Shared universe

A Shared universe is a literary technique in which several different authors share settings and characters which appear in their respective works of fiction, often referring to events taking place in the other writers' stories. It can also be called a "shared setting." It can be a metafictional device. Shared fictional universes tend to appear more frequently in fantasy and science fiction than in other genres.

Threaded time

The threaded nature of some forums, and the fact that such stories are usually visible to readers before they are complete, can present a difficulty in keeping events in a linear chronology. If unchecked, story time can 'branch' in the same way as threaded conversations do. Approaches to this problem include:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Planning out events likely to branch 'behind the scenes' before making them public (e.g. over email between authors).
• Retconning as necessary to restore linearity.
• Imposing rules on who can add to the story, when, to ensure that each author's contribution is taken into account before the next is added.
• Accepting 'threaded time', either as a reality of the shared universe or by doing one's best to ignore it.