Someone asked me this question, but I thought it was an important enough topic that it deserved its own thread.

Based on responses to the other threads, the general consensus seems to be to keep the current overarching plot, rather than discarding it in favor of self-contained vignettes.

That's not to say that writers don't have any leeway, however. Since there's very few elements in place so far (the plan to weaken the amulet, the nature of its confines, etc.), it is easy to twist them into the right configuration. You'd be surprised how much a writer can get away with, as long as they justify it afterward.

For example, I assumed that at least one of the chapters would involve a character falling to the amulet and escaping with it. I hinted at various countermeasures in my opening chapters, but intentionally left their potency and efficacy vague. Could a pony (or changeling/minotaur/etc.) skillfully lie their way past the interviews? Could a character physically break the amulet out of its case and put it on before the guards interrupted them? Are the barriers strong enough to stop someone who is wearing the amulet from teleporting out?

All these and more are questions that each author can provide different answers to. And if a character should escape with the amulet, that raises even more questions that the author needs to answer: how do the princesses retrieve it? How do they justify continuing their volunteer effort, if there was a such a massive breach in security? And if they do decide to continue, how can the author portray this as a reasonable/desperate/insane decision without losing reader trust?

Now obviously, writing a chapter of the story that involves a character falling to the amulet and escaping with it, then it being returned, is committing to a higher wordcount. Since this is a collaborative story, though, I don't see this as an issue. If a writer wants to do something more long-winded or less structured, I'm fine with that, and I'm also willing to help write any additional material or scene-setting needed for such chapters.

I totally admit my idea involves, uh, just that. Or the appearance of that. I'm like - wanting to be vague in it because I think it will be funnier not knowing.

So yea my feelings are : Get a dedicated list of signups, get everyone in an order with at least some general idea of outline so that an author generally knows how strong/'weak' the amulet is on their turn, and go from there.

5903613 Well, theoretically, the amulet will only ever be As Strong as It Needs To. Since we can assume that not every pony who shows up is getting a chapter to themselves, some small Time Skips can be implied.

Obviously, we don't want to overdo this, to avoid reader fatigue, but the leeway is there.