! 2014 challenge style
Hello everyone! Your resident mod of Otherworlds here, with an announcement!
JE Otherworlds will be running this year, but as a challenge rather than a full-fledged exchange. An Otherworlds summer matsuri, if you will!
The decision to change the way the exchange is held was mine alone, and not just based on the user comments in the last post. Actually, based on those comments alone, it would have been difficult but there would have been just enough interest spread to have the cycle run as usual. But in the long run, it wasn't really about who could write what.
In the past few weeks, I have sat down and really thought about a lot of the factors surrounding the slow demise of ficdom for JE fandom. I mean, it was probably inevitable because of a lot of contributing factors - the widespread reach of lots of other social networking sites that has reduced LJ fandom to a very small slice of the pie rather than the bulk of it, like it was a few years ago. Whichever way you look at it, the truth now is that people just aren't writing, for whatever reason. Throw in the stress of having to write something that you hope with all your talents and skill that your recipient likes, and do that to yourself multiple times a year for multiple years and it's really not rocket scientist why participation fell off the way it has. So I thought about what and how fandom would benefit from another exchange and ultimately came to the thought that maybe fandom doesn't need another exchange - fandom just needs a place where people are writing, period.
And so the Otherworlds challenge was born.
What does this mean for Otherworlds?
While Otherworlds will still be the AU ficfest fandom is used to, it will now be a challenge where participants may submit prompts, then claim one off a master list to write as they wish. Groups, pairings, ratings, content - all of that is left to each writer to do as they like with the prompt they choose, taking the stress of having to write for someone off, but still maintaining a bit of a challenge in that now there is a deadline, and your creative boundaries in terms of setting and story are directly tied to the prompts your fellow participants can come up with. There may be a ton of great prompts you want to try and write! There's the possibility that there's absolutely nothing that catches your eye. Either way, Otherworlds will be designed to provide you with as much support as it can in order to see a fic through from start to end.
How will it work?
There will be four phases to the challenge, as follows:
In a nutshell, that's how the challenge will run this time. I tried really hard to think of everything I needed to and, of course, there may be confusing bits or things I overlooked in general. If there are any questions or concerns, please let me know in the comments of this post! Any feedback on this new reincarnation of Otherworlds would be appreciated!
JE Otherworlds will be running this year, but as a challenge rather than a full-fledged exchange. An Otherworlds summer matsuri, if you will!
The decision to change the way the exchange is held was mine alone, and not just based on the user comments in the last post. Actually, based on those comments alone, it would have been difficult but there would have been just enough interest spread to have the cycle run as usual. But in the long run, it wasn't really about who could write what.
In the past few weeks, I have sat down and really thought about a lot of the factors surrounding the slow demise of ficdom for JE fandom. I mean, it was probably inevitable because of a lot of contributing factors - the widespread reach of lots of other social networking sites that has reduced LJ fandom to a very small slice of the pie rather than the bulk of it, like it was a few years ago. Whichever way you look at it, the truth now is that people just aren't writing, for whatever reason. Throw in the stress of having to write something that you hope with all your talents and skill that your recipient likes, and do that to yourself multiple times a year for multiple years and it's really not rocket scientist why participation fell off the way it has. So I thought about what and how fandom would benefit from another exchange and ultimately came to the thought that maybe fandom doesn't need another exchange - fandom just needs a place where people are writing, period.
And so the Otherworlds challenge was born.
What does this mean for Otherworlds?
While Otherworlds will still be the AU ficfest fandom is used to, it will now be a challenge where participants may submit prompts, then claim one off a master list to write as they wish. Groups, pairings, ratings, content - all of that is left to each writer to do as they like with the prompt they choose, taking the stress of having to write for someone off, but still maintaining a bit of a challenge in that now there is a deadline, and your creative boundaries in terms of setting and story are directly tied to the prompts your fellow participants can come up with. There may be a ton of great prompts you want to try and write! There's the possibility that there's absolutely nothing that catches your eye. Either way, Otherworlds will be designed to provide you with as much support as it can in order to see a fic through from start to end.
How will it work?
There will be four phases to the challenge, as follows:
- Phase 1: Prompt Submissions
During this period, those interested and committed to seeing the challenge through will be allowed to leave one prompt of TWO SENTENCES MAXIMUM on a mod post. All comments will be screened. I also must stress that the point of the prompt is not to leave a whole summary of what you'd like to see, or what you have in mind already. You will not be allowed to claim the prompt you suggest. This is to ensure that everyone has the same amount of time to brainstorm and write as everyone will be getting a new prompt, as well as presenting the initial challenge in the first place -- you will have no idea what your fellow participants are putting up for prompts until the prompt list goes up after submissions close.
Prompts should be a maximum of two sentences with only the general setting and story. Do not include any groups, pairings, or main characters in your prompt. This is to give everyone full control of their prompt, as well as being open-ended for those who have previously expressed interest in participating in Otherworlds but had reservations based on the community's overall lack of interest in their groups of choice.
Examples of what kind of prompts you can submit:
The ultimate journey to become a Pokemon master with only three Magikarp, a disgruntled Cubone, and the ever faithful sidekick = perfectly fine.
A fail Team Rocket agent tries to conquer the world with a legion of Jigglypuffs, each with their own markers = also acceptable.
Tegoshi on a mission to become Pokemon Master with three sequined Magikarp, a disgruntled Cubone named Shige, and his best friend Massu = not permissible.
- Phase 2: Prompt Claims
Once the submission period is over, I will compile a list of all the prompts and post them in one big post, and from that point on, everyone has 5 days to leave a comment with your top 3 prompt choices. As this will be first come, first serve, I will do my absolute best to ensure that everyone gets the prompt they really, really desire, but in the case that it was already claimed, back-ups are a must. Once the post is closed, you will receive an official email from Captain Planet with a reiteration of the new rules, as well as your official prompt! Once you receive this email, the oyster is yours to do with as you will!
- Phase 3: Optional Fun
While I was thinking of the best way to revamp Otherworlds, I also thought about the non-writers in fandom, like those who are artists or are stellar at putting fanmixes together, and thought it would be a great bit of fun if they could be involved somehow!
Halfway through the designated writing time, I will send an email to all the participants asking for a short fic summary of what you're planning on writing. Then, I'll compile those summaries together and make an official art/soundtrack claims post for artists and fanmixers to take a look and see if anything catches their eye. With your permission, after they've claimed a fic, they will have the option to contact you directly about your fic - if there's anything important to take note of, or maybe you have a particular scene you want depicted, or a specific genre of music you'd like to see used, this is when you would communicate that. Again, this is optional, for both the writers and potential artists and fanmixers.
Of course, if there's no interest in this part of the challenge at all, I can just nix it no problem.
- Phase 4: Deadlines, Posting, Reveals
This part is the usual exchange type stuff -- except there will be no extensions given unless for extenuating circumstances.
- Timeline:
The timeline will be handled differently than usual, but will still give you roughly two months to write.
Prompt submissions will be open from August 1 - 5, midnight.
Prompt claims will commence August 6 - 11. Emails with your confirmed prompt will be sent out the evening of the 11th.
* Summary requests from September 1 - 3; list of summaries for artists/fanmixers to claim will be posted the 3rd.
Deadline for all submissions is September 30.
Posting will commence October 6, with reveals on October 20th.
In a nutshell, that's how the challenge will run this time. I tried really hard to think of everything I needed to and, of course, there may be confusing bits or things I overlooked in general. If there are any questions or concerns, please let me know in the comments of this post! Any feedback on this new reincarnation of Otherworlds would be appreciated!