The search for Kalid/How the story was created

In here, Davinci and JWSchmidt will tell how they created they story and how they saw the development process. Warning, some mild spoilers included!

Davinci.
I began the story The search for Kalid as my first English story (I'm not a native English speaker). It was my intention to write a story based on the space travel genre, influenced mostly by my readings of Asimov's Foundation, particularly Foundation and Earth. So, I was bold and began writing it, paying little attention to grammar and syntax. I got suggestions and a rating by YZH, who enjoyed reviewing stories (and was quite good at it).

JWSchmidt got attracted to the story in the second comment: "I am very interested in science fiction that explores the boundary between materialism and spiritualism." As we had worked before in finishing VirileMail I said yes to the collaboration request, started a meta and The search for Kalid was born.

Then, I found a contest in my language which was about a science fiction story. As I had wrote one chapter of Kalid back then, I decided that would be the story for the contest. The contest had a constraint: no more than 30 pages. So, basically in few days I wrote the entire La búsqueda de Kalid as a short story.

The story was rejected because I could not deliver the e-mail on time so I was free to do whatever I wanted with the story (I would lose the copyright to it, in case I participated in the contest). It was then when we focused on improving the meta by sharing our vision on the plot. It took several IRC sessions and much content at the meta for me to be able to explain what I had already written as a short story.

JWSchmidt began writing at chapter 6 of the story, while I was translating or rewriting the first and second chapters. Some users were puzzled for this style of parallel writing. As we discussed much things at IRC, there was no problem in achieving this. Everything we wrote was in agreement.

My original idea for this story was centered around Kalid and how Leone must search him to save the Empire. I recognize I was very influenced by Asimov's Galactic Empire (not George Lucas Star Wars version of it). The other part of the plot involved Set, "the Evil one". At the beginning of the story Leone tells Sybil Set is wiping entire planets and is planning to do the same on Sakkara. Sybil suggests Leone to go in search for Kalid.

I will try not to include many spoilers. JWSchmidt added interesting ideas like the use of nanotechnology, green goos, space elevators, robots, and many key things to the main plot. So, the story became complexer while we were discovering where this would lead us.

We had times when we were blocked but we usually found ways to overcome them, by expanding the meta, discussing new possibilities, etc. We got to a pause in the Moon, which took some months until JWSchmidt created a civilization in there.

Well, that's basically it. During that process, JWSchmidt created several media files, got interested on spirituality and religion (I guess) and we both learned from each other. I guess the trick of collaboration is simple: just try not to take positions like "I won't allow this in the story". Everything can be discussed and modified in order that both authors agree to some extent. --Davinci - talk 18:08, 25 July 2009 (UTC)