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Sticky: Announcement: Welcome to Protagonize! New here? Read this first.
Welcome to Protagonize! New here? Read this first. Page 1 of 2
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Protagonize is a creative writing community dedicated to writing various forms of collaborative, interactive fiction.
One author writes a story, poem, or other work, and others post branches or chapters to it in different directions. The result is an organic, evolving tale where everyone can participate.
Copyright © 2012 Taunt Media Inc. All rights reserved.
All member-created content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, unless otherwise noted.
So, you're new to Protagonize. You're looking at this post, wondering what you should do next. Well, here's your answer.
Protagonize is a thriving community of authors spread out around the world, with varying levels of writing experience, and from all age groups. While as a new member you might feel a little intimidated starting out on the site, you'll likely find everyone here to be very welcoming and we hope you feel comfortable participating in the community right away.
Aside from browsing the other posts in this discussion group, there are a few things you may want to do if you're a first-time user of the site:
- Read through our Getting Started guide! It's full of helpful tips on how the site works and it's an invaluable resource if you're a new member here.
http://www.protagonize.com/help/getting-started
- Fill out your profile -- you'd be surprised how much more likely you are to get feedback and be able to join in the community if you spend even a few minutes telling us all a little about yourself. And don't forget a profile picture! It always helps break the ice. :)
- Don't be afraid to jump right in and post something, whether it's a comment or feedback on a story or page you've just read, saying hello to a fellow author on their profile, a brand new story you've decided to write, or a comment in the group discussions. There are no rules here about seniority, and everyone's happy to welcome new community members. Don't be shy!
- Check our Frequently Asked Questions listing to see if your common questions have already been answered. If it sounds like a fundamental issue, the odds are good that someone's already asked it.
http://www.protagonize.com/help/faq
- Start reading! The easiest way to get involved in the site is to start reading the works of our authors and to provide feedback as you see fit. We guarantee you'll enjoy yourself, and it's a great way to familiarize yourself with how the site works.
http://www.protagonize.com/stories
If you have any questions about how to use the site, or if you're experiencing difficulties finding stuff or using the site's features, please feel free to post here and I or one of the moderators will do our best to answer your questions.
Cheers,
-nick
(aka: that guy who runs Protagonize.)
Thanks for the comment. Actually, the "groups beta" link that you're seeing in the Activity menu is only temporary. Once it's ready to go for the general public, there will be a whole new top-level navigation item for it (see screenshot below) as well as a "groups you belong to" listing on their profiles.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickb/3633689193/
Not to mention all new users are now automatically joined to the "New Members" group. :)
It's all under control.. hah.
-nick
Also, any suggestions for promoting collaboration on a story, or is it more like just put it out there (the story) and see if it hooks anybodies interest?
Thanks for the suggestion -- groups are new, so there are still a few kinks to be worked out (including letting people watch topics, which is coming soon.)
As per your suggestion, I'll add a note to the new user messaging letting you know that you've been auto-joined to the group. It does show up on your profile in the activity feed (as well as in the main site's activity feed), but I'll make it a little more prominent.
As for promotion collaboration, I have a few tips over in the Getting Started guide (see link below), but the best bet is to start participating in a few other folks' stories, or to provide feedback on their work and mention that you've got some stuff on the go to. Generally, on Protagonize (as in many communities), you give what you get -- if you're active in helping out other folks, you're much more likely to get feedback on your own work.
(Note: Finally got around to updating the welcome post, too.)
Cheers,
-nick
You'll find, on Protagonize, that 'give and take' works best. If you comment on the stories and chapters of other people, they'll very often return the favour. You can also add to the collaborative stories here, and if people like what you've added, they'll probably look at your other stuff too.
I'd also recommend reading the other discussions in this group. They contain lots of really good advice.
@Avismara Tasha's advice is pretty solid. If you take a look through the Getting Started guide, you'll see some similar advice over there. The more you participate, the more likely you are to get feedback and contributions to your story.
http://www.protagonize.com/help/getting-started
Cheers,
-nick
http://www.protagonize.com/help/getting-started
As always, the easiest way to get people to read your work is to read theirs and provide feedback on it. A "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" policy tends to work pretty well. :)
Cheers,
-nick
Can you make a way to see stories with any rating? So far I have satiated my curiosity by picking the "Surprise Me!" link
Firstly: You can post in both collaborative and solo story modes. Collaborative modes allow multiple authors to write one story whereas in solo only the original author can post. There is also a branch or linear model of stories. The branching is like those old adventure books where choosing to either go through the scary door or walk down the ominous stair case will send you down different paths in the storyline. The linear model is like a normal novel in which the storyline follows only one path.
If there's one thing I would have liked to know when I first joined, it would be "Don't wait to be discovered". One of the most incredible parts of Protagonize is the interaction between authors: comments, critiques, etc. If you want someone to read what you've written, read what THEY'VE written. Read and give honest comments. If you love something, say so [it's a great feeling to read that kind of comment]. If you have a suggestion, go ahead and throw it out there along with saying how excited you are to see where they go from that first draft. If you read and comment on others' works it's more than likely they'll return the favor. You're also likely to gain friends and mentors who will continue to read your pieces because they're interested in your personal growth.
Find a collaborative piece to test the water first. I would suggest something fun without too much pressure. Eloosive is really good about posting stories like that. http://www.protagonize.com/story/i-witness is a low-pressure one to play around with. You can also search for any collaborative story and, if the original author cares even a jot about where his/her stories take off [which I'm sure he/she would], you'll end up with a comment of some kind.
You can also get involved in the groups, which are relatively new to the site. To give you a perspective, when I joined there were no groups, your only option was collaborative writing, there were half as many people signed up [and the majority of them were older], and the format of the site itself was different. Protagonize is very organic this way. The site was created and is still maintained by nickb, who also writes on the site. You can go to him with any questions or if you find a technical bug on the site. You can also contact the moderators if nick is busy. The moderators are actual Protagonize users who have "special powers" almost akin to nick's. They can lock a story, alter a profile, delete comments, etc. if need be and also know many of the ins and outs of the site.
Anyway, back to groups ;) Groups are a place where you can ask questions, learn techniques, and interact with people who share your interests. Groups range from the informal [Protagonize Pub] to formal [Grammar & Usage], depending on your needs. One tip for the groups: don't be that person who posts a topic called "Check out my STORY!!!! PLZ!". Nobody likes that person and we're actually trying to get a handle on that kind of thing. Another thing about groups is that they will occasionally run contests; either group or site-run. Site-run challenges could earn you a fancy badge on your profile while group-run will give you bragging rights. The Poetry Workshop's seasonal tournament is the longest-running but the World Building group is starting up a Prose competition, as well. Also, the Flash Fiction group has miniature contests every so often if you feel like taking a whack at them.
Another thing I wish someone had told me when I first started: "Don't worry too much about your rating". When you're new your ratings will be all over the place. For example, for an hour I was the number one rated author on the site. When I checked it again in the morning I wasn't even in the top 50. The fewer ratings you have the more your percentage will bounce around. Eventually it will settle down but until then, don't take it personally. Ratings, by the way, rarely reflect things too accurately. An example of this would be Tasha_Noble. She is the token writer of Protagonize, our first published author who began her career on the site. She's the reason why when you choose your story type [story, poem, or exercise] the image for "Story" is a teddy bear. Her story "Paddytum", about a Paddington teddy bear who comes to life to turn his owner's life around, which began on the site, was picked up by a publisher and will be out in the UK this autumn. Pretty awesome. However, she's only #9 on the site, behind 8 unpublished authors/poets. For a more honest ranking of authors, check out the "Most Influential" list. These are the people who are community-oriented and always willing to help out a new author.
Hope that was enough to get you started! I think you'll really like the site! :)
the Addventure format works the exact same way, but without the need to search for page numbers. at the end of your chapter you can create up to three branches, each one taking the story in a different direction. the reason that they're called Addventures (with two Ds) is because, if you have the story set to collaborative, other people can add their own chapters.
these are two Addventures that i have written / am writing, in case you want a concrete example:
Clockwork: a World of Choice
Grimoire
if you leaf through either one, you'll see that the story goes in completely different and unrelated directions depending on what branches you take. savvy?
also: a humorous take on the "word" Alot can be found here. enjoy!