Mixedink.com - Free Collaborative Writing Tool

Traditionally speaking, writers are something of a peculiar breed. No, that is too risky a generalization – a line must be drawn between those who write prose and those who write poetry. I can’t recall right now whether it was the Nobel laureate W.B. Yeats or his father who claimed that prose is the language of sociable spirits, while poetry is the voice of solitary souls – whoever it was from that incredibly talented family, he couldn’t have hit the nail more squarely on the head.

I was reminded of all this when looking at this site. You see, this new online resource enables authors to collaborate with others and come up with a text which has input from users everywhere. Such an approach can only apply to prose writing – I share Yeats’ vantage point. Poets are people who need a truly private space (“A room of their own”, to quote Ms. Woolf), and such a tool would never work out for them. Poetry, by definition, is the result of an inner conflict that is solely resolved within one’s own self. Prose has a way out when the dilemma becomes collective.

As such, this online resource adheres to its tagline of “Many people – one voice” by letting users collaborate in fields like citizen journalism, news articles and blog posts. Moreover, it is possible to ask for the advice of fellow internauts as regards texts for petitions and related documents. This service is provided at no cost whatsoever, too, so it can be said that MixedInk can help out more than a handful of people all over the world.

“MixedInk takes a fresh approach to collaborative writing. It's a fun, democratic and elegant way for people to weave their best ideas together. (Plus, it's free!)”

It makes collaborative writing processes a tangible reality.

How can this system be further developed?