Wyatt has posted in his blog - Plotting Between Collaborative Writers - about the fact that most collaborative fiction stories at Pan Historia are presumed to keep rolling on eternally into an indefinite future, which can make coming up with new plot ideas all the time a real challenge.

I have to confess that I personally often find difficulties with very long-term stories because I run out of inspiration, or get bored and distracted by something new and fresh. Sometimes you just have to accept you have hit the end of the story's trail and know when to call it a day - to continue dragging it out beyond its natural end would be akin to aging rockers trying to wring out one last tour for a yawning audience before they kick the bucket.

The first time my co-writer gently explained to me the story we'd been writing for years was to all intents and purposes now told and that we should write "The End" beneath it, I felt - weird. I had learned to write in a culture where stories didn't end (at least not deliberately). I had grown to love our characters and feel comfortable in their world - how could I simply set them aside?

We compromised. We told ourselves we would close this story arc and put our beloved characters into retirement, a little hiberation period, give them a holiday - just until we had fresh ideas for them, you know? The next time was easier, and the time after that it was I who suggested "The End" was due.

Now, I don't embark on a storyline with the assumption it's going to be a forever thing. I have learnt that ending a story can be a virtue, not an admission of failure. Since I generally write one-on-one, my partner and I now set off knowing our story is likely to have a definite end, and that when we reach it, we will sign it off with a cheerful flourish and start a new one. There are so many stories we want to tell, and only a limited amount of time to write them, after all!

For this reason I am a huge fan of the anthology novels (a 'novel' in this context is Panspeak for a collaberative writing group) that we have at both Pan Historia and Panerotica. Like their fleshspace equivalents, anthologies such as Tempest's Sanctuary for horror/fantasy and Shadows and Smoke for speculative fiction are volumes of short stories rather than a single full-length work. They are ideal for those who want to write a finite story, and also great places for writing solo, or for those new to collaberative writing to dip their toes without committing to a long-term relationship.

So if you think you want to give this collaberative fiction writing lark a try but are daunted by the prospect of narrative eternity, why not grab a partner (or two) and run through a short story first?