StoryMash Creative Storytelling Forum

Six chapters, each penned by someone who's been here more than two years. I don't care who, but make your installment good and make it count. For that matter, make it quick - add your chapter in a day or three, so it doesn't stall. #6 wraps it up. I'm taking chapter 1, but I don't know what it's about yet.

If you qualify as an Ancient, sign up here and throw me a variable which I'll have to include. Five is sufficient. Perhaps too many, but I'll try to make it work.

If others want to offshoot different branches, help yourselves. This is my attempt to relive a bit of the good old days - I reread a few October Chills, Red Brockton, CoC, and the epic Dog and Honey traded forever (and several of us snuck in episodes). Mashing was fun. Maybe we've all grown out of it now, but I'm taking my shot at the glory days. You want in? Sign here.

When the team is assembled, I'll have 48 hours to light this fuse. She-bang!

-- Big Bad Nash

#6. I hate you.

I'm in. I'm really glad I received an email that brought me back to this place because I realize how much I miss Mashing.

I'll take #3. Hey wolfram, you forgot a variable. If you hate Nash so much, give him something nigh impossible to work with.

Here's my variable: An Elvis Impersonator

A silver spork.

Let me creep my ancient **** in this one....

=) I'll take #2.

variable is.... Winnebago.

Btw, Hi cheese and wolf. Long time no see, guys. =)

So far, I have Winnebago, Elvis impersonator, and silver spork? This is practically writing itself.

#4, Bleu cheese dressing.

Hah, can't wait to see the first chapter of this one.

I'll do it if I can write in my jammies...
#5=Venezuela

Sorry honeygloom, no jammies allowed. :P
Um, this is awkward. I'm here because of a mysterious message in my email which tells me to do #5, and whoops, I'm 3 hours late (just woke up).
Attribution error

"Worth a shot. What’s the worst that could happen? (Besides you participating?)" Hah! I could be fooled into thinking that I'm about to participate.

Honey, you wear whatever you want. As long as you are in the mash. :)

Besides I know my personal combo loco is jammies and wine.

Sorry about that garbage. Google pinyin wreaks havoc with my work computer.

Aw I missed you all. :)

I'll second that.

Bummer. I'm too late! And I was so hoping to to use the variable, "The third explosion from the right." Oh well. I look forward to reading it!

Look what I started
You'd think someone farted
and blew the gray clouds away
Storymash is coming alive
May it be like it was in it's day.

Bean, honey, katrina, synapto...wow. hi all. It's so good to see everyone here again!
@bean....maybe that should be the title. :)

My list to work with: Elvis impersonator, silver spork, Winnebago, bleu cheese, and Venezuela. Got it.

The order: me, Foo, Cheese, Aggs, Honey, and Wolf. Wow. Quite a cast. Got my idea on and 34 hours to purge it. I'm very happy to be writing again. Now lessee if I can start a barefoot brigade.

-- Nash

You heard Foo, Nash! You now have a working title. :)

Just when I thought I was out....
So good to see all the Ancients (of Mu Mu) back again. Pressure's on, NB. Good luck.

It is finished. Or, at the very least, it is officially started.

Synapto, Beanpole - if you're checking this and you want in, I'll start another one. Gimme which chapters you want and a variable. Then wait and watch for three more to sign up.

Y'know what, I'll go one step further. First responder gets to choose the genre too. Remember, you'll be writing part of it. And stupidity transcends all genres.

Nash, if you hadn't actually bribed me into coming here, I'd say, "Why do we have to live in your little box, man?!" However, since you did in fact bribe me privately and then got what you wanted for free, I think I'll build my own little box and defile it in every way that ? can think of, as if that will somehow give me a sense of vengeance.

I'll get you, Gadget.

I say concentrate on this one, and when it is done, if everyone had a good time, and you want to do another, I'll jump in on the next one. I can always work on my novel in the mean time.

If the mood really strikes you, we can fire up something new at any time.

Chapter 2 of TTEFTR is posted. I'm wiped. Character limit issues....each time I cut, cut, cut, it ADDED characters to the over-all count. SM interface sucks at math too. =)

Greetings Ancients! Seems I missed this boat, too; but I'm with beanpole on the next. Now, to read the first two chapters...;o)

As I indicated in my comments to Foo, if you find yourself running over SM's character count, cut your chapter in pieces and publish in its entirety. It's one thing to edit for style. It's another to edit to fit within an arbitrarily small window.

Well Jeezum crow, looks like it's my turn. How many variables do I need, 5? I think I've only got 3 so far.

Where have all you guys been hiding?
Oh wait, I haven't been on in two months...

So do I wait for the last variables or just get goin so's we don't slow down too much?

Go ahead and put it in your pipe and see if anyone salutes it. I intend to throw curveballs every time, but if others decide to hold out, no harm done.

Sorry, been away but not gone. Cheese, if you haven't started yet you can try and work in "asthma" as a variable. Otherwise, ignore.

Sad to say that I wasn't much of a part of the community during my time here, but it's great seeing everyone writing again. Truly wordsmiths, you are.

The third chapter is up! It was a quick and dirty draft, but it's up. Halfway through the story, we've got the planning and main characters set. In three chapters, we need the reveal of the second group of antagonists, the actual heist, and what happens after. So far so good.

Chapter 4, parts one and two, are up! (Freaking character limit...)

Eh, hello? I was made to understand there was some sort of old timers writing reunion going down. I finally get drunk enough to remember my SM ID and PW, and there’s no one here. You guys on your meds again? I would love to bang out a chapter somewhere. Any openings in current projects?

Dogdeity11, I am not a "golden oldie." But since you enjoyed reading my work so much, feel free to continue any of my chapters (if the spirit moves you).

DOGGGGGGGGG!WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I am with dog, I really want to get back into this thing. Someone please guide me in a direction of something new...

Someone said that he would finish up Modern Horror, and some of us are patiently waiting for that to happen!

Eleven....glad you made it! I was beginning to wonder if you were just humoring me =)

I'm ready if you are...Becker has a really good stream going (Mornings Inglorious) and I did a chap 5. If you want to jump on that, it'd be much appreciated.

WBScott! How the hell are you?! Wow, seems as if the old gang is back, even honeygloom! And yes, I did mention A Modern Horror, and I am willing to give it a try...but it is going to take some time.
After that though, I would really love it if you and I (and maybe dog and honeygloom and others) can build on something new.

Sound excellent!
Dips on Chapter 2!

I did it! I finished my chapter! Sorry it took so long, I hope you like it:) *bowing ever so graciously*

Wow!!! I have apparently missed some fun. I see names here I haven't seen in, well... ages.

Hello to all and I hope to be able to contribute to some chapters.

Hey. Nash here, again.

Dunno about you, but I find the compilation of talented authors who’ve contributed to this forum encouraging. As TTEFTR barrels toward its only possible conclusion, I considered starting another project. Then I hesitated. Sneezed six times. And returned to typing.

It’s my experience that providing some direction and leadership up front makes for the most successful projects. Propose an idea, collect pledges to write from a set number of contributors, then close it off and watch your idea bloom. So long as the mashers exhibit some integrity, you’ll end up with something of quality. Just as importantly, you’ll end up with a finished story instead of yet another strong starter that petered off. Those can be so frustrating.

I’m not sure how many projects can be run simultaneously – the 2010 Masher’s Round: Flight Two boomed at the start, but the momentum fizzled as contributors procrastinated or vanished. Even most of the original projects fell through – Zorro, Around the World, Suds, etc. Maybe the ones I started find closure because I’m a bitter (er, better) nag?

Anyway, I’m starting another topic for a new project. I’m also writing an open letter to StoryMash later today. And I still have an off-site chapter to write for synapto, a critique to provide for wsells, and an idea to flesh out with dog. It’s good to be writing again. Thanks for the encouragement, even if you didn’t realize you were encouraging me.

Any word on the last chapter?

Last chapter is up. In 3 parts. (Got a little carried away.)

Allow me to take this moment to reiterate my month-old assertion:

It's good to be writing again. Thank you for your encouragement. Moreso, thanks for buffing off the rust, replying to my emails, coming to my rescue, and building the Titanic out of life savers. Maybe it sunk. Maybe it blew up real good. Either way, it's one hell of a read.

So what's next, boss?

I don't know why, but I feel left out cause I didn't get any e-mails, even though I have no idea what the e-mails were for...oh wells. LOL Sorry I missed this Nash!

I got on this site yesterday and see SO much possible potential, but lacking in functionality to a point that it's not living up to that potential. After reading through this thread, there seems to be a story about what this site once was, how it got there, and maybe (if we're lucky) what it can be again, or maybe there's a new great chapter that none of us can foresee. Can anyone direct me to the story of this place, or maybe write it out if it isn't somewhere already? I'd try to search for it, but doubt I'd find it.

Paulsifer,

Don't know about the "story" of this site. Maybe Nash can help with that when he rears his head again. Or Katrina.

My suggestion to get a feel for what SM was is to go to the "Projects" tab and look under "Completed Projects". There's some great writing there.

Also under "Projects" you'll find an Epic (The Medias Saga) and Around the World-- both unfinished. Feel free to add a chapter and peruse the comments.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it here.

Why must my head always be up my rear? (No? That isn't what you said? Hmm.)

Paul -

To my knowledge, no such story exists. Rather, authors who have been here for any length of time have grown weary of the developer (Ethan) and his promises of changes to the site that never materialize. Notifications. Favorite chapters, strings and authors. Better communication. A better rating system. The reinstatement of contests. I suspect you could find other forum posts somewhere to better detail the improvements regulars like me would appreciate.

Yes, the site has incredible potential. Unfortunately, it has lackluster management. Users recommend changes, Katrina dutifully passes them along to the developer, and they die. I waiver between laughter and sadness, depending on my frustration level d'jour.

I'm on IE, so I'm only able to read one of your chapters (Fri Nite), but you've some talent. I'd love it if you chose to hang around and contribute. But history has a long list of writers who grew too frustrated with the stagnation of the site. What seems like easy alterations (to an admittedly non-techie) haven't happened and there's no reason to believe anything new is on the horizon.

Another contributor here spoke about developing another collaborative fiction site while integrating the suggested improvements. I'm still waiting and nagging.

Again, I'm glad to see new, hopeful blood on the webpages, but I fear you'll become the latest in a line of casualties that grew disillusioned enough to vanish.

Though I troll the site regularly (and add at least one chapter a month until the end of 2012 to fulfill a commitment I made), I tend to prefer better communication methods. If you want to contact me, it's my moniker at yahoo.com

-- Nash

Nash also has my contact info. I'd be interested in simpler communication as well. Do you use any social media?

I just sent you an email.

It's a real shame that Fri Night is the only one of mine you can view on there (Firefox, man. Firefox) because it's probably my least favorite so far. I'll try my best to hang around. We'll see how things go.

I can't stress enough how HAPPY I would be for this site to make a comeback. I spent a lot of hours having a frikkin blast on here, pounding my Gateway into oblivion, reading some incredible stories.... and then it got so frustrating that I became bored with it. I hope you do stick around Paul - it's nice to have you here too. These guys up here are some incredibly talented writers.

Hi Mashers-
Been away from storymash a little while- (ok my last visit was 2008)- but after much confusion over lost passwords and changed emails thought I'd revisit it - just wondering what's new and might give my pastime as an amateur scribe another go-reread Red Brockton- what fun!
Chloe