Here's chapter one. Now you write the rest, author tells fans

Legions of frustrated writers whose dreams of publishing a great masterpiece are thwarted by short-sighted publishers can for the first time get a helping hand from some of the world's most successful novelists and the internet.

The author Joanna Harris, best-known for her romantic novel Chocolat, will today start a new story on the internet and then step back and allow amateur writers to continue and develop it into what may become a fully-fledged published novel.

Ms Harris, who saw Chocolat turned into a hit film starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche, is just one of a number of literary luminaries to contribute to TheNeverEndingStory site, which was initially aimed at amateur writers who wanted to read new stories as they develop, or to write the next page or verse of stories or poems.

The site has intrigued successful writers, however, who can't help wondering how their stories could end up if a member of the public were to contribute. Ms Harris, who has made her new story, Wildfire, available on the site said: "The site is very interesting as it breaks down the barrier between the professional writer and the amateur writer. There are so many people who write very well on the net, who haven't really had much attention.

"This really gives people a platform and an opportunity to get feedback – and to enjoy themselves. After all, writing should be enjoyable, not just a question of us and them, and the published and the would-be published. Stories should be fun for everyone."

The children's writer Dick King Smith, the disgraced Conservative peer Jeffrey Archer, the crime writer Peter James, the BBC journalist Jeremy Vine and authors Isabel Wolff and Lesley Pearse have all recently posted beginnings of stories on the site.

Initially the brainchild of 38-year-old former journalist-turned entrepreneur Arup Biswal, the community website, launched last year, now has around 1,500 members and receives over 22,000 visitors each month.

"There seemed to be a lot of sites such as Myspace, Youtube and Facebook, where people can upload content to share with other people," said Mr Biswal. "But what wasn't on the web were projects which utilised the power of the internet, allowing people to collaborate. Because my interest was in books and fiction, I wondered why there couldn't be a system where people could collaborate on one document. What's interesting is that the global idea has come true. You can start a story in Mumbai and it see it finished in London."

From the initial story, writers submit the next page or chapter which is stored in a central admin section of the site. The writer then decides which will be the next part of the story.

"The whole internet fiction thing is great in terms of being adventurous and experimenting and there is the nice fact that you get human stimulus from so many more people than you could interact with in your real life," said Ms Harris.

Further reading theneverendingstory.co.uk