Here’s a thing I know about myself: I like being in control of the story. I like being able to do the weird and let the story go where it wants and let the characters do as they do without worries of another writer changing the plot. This is a key reason why writing in a shared world is good for me. It forces me to create story and character that is so clear cut that any writer can pick up the thread and roll with it. That’s really hard to do, because in story you want to be able to keep a little to yourself. The key is to create personality for the character that is so vivid that other writers know how the characters are going to act. That is a really good thing.
That’s a good side of the issue. Another is the creativity aspect. I feel like I have struggled as of late in terms of being deeply creative. More often than not as of late I have been reading and think: Wow, this is really creative. Why didn’t I think of that. I don’t want to feel that way–I want to be the guy creating madness….