Ghosts in the Subrosa Garden

There are new folks joining Switch-Lit every day from all over the world (which is great) and maybe because of this, there has also been an increasing amount of “ghosting” by writers who sign up for a Subrosa round (not great).

Our Subrosa offering is meant for individual writers who need a partner, enjoy the aliveness of surprise, or want to test their literary talents by writing with a total stranger — all towards the creative reward of a completed collaborative work.

You can imagine how “ghosting” disappoints ready and willing partners, disrupting the Switch-Lit ecosystem as a whole… so I wanted to bring this issue up for community feedback!

Given Switch-Lit’s approach to collaborative storytelling (i.e. two writers, turn-based, and hidden identities), any Subrosa writer who “ghosts” on their partner breaks the creative structure, social trust, and fun that Switch-Lit aims to foster between two individuals who might not otherwise co-create such a world together.

How can we deter ghosting of Subrosa stories at these stages?

• 👻 “Story Proposal”: They do not accept a story proposal to activate the story

• 👻 “First Chapter”: They accept the story proposal, but do not write their designated opening chapter.

• 👻 “Mid-Story”: They write multiple chapters with their partner, but do not finish the story.

On the flip side: How do we reward committed writers, the “regulars” who show up for their partners, finish stories, and push the boundaries of collaborative storytelling?

Of course, some level of ghosting is inevitable and understandable (life happens, minds change) with these possible causes nonetheless:

• New writers are less invested in the platform and community

• Subrosa rounds are free to join, so there is no monetary loss

• Current culture of disposable content and relative anonymity makes “ghosting” a more common impulse

• Writers’ personal time commitment has changed since signing up

• Writers’ sentiment towards Switch-Lit has changed since signing up

• Writers’ pairing preferences have changed (round theme, specific prompt, writer order, etc.) since signing up

• Writers get a negative vibe from their partner’s only visible info (their pen name, location, or color)?

Any other possible root causes? 🌱👻🌱

In order to not let the “ghosting” spoil the fun for new and existing writers, here are some suggested changes to keep it in check:

Suggestion 1: More email assurance

• ✉️ We already verify emails, but can potentially tighten the authentication to further weed out fakes disguised as ghosts

• ✉️ Automated emails to both writers when a story proposal is sent so the waiting writer is aware they have been paired in the current round vs. waiting for their partner to accept the proposal and see their story is suddenly active.

Suggestion 2: Subrosa round “levels”

Inspired by game design, I wonder about Subrosa rounds as progressive “levels” based on the number of turns (best proxy for commitment level) in a Switch-Lit story, so for example:

• 🌹Level 1: One (1) chapter per writer (minimal commitment)

• 🌹Level 2: Two (2) chapters per writer (low commitment)

• 🌹Level 3: Three (3) chapters per writer (medium commitment)

• 🌹Level 4: Four (3) chapters per writer (high commitment)

A new writer must finish a “level 1” Subrosa story before being able to join a “Level 2” Subrosa round, and so on, as a developing practice in commitment to both craft and partner.

Higher level rounds will naturally have more experienced, committed writers paired with one another and therefore could also be more conceptually advanced, structurally complex, or genre-specific.

(If a writer really wants to access a higher level round without having completed stories at lower levels, then perhaps there’s a “pay-to-play” writer fee as another form of commitment🫰)

Suggestion 3: Individual writer autonomy

In the event of possible “ghosting”, there could also be new features that give more autonomy and momentum to individual writers:

• Allow waiting writers to “cancel” pending story proposals (after 72 hours?)

• Allow waiting writers to “cancel” inactive stories

• Allow waiting writers to “reset” time limit of inactive stories

• Allow writers to remove partners from their “Writing Partners” list

• Keep writer chats alive (AIM nostalgia?) beyond the editing process within “Writing Partners” on the writer dashboard

Suggestion 4: Simplified sign-up process

By simplifying the sign-up form with fewer pairing preferences, being more flexible to surprise as “wildcard” writers, we can allow for more rapid re-matching in the event of “ghosting” writers at any stage.

What pairing preferences are worth keeping?

Join the new Switch-Lit group chat! This is where you, other writers, and the editors can discuss in real-time various topics or threads to help shape the growth of Switch-Lit:

🙅‍♀️👻🙅‍♂️

— Ken
S••L Editor

“It is in our collective behavior that we are the most mysterious.

We won't be able to construct machines like ourselves until we've understood this, and we're not even close.

All we know is the phenomenon: we spend our time sending messages to each other, talking and trying to listen at the same time, exchanging information.

This seems to be our most urgent biological function; it is what we do with our lives..”

— The Lives of a Cell (1974) by biologist, writer, and etymologist Lewis Thomas

The Switch-Lit mission: to manifest the collective imagination of diverse writing communities through the connective power of collaborative fiction, poetry, and prose.

🌹

S••L