Support Group Sign-Ups - Open through Wednesday!
So this is something we have over at sgabigbang - support groups! In order to promote a feeling of comrades in arms in the community, I encouraged writers to break themselves up into little subsets of our challenge here, so that they could set up a little e-mail chain to check on their progress/encourage one another/harass one another, etc. Each group could interact as much as they wished.
It can be a really good way to get to know your fellow challenge writers, and let's face it--if any challenge were worth bitching over, it's probably going to be this one. This is just meant to be an additional resource for you to call upon. Sometimes working with new people can be really invigorating. You don't necessarily have to read each other's stories - that'd be nice, optimal really - but you can complain and cry or ask for whatever help you need, like StoriesAnonymous or something.
Make it into what you need; anything goes with the groups. A couple of FANTASTIC suggestions can be found from the writers of the SGA Big Bang Challenge here.
Before we get into this, I will say: THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. If you are a lone wolf writer, awesome! You can pretty much skip the rest of the post. It is totally fine if you don't want a group! The point of all of this is to give you all the tools we can to help you with this challenge.
So here are your SUPPORT GROUP OPTIONS:
**1** If you want to be a member of a support group, and you know people already in this challenge, one member can comment with the names of the people in their group. (ie, email each other and come report back to us.) No more than 5 or 6 people per group, please.
**2** If you want to be a member of a support group, and you don't know many people in this challenge, you can talk amongst yourselves in comments - introduce yourself, (talk about what you want to write/what you'd like from a group, etc.) see if anyone comments back and form up that way. Again, no more than 5 or 6 people, please. (And once you find your group, make one comment with all your names that I will see. *g*) DO NOT FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING POLL IF YOU ARE FINDING MEMBERS IN COMMENTS. It just gets me all confused and then I have to check names on lists.
**3** If you want to be a member of a support group, and you don't know many people in this challenge, but the thought of introducing yourself in comments is omg NERVEWRACKING/TIMECONSUMING, I will happily assign you to groups. FILL OUT THE POLL BELOW. YOU SHOULD NOT BE COMMENTING THOUGH.
So make sure you're filling out the poll in the most accurate way possible, or find yourself your own group in the comments section - say directly what kind of people you're looking for; we don't care. *g* (No pairing bashing, obviously.) Let's have a controlled free-for-all. Emphasis on 'controlled'.
We'll have roll calls at least biweekly where members of your support group can report in on everyone's progress.
Or some such thing. We'll figure it out as we go, have some way to make this fun. We want this to be a cool experience for all of you, not something where you're feeling alone, miserable, and googling 'voodoo' at 3 in the morning to use against us.
There is also a list of ready and willing cheerleaders for each section of the challenge. You can find them in the 'cheerleaders: the cheering section' tag at the side. I *strongly encourage* you to use them. If you know your group members are swamped, and you just want someone to tell you you're not hideous, these people have signed up their time and encouraging skills all for you. Take them up on it! If you're not going to be a member of a smaller group here, this is especially useful for you.
I leave it in your hands. This poll is open until Wednesday. I will post my random group assignments on Thursday.
Now, remember, you should only be filling out this poll if you aren't going to try to find some group members in comments or if you're unsuccessful in finding group members in comments.
Going through the brief summaries you've provided, we've got a huge number of Arthur/Merlin writers, and a smaller number of a few other pairings/threesome/foursome situations. So since there's a smaller number of these, it's very difficult for me to assign you if you want to have similar pairings in your group, hence the lack of...poll options. You'll probably be best served just commenting.
Poll Get your support groups!
It can be a really good way to get to know your fellow challenge writers, and let's face it--if any challenge were worth bitching over, it's probably going to be this one. This is just meant to be an additional resource for you to call upon. Sometimes working with new people can be really invigorating. You don't necessarily have to read each other's stories - that'd be nice, optimal really - but you can complain and cry or ask for whatever help you need, like StoriesAnonymous or something.
Make it into what you need; anything goes with the groups. A couple of FANTASTIC suggestions can be found from the writers of the SGA Big Bang Challenge here.
Before we get into this, I will say: THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. If you are a lone wolf writer, awesome! You can pretty much skip the rest of the post. It is totally fine if you don't want a group! The point of all of this is to give you all the tools we can to help you with this challenge.
So here are your SUPPORT GROUP OPTIONS:
**1** If you want to be a member of a support group, and you know people already in this challenge, one member can comment with the names of the people in their group. (ie, email each other and come report back to us.) No more than 5 or 6 people per group, please.
**2** If you want to be a member of a support group, and you don't know many people in this challenge, you can talk amongst yourselves in comments - introduce yourself, (talk about what you want to write/what you'd like from a group, etc.) see if anyone comments back and form up that way. Again, no more than 5 or 6 people, please. (And once you find your group, make one comment with all your names that I will see. *g*) DO NOT FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING POLL IF YOU ARE FINDING MEMBERS IN COMMENTS. It just gets me all confused and then I have to check names on lists.
**3** If you want to be a member of a support group, and you don't know many people in this challenge, but the thought of introducing yourself in comments is omg NERVEWRACKING/TIMECONSUMING, I will happily assign you to groups. FILL OUT THE POLL BELOW. YOU SHOULD NOT BE COMMENTING THOUGH.
So make sure you're filling out the poll in the most accurate way possible, or find yourself your own group in the comments section - say directly what kind of people you're looking for; we don't care. *g* (No pairing bashing, obviously.) Let's have a controlled free-for-all. Emphasis on 'controlled'.
We'll have roll calls at least biweekly where members of your support group can report in on everyone's progress.
Or some such thing. We'll figure it out as we go, have some way to make this fun. We want this to be a cool experience for all of you, not something where you're feeling alone, miserable, and googling 'voodoo' at 3 in the morning to use against us.
There is also a list of ready and willing cheerleaders for each section of the challenge. You can find them in the 'cheerleaders: the cheering section' tag at the side. I *strongly encourage* you to use them. If you know your group members are swamped, and you just want someone to tell you you're not hideous, these people have signed up their time and encouraging skills all for you. Take them up on it! If you're not going to be a member of a smaller group here, this is especially useful for you.
I leave it in your hands. This poll is open until Wednesday. I will post my random group assignments on Thursday.
Now, remember, you should only be filling out this poll if you aren't going to try to find some group members in comments or if you're unsuccessful in finding group members in comments.
Going through the brief summaries you've provided, we've got a huge number of Arthur/Merlin writers, and a smaller number of a few other pairings/threesome/foursome situations. So since there's a smaller number of these, it's very difficult for me to assign you if you want to have similar pairings in your group, hence the lack of...poll options. You'll probably be best served just commenting.
Poll Get your support groups!