Begin at the beginning.
1.
An original idea.
Tales begin with an original idea. They set the stage for what others might do and what a tale might be. They aren't connected with any other passage to start.'
From explore to write.
Starting a new tale can either be done using the Start link at the top of the page, or using the "Start a New Tale" button on the Explore page. Both lead to the same opportunity to start your idea.
Growing and growing.
The Infinite Tale also grows when you respond to someone else's story. If you read something and feel inspired, just click the "Continue the Tale" button in the list of passages and share away! Your idea can make the story even better.
The writing experience.
2.
Limit number 1.
Your idea deserves to shine! As long as it can shine in 10,000 characters or less. This is the maximum length of a passage. This is just enough room to share your idea, but not enough to tell the whole story.
Drafting.
You may want to think about your idea before publishing it. You can always save your passage as a draft and finish or review it later. We also occasionally auto-save the draft for you. You know... just in case.
Set those settings.
Every passage needs to have a genre and an age appropriateness rating. This helps people find your content more easily, or in some cases less easly. It is up to you to label your passage appropriately.
Getting real.
3.
Sharing with all.
The last step is to publish your passage. Publishing makes your passage available to others to enjoy. Your passage will appear to different people randomly, along with any other passages. This gives every passage a fair chance to be read.
Limit number 2.
Publishing is a one way process. Once published, your passage cannot be unpublished or edited. Publishing is final. The passages that others write in response to your passage are depending on your passage to be present.
Limit number 3.
The Infinite Tale is about writing tales together, each continuing tales on the other's passage. It's not about passage 1/3, 2/3, 3/3. To support this, a writer cannot respond to their own passage. You can only continue someone else's passage. Share your creativity with others.
A few more things.
4.
It's all you.
Remember that you are responsible for the content you publish. Play nice. Have fun. Write amazing stories. We're in this together, but you own you. If you can't play nice, you can't stay.
Trolls are for tales.
Being nice isn't just about writing. Trolls are great in the story, but not so much in life. We do our best to respond to those that go rogue and sort things out. But we wish we didn't have to.
Respect all skills and levels.
Great ideas can come from anyone. Expert writing skills aren't required. We think everyone should be able to share their ideas at every skill and capability level. It's the idea that matters.
