Collaborative writing can be a difficult, but ultimately rewarding expedience. Most people just work with an another author on a large work like a novel. However, I would like to propose something a little different:
Collaborative Poetry! Specifically in the form of limericks.
Now, the limerick is one of my favorite forms of poetry. I think they are very fun and bouncy, and you can easily make a story with them. Limericks are mostly determined by their rhyme scheme, but there is a syllable count as well.
For example:
There once was a boy named Jack
Who frequently caught lots of flack
For being too odd
And committing mail fraud
They’re waiting for him to bring it back
That’s how limericks work, but how do you make them collaborative, you ask? Well, there’s two ways to play with this poetry game. The first is line-by-line. Each of the people in the group takes a turn making up a line of the poem. This works better in smaller groups.
The second way is for each person to write a stanza on a piece of paper. Pass the paper to the next person and they write a limerick connected to it. continue until the first person gets their paper back. This version works better in larger groups. It could even be a good class activity!
You also don’t need to use the limerick form for this activity. It’s just an easy form to pick up. But you could certainly use couplets or even the pantoum. Patterned forms work best, but don’t let that stop you from trying some collaborative free verse.
The most important thing is to have fun.