When Penguin and Specsavers decided to ask crime fans in the twitter community to contribute plot devices for a crime thriller story, what would the results be? Candlesticks and libraries, clichés more suited to a boardgame than a short story? Or would the ideas be far more obscure and imaginative?
And how would three very different crime authors interpret this framework? Would they inevitably write the same tale, or would the stories hanging around these plot markers be inventive and intriguing, personal to each author?
To answer these questions, we approached Nicci French, Tim Weaver and Alastair Gunn, hoping they would participate in the #Youdunnit experiment: take these crowdsourced plot points and prompts and use them to write a short story.
How could they say no?
‘We’re looking forward to seeing ideas from crime readers for the #Youdunnit experiment. To have much of the plotting taken out of our hands could be a blessing or a curse – time will tell!’
Nicci French
#Youdunnit began, and we were thrilled by the response from readers. Over a thousand tweets and 675 ideas contributed to the debate, choosing not just the plot, but even the titles and cover design. A week later, we distilled all the proposals down to a single framework to pass to these ever-more-anxious authors. To keep those creative juices flowing we asked that the authors used the crowdsourced ideas wherever possible. Whilst not compulsory to use them all, we were keen that the key details were incorporated when the opportunity arose. Oh, and we gave them just ten days …
We think the results are fantastic: three rich, intricate and unique stories. But it’s you, the crime-reading public, who chose the barebones of them, so we’d love to know what you think of the results.
We hope you enjoy the pages that follow. Let us know what you think, using #Youdunnit.