Collaborative Writing Exercise (The Three Little Pigs)

A writing exercise inspired by "add/complete a sentence" type forum games.

While those forum games are amusing, I never really considered them a writing exercise. I think part of it is that the plot is undefined. You'll get cases where two users respond to the same post, instead of to each other's posts. Stories like that tend to end with silliness, as well, and tend to read as a huge run-on sentence.

I like the idea of writing as a group; working with other people's stories and adding your own flare. I like the concept of using the medium of a forum to do so, as well. But I want something a little more structure then the forum game.

How it works: I'll post a story. It'll be a bare-bones story, but it'll have a beginning, middle and end. It'll have characters, some of whom will undergo development, and some of whom are flat characters. Using the elements already present in the story, expand upon it. You could choose to add small details to the entire story, or you could choose to rewrite or add one or two paragraphs.

Rules: Using the three pigs and Big Bad Wolf as an example.

1. Quote the post you're modifying. (You might want to put the post in spoilers.) (This is so that if we end up in a situation like I described earlier, where two people respond to the same post instead of each other's, it'll be clearer what happened.)

2. Avoid changing major plot points. ("And then the Big Bad Wolf, unable to get into the third pig's house, got a wrecking ball and smashed it to the ground.")

3. Avoid changing the genre of the story. ("And then the Big Bad Wolf, who was actually a robot, aimed a missile at the first pig's house..." This sentence technically doesn't alter the plot a lot, as the first pig's home is still destroyed, but Big Bad Wolf is a fairy tale, not a sci-fi...)

4. For now, we should avoid adding new characters. ("And then the fourth piggie moved into town, glad his brothers scared the Wolf away.") Feel free to add details to existing characters, though. ("The first piggie, named Ralph...") Later on, depending on how far this story goes, we might want to add more characters.

Potential Plot lines:
I originally wrote out a story based somewhat on Hansel and Gretel, but from the Witch's point of view. The twist was that the Witch was just a normal old woman, and Hansel and Gretel were crazy, starved children. I wrote that story out, but was unsatisfied with the ending, and also wondered if the forum would want to write a story that was even darker then Hansel and Gretel, which was pretty dark to begin with.

The poll about which story to use will be up for 3 days. If you're not satisfied with any of the three options given, post and I'll add a fourth option to the poll.

witch's pov! Sounds awesome!

I'm going with the Witch's POV on this one. I would like to see if we do this something closer to the actually Grimm tale which is darker and not overly very nice. I like the original tales always have always will. I intend to read them to my children and my niece. the reason is that the lessons that were taught are lost in the fluffy-fied tales we have now.

I'm not sure I've actually seen a kiddified version of Hansel and Gretel before (except maybe this one wordless Disney short, but even that one didn't really 'kiddify' the story too much.)

The Witch's POV story I wrote doesn't quite follow the original tale, though it's certainly not light and fluffy either. While the original story had a clear villain (the Witch), the Witch isn't evil here, leaving the only obviously evil characters as Hansel and Gretel's parents.

However, if you guys would prefer a story closer to the original, with the Witch being evil, I could rewrite the story!

well going from the witch's POV it's not going to follow the original that closely. I think that the way we have it would be a good way to start but maybe just maybe we should start with something a little easier, or at least something we can all get our brains around since we're all writing popcorn style here.

That's a good point. Hmm... I feel like Three Little Pigs would be a good story to use if we're going with something simpler.

Personally it's 6 of one to me which we do, as long as we all know the story. Yeah the 3 pigs is well known and a good choice for an easy starter. so which shall we try??

I think 3 days have passed and the poll is closed; the Witch's POV won the contest but I also like the idea of working with a simple story instead. Hmm... Since 3 people voted in the poll, and 2 have expressed their opinion, Natasha, what would you think about working with a simpler story first?

I'm up for whatever. =) My expiration date is oct 31st though, nanowrimo is coming up!

I'd like to go with the Three Little Pigs. I'm tempted to go with this version of the story. What do you guys think?

honestly I dunno and I have a final i have to work on this week, and sorry but black flag's drop date is around the corner, so i wont be too much use after that for a while really. I'm up for whichever whatever really.

Haha! I love it! Let's do it! =)

The Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time there were three little pigs and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes.

Before they left, their mother told them " Whatever you do , do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world.



The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do.

The second little pig built his house out of sticks. This was a little bit stronger than a straw house.

The third little pig built his house out of bricks.

One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said "Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig.

But of course the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of sticks.

"Let me in ,Let me in little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in" "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig. But the wolf blew that house in too, and ate the second little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of bricks.

" Let me in , let me in" cried the wolf

"Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" said the pigs.

Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house.

But the wolf was a sly old wolf and he climbed up on the roof to look for a way into the brick house.


The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof and lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and placed on it a large kettle of water.

When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney he crawled down and KERSPLASH right into that kettle of water and that was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf.

The next day the little pig invited his mother over . She said "You see it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can." Fortunately for that little pig, he learned that lesson. And he just lived happily ever after!

(The above version of this story was transcribed from a promotional audiotape that was distributed by BurgerKing in approximately 1989) (Source)

ZodiacRain wrote:The Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time there were three little pigs and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes.

Before they left, their mother told them " Whatever you do , do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world.


Well, the oldest of the little pigs took his mother's advice to heart. He would do the best that he could do. He would excel in his chosen industry; that is, he would be an amazing artist. So he purchased the finest easel, the finest paints, and the finest paint brushes. He spent so long finding the best of the best art supplies, he realized he'd yet to build a house, and so he went the easy route. He built a little hut out of straw. He had no intention to be an architect; who cared what his house looked like, if his artwork was amazing?
The first little pig built his house out of straw because it was the easiest thing to do.

The second little pig built his house out of sticks. This was a little bit stronger than a straw house.

The third little pig built his house out of bricks.

One night the big bad wolf, who dearly loved to eat fat little piggies, came along and saw the first little pig in his house of straw. He said "Let me in, Let me in, little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig.

But of course the wolf did blow the house in and ate the first little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of sticks.

"Let me in ,Let me in little pig or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in" "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin", said the little pig. But the wolf blew that house in too, and ate the second little pig.

The wolf then came to the house of bricks.

" Let me in , let me in" cried the wolf

"Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin" said the pigs.

Well, the wolf huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house.

But the wolf was a sly old wolf and he climbed up on the roof to look for a way into the brick house.


The little pig saw the wolf climb up on the roof and lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and placed on it a large kettle of water.

When the wolf finally found the hole in the chimney he crawled down and KERSPLASH right into that kettle of water and that was the end of his troubles with the big bad wolf.

The next day the little pig invited his mother over . She said "You see it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can." Fortunately for that little pig, he learned that lesson. And he just lived happily ever after!

(The above version of this story was transcribed from a promotional audiotape that was distributed by BurgerKing in approximately 1989) (Source)

(The next person could probably delete the striked out line; it was just to show what I'd replaced.)