Chris Handley's suggested parlour game

[Logical Language Group <cbmvax!uunet!GREBYN.COM!lojbab>]

I think the continued story idea is a good one, but you need really
cooperative people to have it work.  We did try it once with Lojban, but a
certain person (who shall remain nameless) made a point of striving for truly
strange twists in the story at every opportunity - strange enough that there
was no possibility that the result could be interesting (as opposed to the
process - which can be interesting in spite of strangeness, or because of it).

My main reason for suggesting the Canterbury Tales approach is that we are
currently being flooded with translations of a variety of materials from
other languages, but almost no one (except Michael Helsem) has attempted
significant original writing in Lojban.  Since translation always involves
some amount of interlingual compromise (as we've seen in the phone game),
only original writing in the language will lead to the development of true
Lojban stylistics - something near and dear to Nick's heart, if not others'.

By making the length be at the writers' options, we can get people like Nick,
who could probably write a good, longer story, but also maybe encourage
Chris, who has never posted longer than words and sentences, to contribute
something.  The advantage of having a common context for the stories, is that
it is possible in such a context to tell a little anecdote in as little as a
paragraph or two that can form part of the compendium as well as a longer story.

lojbab