What to agree on before you start
Have a short conversation about the story, your writing habits and what each of you is comfortable with.
What you’ll learn
- Agree on the story and the ways you want to write together before starting.
- Compare concrete preferences to decide whether a potential partner is a good fit.
Start with the details that matter to you
- The story: setting, main characters, tone and any changes to an existing fictional world.
- The writing: point of view, tense, typical post length and how often you expect to reply.
- Shared control: who can introduce events, play non-player characters (NPCs) or decide uncertain outcomes. An NPC might be a passing stranger or the central antagonist.
- Conversation: how much planning and out-of-character (OOC) chat you both enjoy.
- Boundaries: what to leave out, keep off-screen or check before adding.
- Changes of plan: how to ask for a pause, adjust the story or end the game.
You do not need to plan every scene. A few clear expectations can prevent surprises about how you play while leaving the story open to discovery. Agreeing to a premise or a romantic pairing does not mean agreeing to every possible development. Either person can raise a new concern later.
Unclear expectations
Anything goes. Let’s just start.
A useful starting point
A present-day mystery, third-person past tense, about two posts a week. Either of us can play people in the town, but we check before introducing a major twist. No detailed medical scenes. Either of us can ask to pause.
Check in as the story develops
Try it yourself
Two writers want a short haunted-house story. One likes to improvise; the other wants advance notice of major scares. What could they agree on?
Show explanation
- Choose the kind of horror they both enjoy and name any themes to leave out.
- Improvise ordinary room details, but check before introducing a major scare.
- Decide who can play the house’s other inhabitants and introduce clues.
- Agree on a rough posting schedule and a simple way to pause the scene.