To put it simply, the idea of The Edward Ballister Project is to put together the ULTIMATE horror novel. Seems simple, right? After all many horror scribes have placed terrifying scenes into print. However, The Edward Ballister Project takes the works of multiple authors in order to make a complete novel. Each writer submits one chapter in attempt to create an overall novel of terror. The overall concept may appear easy to a writer--simply create a horrific chapter surrounding the characters and setting provided--yet, I can attest that there is truly more than meets the eye (the reading eye) when it comes to The Edward Ballister Project!
Before I continue, let me give you a brief history of Edward Ballister. Edward Ballister was created by Jeff Ezell (Wish World). After creating the first chapter of Edward Ballister, Jeff came to a pause in order to tend to another story he had in the works. In the interim, the technology of MySpace offered blogs from his MySpace friends and he began reading some of their work. Two authors' works in particular (Jessica Lynne Gardner and Charlotte Emma Gledson) stood out to Jeff, and he approached them both about the idea of taking a tale and using the imaginations of various authors as the building blocks of one complete novel of terror. Hence, The Edward Ballister Project was born. There may be more behind this, but that's my taking and, perhaps, the Cliff's Notes version.
There have been over twenty authors (myself included) involved with The Edward Ballister Project. Although creativity is highly suggested to all contributors who partake in this work, one must also realize that the work of each author must maintain a continuity to the story as well. In my opinion, that is where seasoned writer comes in. After all, depending on the chapter one is assigned, it is imperative that the writer read previous chapters to keep plot, characterization and setting somewhat in place. After all, a main character's mannerisms rarely change in a novel. For example, if a writer has mentioned that his main character continuously lights up a cigarette in chapter three, it would kill the credibility of that character if (in chapter sixteen) the reader discovers that X character waves a hand to a passing pedestrian who is taking a drag of a cigarette. Though it may seem like common sense to many writers, such mannerisms can easily be overlooked in creating a full-length novel. In fact, I've been guilty of falling into the "continuity trap" myself.
So it was that I was assigned Chapter Fourteen of Edward Ballister. I accepted this as both a challenge and a godsend. The challenging portion was attributed to the fact that there were thirteen previous writers who had set the main ideas and crux of the plot into motion. It was ever so important for me to keep track of all the details surrounding the characters and events taking place in the novel. In fact, as I read each chapter of Edward Ballister, I scribbled various notes to use as a reference for such details.The godsend of it all was that I would be creating a chapter that was far enough in the novel, that I could (or so I was hoping) develop a turn in events, a shocking surprise, without hurting the credibility of the overall plot. This, too, became a challenge. As I read through each chapter I began to mentally produce where I saw the story going and began penning my ideas for my chapter. However, as I reached the chapters before my own, I was greeted by many twists and turns that killed my take on the plot altogether. I recall mentally cursing, Damn! This isn't going to work in my chapter! It was at that point that I continued taking notes; however, I decided to refrain from the creation process until I finished the final sentence of Chapter Thirteen. As I read the last page, my inspiration was at a standstill. Chapter Fourteen of Edward Ballister began with me closing my eyes. Darkness enveloped me; my thoughts were random. I began typing and, before I knew it, I'd come to understand the direction with which I was heading with Edward Ballister.
My ultimate goal was to live up to the concept of Edward Ballister being the "ultimate horror novel." Therefore, my mind raced with various ideas that, not only I, but many others would find to be horrific. In the end, I was extremely happy with my contribution to Edward Ballister. I don't want to give away the details of my chapter as I am hoping that the novel will be published and readers will get the enjoyment of reading such a cutting edge novel.
Details of the novel's publication are not yet available, as Edward Ballister is still in the process of being created. For a brief overview of The Edward Ballister Project and a list of contributing authors (which reminds me, I still have to submit my author bio), check out the official Edward Ballister MySpace page.
In my opinion, I feel that contributing to Edward Ballister was a challenging and enlightening experience that I am proud to be a part of!
Before I end this entry, I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Jeff Ezell, Jessica Lynne Gardner, and Charlotte Emma Gledson for giving me the opportunity to contribute to such an amazing project!
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andrew_wolter- Andrew Wolter
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