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Penguin started an on-line "wikinovel" where anyone could participate. This article delves into how the end result turned out to be a failure, and also discussed why such a program could not work. The writer also went into some other on-line collaborative writing projects, such as Portrayl, Glypho, and Ficlets. He is critical of the results of these projects as well. And I can see where such sites might turn out less than stellar work. A collaborative novel written by many people is probably going to turn out to be like those grade school class exercises where everyone gets to contribute one sentence to a story. Fun for the participants, but rambling and senseless. (Then again, maybe that was the point of some of these, something he seems to have missed? 
Sometimes people who write articles like this take these sites too seriously, and even get upset because someone posted less than professional writing. )
For me, the article takes an odd turn when he goes from discussing collaborative writing sites to discussing Verbotomy.com, a wordgame site where participants can make up words. He finds it the most entertaining of all the sites mentioned in his article. And the leap doesn't make any sense. What connection does a wordgame have to a collaborative writing site? And for that matter, why shouldn't a wordgame where anyone can participate be entertaining? Isn't this like comparing that cool 20 Questions site (where participants contribute to the data simply by playing) to the Encyclopedia Britannica? There are lots of smart people on-line who are more than capable of playing wordgames without making themselves look like idiots. It's just not the same as writing an entire novel. After all, even published writers have a hard time collaborating on a novel, so why shouldn't "amateurs" find it a challenge. (Besides, all writers were amateurs at some point.)
Sometimes people who write articles like this take these sites too seriously, and even get upset because someone posted less than professional writing. )For me, the article takes an odd turn when he goes from discussing collaborative writing sites to discussing Verbotomy.com, a wordgame site where participants can make up words. He finds it the most entertaining of all the sites mentioned in his article. And the leap doesn't make any sense. What connection does a wordgame have to a collaborative writing site? And for that matter, why shouldn't a wordgame where anyone can participate be entertaining? Isn't this like comparing that cool 20 Questions site (where participants contribute to the data simply by playing) to the Encyclopedia Britannica? There are lots of smart people on-line who are more than capable of playing wordgames without making themselves look like idiots. It's just not the same as writing an entire novel. After all, even published writers have a hard time collaborating on a novel, so why shouldn't "amateurs" find it a challenge. (Besides, all writers were amateurs at some point.)
