one-up the other, try to complicate a coherent plot -- remaining coherent -- with each new installment. That worked for a while, and I am convinced it could have been fun, but then we hit a point of contention about the "rules" of the game with the most recent installment, and we never finished. At any rate, that slightly altered approach still bears the same idea: it's more competitive than collaborative, the idea being to throw things back and forth that the other one has to get out of.
> >
> > > Tra "I forget which one of them wrote the dream sequence, but, in retrospect, they'd probably agree." nio
> >
> > I'm the lousy goober who used the dream sequence, but I had just cause: both Dave and I agree that the installment that I used it in was hands down the best and funniest of my installments. So there. :-P
>
> Sam, the concept of this was not so much a duel but just a way of letting someone else take creative control of "your" story. We won't necessarily have to get out of any situation but that can happen if the story moves that way.
>
> The "continuing Saga of Martin's dog" only ever really had one "there! see if you can get out of that !" in it (they pointed Martin's dog directly toward a black hole and let fly with an enourmous fart) and it continued for nearly a year !
>
> ladada(remember it IS possible to have fun without conflict)dada

Oooh, but conflict is the driving force behind most every story. Even when there's only one character he's still facing conflict with himself or his environment. (At this point someone is about to post a reply citing an example of a story that's doesn't meet this criteria, because there are obviously some. However, this is the exception, not the rule. conflict=drama )
At any rate, your idea, ladadadada, can still be done without an adversarial conflict per se, but I think throwing a challenge to the next author would definitely be a driving force, not only for the authors but for the interest of the readers.
The challenge could be seeing the success of their own characters over the others, as in DotA. It could possibly be the feel of the story itself (e.g.: one person writes it to be a love story, another writes a farce, another writes a bloody tragedy, etc). It could be to incorporate an idea into the story (e.g.: "your character must eat a live chicken during a business meeting" and the next author would have to write that in somehow).

I think some type of predetermined challenge would definitely make for a lot of fun. As Sam put it above "more competitive than collaborative", would surely take the forum stories to the next level.

Tra "Count me in, Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Dr ladadadada" nio