Introduction

Writing is often thought of as an individual activity, but much of the writing produced within the Dark Jedi Brotherhood involves more than one author. Members participate in roleplays (RP), compete through the Antei Combat Center (ACC), write cooperative competition entries, contribute to official stories for their units and events, and produce nonfiction such as wiki articles, out-of-character (OOC) proposals, and policy documents.

This course explains what the Brotherhood generally means by collaborative writing, introduces the main activities where it occurs, and covers the basic habits involved in working with other writers. The approach will vary by project: a two-person fiction written over a weekend will not need the same organization as a large event story involving several authors. The course focuses on in-universe fiction, but many of its principles also apply to nonfiction projects.

By the end of this course, you should be able to recognize shared authorship, distinguish the main collaborative writing activities, explain the purpose of character snapshots, and identify good practices for communication, continuity, and attribution.

When is Writing "Collaborative?"

Collaborative writing involves two or more authors each contributing prose to a shared work. Including another member’s character, consulting them about a draft, or receiving proofreading help does not by itself make the work collaboratively authored.

This distinction matters when an activity requires individual word counts or awards credit for each member’s written contribution.

Different activities divide that work in different ways. In an RP session or ACC match, each writer contributes their own posts. In cooperative fiction, participants might alternate scenes, divide the story according to character perspectives, or work together within the same document. The sections do not need to be identical in length, but each writer must make an identifiable contribution to the prose.

Collaborative fiction activities such as RP sessions, ACC matches, and cooperative fiction competitions generally award more participation XP and credits than solo fiction competitions. The rewards depend on the activity’s classification and participation requirements; see Activity Tiers for details.

Collaborative Writing Activities

Collaborative writing appears in several forms throughout the Brotherhood. Some activities divide authorship clearly through individual posts, while others ask several writers to contribute to the same document. The amount of planning, editing, and coordination required will vary accordingly.

Where you write depends on the activity. RP participants post in session threads on the Brotherhood’s Discord server, while ACC participants submit their posts through the Brotherhood website. Cooperative fictions are usually drafted in a shared document, such as a Google Doc, before submission. For proposals and official fictions, agree with your collaborators on a shared drafting space and follow any submission instructions.

When writing fiction together, you also need a shared understanding of the characters in the story. Knowing their abilities, motivations, and equipment helps you build on another writer's contribution without contradicting how their character is portrayed. The Brotherhood's character tools provide a reference for this: a character sheet describes a character’s traits and abilities, while a loadout lists their available equipment.

Roleplaying

Roleplaying (RP) is a form of collaborative writing in which participants develop a story through their characters' interactions. An RP can be as simple as two people exchanging one-sentence posts while their characters play cards, or it can involve a larger group taking part in an epic adventure. A session can begin spontaneously, without a planned plot or destination.

RP is not tied to a particular game system or writing format. Some sessions use dice and a Game Master, also called a Dungeon Master (DM), who guides events and usually controls supporting characters and the setting. Other sessions develop through the participants' contributions without dice or a designated guide. Posting order, length, and pace depend on the session. Follow any requirements set for that activity, and ask the organizer or your fellow writers if something is unclear.

Your primary responsibility in an RP is to communicate with your fellow writers. You are telling a story together, so ask questions when you are unsure what someone intends and discuss concerns about how the scene is developing. Be considerate when waiting for replies, and let the group know if you expect to be unavailable in a way that affects the session.

How participants write each other's characters also varies. Some writers prefer to write only their characters, while others are comfortable allowing fellow participants to write them.

For guidance on joining, running, and completing RP sessions on Discord, as well as how participation is rewarded, see the Activities 104: Roleplaying course. The Roleplaying Handbook provides additional resources, available systems, and Brotherhood RP policies. Its RP Etiquette section explains the expectations for respecting fellow participants and their characters.

The Antei Combat Center

The Antei Combat Center (ACC) is a competitive form of collaborative writing in which two members write their characters through a shared confrontation.

Although the participants are opponents, they are still contributing to the same sequence of events. Each post must account for the actions, injuries, locations, and circumstances established in the earlier writing.

A participant should not simply disregard an opponent's contribution because it makes their own plans less convenient. Nor should a participant assume that every attempted action succeeds exactly as intended. The conflict should develop through the exchange between the two writers rather than through either participant treating the other character as an inactive part of the scenery.

Strong competitive matches build on the contributions of both writers. Instead of merely surviving or dodging an opponent's attacks, a strong writer actively incorporates the injuries they sustain and the environmental hazards their opponent introduces to drive the narrative forward. A broken arm, a lost weapon, or a collapsed ceiling shouldn't be viewed as a roadblock to your original plan, but as an opportunity to showcase how your character adapts under pressure.

ACC matches have their own rules and judging standards; consult the ACC Guide for details. For the purposes of this course, the important point is that competitive writing still requires attention to continuity, characterization, and the material contributed by the other participant.

Cooperative Fictions

A cooperative fiction, often shortened to co-op fiction, is a single story written by two or more members.

The writers may alternate scenes, divide the story according to point of view, assign particular characters, or write directly into the same document. One person may prepare an initial draft for the others to revise and expand, while another group may plan the story first and then divide the work into sections. The collaborators will need to prepare their draft outside of the Brotherhood website, most often through a shared Google Doc.

There is no single required drafting method: follow the activity's rules and make each writer's contribution identifiable when individual attribution is required. Use your writing software's word-count tool to count each contributor's text; many tools can count a selected passage as well as the whole document.

Cooperative fictions usually allow for more planning and revision than post-by-post activities do. Participants can discuss the ending in advance, rearrange scenes, and edit the complete story before it is submitted.

This can make the final work more cohesive, but it also creates a greater need to track authorship and avoid writing over one another. Shared documents should therefore use a clear system of color-coding or attribution when individual word counts are required.

Official Fictions

Official fictions are stories written to establish or develop the narrative for a unit, event, or another Brotherhood project, rather than as individual members' competition entries or personal stories.

These stories may establish developments that affect a larger group of members, introduce an event, conclude an ongoing storyline, or provide context for future activities. They can be written by one person, but many are collaborative because multiple writers contribute prose for different characters or scenes. Leaders, organizers, and editors may also contribute outlines, feedback, or approvals, but this work does not make them co-authors unless they also write part of the story.

The exact process will depend on the project. One person may provide the outline while several writers draft individual scenes. A small group may write the fiction together before sending it to the relevant leaders for review. In larger projects, the planning and approval process may involve people who are not themselves contributing prose.

Official fictions generally require greater attention to established continuity because their events may affect characters and stories outside the immediate writing group. Writers should know what the story is expected to accomplish, which decisions have already been made, and which details remain open for them to develop.

Informal Collaborative Writing

Members also write together outside of organized activities. This might involve exploring a friendship between characters, drafting a proposal, or expanding a unit's wiki articles. These projects can be worthwhile without being entered into a competition, but shared authorship alone does not make them eligible for Clusters of Ice.

If you want to write fiction together, consider doing so via an RP session. An RP can accommodate a casual conversation or a short scene without needing a competition or a planned adventure. Using the RP system allows your writing to be tracked and submitted for activity credit, provided it meets the applicable requirements.

For projects such as proposals and wiki articles, the approach depends on what you are producing. Two members drafting a suggestion may need only a brief discussion, while a group overhauling a Clan's wiki pages may need to divide responsibilities and arrange a review. Agree on enough to understand what you are working toward and how each person will contribute.

Crediting, Color-Coding, and Word Counts

When an activity requires individual attribution or word counts, use a clear way to identify which participant wrote each section and divide the total word count among the authors.

The ACC, RP, and other post-by-post activities already distinguish participants because each post is attached to its author. Shared-document activities, including cooperative and event fictions, need a clear way to identify each author's prose.

When these works are submitted for word counts or entered into competitions, the document should use color-coding or another clear form of attribution. A legend should identify which color belongs to each writer. The competition details may specify a method. When in doubt, ask the organizer.

The color-coding should reflect authorship of the prose rather than every individual edit made during proofreading. When one writer proofreads another's section, the edited text should generally remain in the original author's color.

Avoid changing colors for every small edit. Repeated color changes within a sentence make authorship and word counts harder to follow.

Each sentence should be attributed to no more than one author, even where one or more editors have been involved. Edits, including substantial ones, do not normally change ownership of the word count within an established section of prose.

If one writer replaces an entire passage or adds a clearly separate section, that material can reasonably be attributed to them. The purpose is to provide an understandable division of the work rather than to audit the history of every word in the document. When in doubt, consult the Voice staff for clarification.

Conclusion

You should now be able to recognize shared authorship, distinguish the main collaborative writing activities, and explain why snapshots, communication, continuity, and clear attribution matter. Before joining a project, check its requirements and agree with your fellow writers on how you will work together.

Complete the Collaborative Writing 101 exam to check your understanding of these foundations. Then continue with Collaborative Writing 102 to put them into practice: finding partners, agreeing on responsibilities, using shared documents, and handling edits or disagreements. The 102 exam includes a practical collaboration, and eligible existing work may be used. Read its submission requirements before arranging a new activity.