EndOfThisWorld

EndOfThisWorld is a web-based collaborative writing project established in November 2007. The aim of the project is to create a surreal novel, which begins with a seemingly unimportant event that triggers a series of bizarre coincidences, leading to the end of the world. The novel consists of 25 chapters, created collaboratively by an online community of writers and readers by means of a voting and rating system. The content of the novel is entirely left to the authors. The only requirements are that the story begins with an inconspicuous event (in chapter 1), and by chapter 25 the world comes to an end. The intent is to create the avalanche-like story in between via the collaborative action of users of the web. EndOfThisWorld is a non-commercial project, created by a group of friends wishing to explore the opportunities that web 2.0 offers in creative writing. Members of the community retain all of their ownership rights in their submissions, and in the event that the novel is published, or other form of expression is decided, all 25 winning authors will be rewarded with accreditation and a percentage of eventual profits. As of Septmeber 2008, the novel is in its fifth chapter.

Plot advancement
# Each chapter consists of a submission period and a voting period.
# During the submission period, which nominally lasts for three weeks, writers submit candidates for the current chapter, building on the story established in the previous ones. Chapters must be 1000 to 2000 words long.
# The submissions become immediately viewable in the project's website, and readers can (and are encouraged to) rate and comment on the submissions. The pieces are editable by their authors, who can modify them in response to the readers' feedback.
# At the end of each submission period the editorial team shortlists five stories based on the rating scores and the textual feedback. The five shortlisted submissions take part part in the ensuing voting period.
# During the voting period, members of the community vote for the best submission, which becomes incorporated in the novel. EndOfThisWorld uses instant-runoff voting (IRV), in which voters rank the candidates in order of preference (from 1 to 5). Compared to the usual plurality vote, where voters select a single candidate, IRV allows voters to express their opinion on multiple submissions.

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