Planetfurry BBS

hikaru

Remember "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"?
Here's a prime example offered by an English professor at an American University.

"Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to re- read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking and anything you wish to say must be written on the paper. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached."

(The following was actually turned in by two English students: Rebecca -last name deleted, and Gary - last name deleted.)
STORY:

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(first paragraph by Rebecca)

At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. Now she felt she must, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.

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(second paragraph by Gary)

Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation17,â¬x," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far." But before he could sign off, a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

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(Rebecca)

He bumped his head and died almost immediately but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

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(Gary)

Little did she know, but she had less than ten seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mother ship launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret Mobile submarine HQ on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid, Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow 'em out of the sky!"

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(Rebecca)

This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.

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(Gary)

Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh, shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of frak* TEA??? Oh no, I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels."

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(Rebecca)

Asshole.

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(Gary)

Bitch.

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(Rebecca)

Wanker.

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(Gary)

Slut.

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(Rebecca)

frak* YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!!!

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(Gary)

Go drink some tea - whore.

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(Teacher)

A+ - I really liked this one.

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Elfen_Furry · Moderator Joined: 18 Jun 2002 Posts: 2601 Location: NYC NY

Seen it, Read it, got it from an email from somewhere.... loved it!

I think its some form of web-lore, but as in every case of lore and legends, there is some truth to the story as a source.

Wolf Starchaser · Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2002 4:20 pm Post subject:

Actually, that's just wierd enough to have some grain of truth to it.

elMaxx · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2002 11:48 am Post subject:

...
Trust me, it's true Very Happy

Galadrion · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2002 12:22 pm Post subject:

"Inside every legend there is a grain of truth - usually hidden under a much bigger grain of salt." - Spider Robinson

Desmodus1862 · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2002 7:21 pm Post subject:

Funny!

And I believe Its true.

Concolor · Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2002 8:12 pm Post subject:

Loved it the first time!

Loved it this time!

It's soooo true. (I knew that girl in school . . . .)

.

.

SkunkFox · Posted: Wed Aug 28, 2002 7:10 am Post subject:

Elfen_Furry · Moderator Joined: 18 Jun 2002 Posts: 2601 Location: NYC NY

Some of the best works written were done in tandem....

Look at "Fur"
(ok, the appropriate furry translation is "Hair")

Ceridian · Posted: Mon Nov 18, 2002 6:40 pm Post subject:

Heh, Tandem writing is fun.. Reading that, I can really see it happening. Last time I got stuck with it I scrawled out a half page of "Aliens" from memory, and the next person threw a PUPPY and other cutesy things into the mix and then refused to read my section aloud because "she didn't like the military". Turned out that she couldn't pronounce a good third of the words correctly and didn't want anyone to know.. Go figure. o@

SkunkFox · Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2002 5:51 am Post subject:

Tandem writing can be fun as long as the person your writting with isn't mental, psychotic, or just plain insane...hmm wonder why Jenny wants to write with me then? Oh well, anyway it makes for 'interesting' reading material depending on the tastes of any particular person your writting with. In some instances though it's rather awkward trying to tie in what was written with what your partner has written, since it could be going in a completely different direction then you had wished to go in. So you'll end up with unusual gaps in the storyline, hints of something more, and some confusion as to what is really happening within the storyline. That and be a real pain in the tail to your co-writer.

SkunkFox...she is soo gonna kill me for this.