Collaborative writing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The terms collaborative writing and peer collaboration refer to projects where written works are created by multiple people together (collaboratively) rather than individually. Some projects are overseen by an editor or editorial team, but many grow without any top-down oversight..

In a true collaborative environment, each contributor has an equal ability to add, edit, and remove text. The writing process becomes a recursive task, where each change prompts others to make more changes. It is easier to do if the group has a specific end goal in mind, and harder if a goal is absent or vague.

A very good method of discussion and communication is essential, especially if disagreements arise.

Collaborative writing projects include:

• H2G2
• Everything2
• OOoAuthors
• The International Writing Exchange
• The Linux documentation project
• Wikipedia and many other wikis (see Who writes Wikipedia)

Some collaborative writing projects are also open content.

Similar and related Concepts

• coauthoring
• collaborative authoring
• cooperative writing
• group writing
• joint authoring
• shared document collaboration
• team writing
• Collaborative fiction

External links

• Stanford - Collaborative Writing and Research in Higher Education
• Research papers about the collaborative writing process:
  • Infolab thesis: Computer Supported Collaborative Writing
  • Analysing interactions during collaborative writing with the computer: an innovative methodology
  • SAC98 - Ceilidh: Collaborative Writing on the Web
  • Building a Taxonomy and Nomenclature of Collaborative Writing to Improve Interdisciplinary Research and Practice