Read this first *g*
A few things you should know before deciding you want to audition to take part in this virtual season:
1) This won't be like any other virtual season you may have participated in before.
Why not, you ask? Because the weakest part of episodic television is that there is very little continuity and very little collaboration. This usually happens because there are twenty-odd screenwriters independently writing their own little scripts with no desire to know what else has happened in the show's universe. (There are exceptions, of course, but this is sadly true for the vast majority of television shows.)
I think that must change in order for us to write a superior season two. To facilitate that change, we will work out as a group what the main arc of the season is going to be and what major plot points will happen throughout the season before any writing is done or story assignments are made.
Another way this will be different is the level of collaboration I expect from every single member of this community. You will not take your story assignment off into a corner, write it up by yourself, have your editor edit it and then post it without any feedback from the other members of the VS crew. Instead, you will take your list of plot points, genre and central characters, write the episode, have it edited by someone in the group, and then post parts on a regular schedule to the community LJ so that everyone can read it over and make suggestions for edits or catch any plot holes prior to the episode being "aired." That way there won't be any "but the whole point of the episode is ridiculous, because if they'd just done this, none of it would have happened" conversations from readers after the fact. *g*
2) Not everyone in the community is a writer, but everyone's input is equally valuable. I've asked several people to join and help as editors, plot-hole catchers, and to be a preview audience. Listen to them as well as your fellow writers, as they're the ones who will tell you when the Emperor is naked. *g*
3) Yes, you read that right: you will have to audition in some fashion in order to participate in this virtual season. More details on that process will follow shortly.
4) All posts--except for a few admin posts that I make (like this one)--should be friends-locked. I've set the defaults for the community to lock all posts automatically, so it shouldn't be an issue, but be aware of the f-lock all the same. Remember that half the fun is keeping the plots a secret until an episode airs. In my opinion, anyway. ;)
Corollary: don't talk about the details of your story with other people not participating in this VS. You're more than welcome to talk about it in general terms, but any specific discussion should be kept to this community. Failure to keep the story to yourself until it airs will result in my beating you over the head with a puddle jumper.
5) Actual episodes will be announced via an RSS feed, so there's no point in friending this LJ in order to be notified when episodes air. I will announce far and wide where to go to get that information when the time comes.
6) In the event that a consensus cannot be reached on whatever topic is under discussion, I have the final say. In other words, I'm the dictator. A benevolent dictator, but a dictator nonetheless. I don't expect to ever have to use that line-item veto power, since all you folks are sane and intelligent, but I wanted to make sure this was clear from the very start. *g*
7) If you don't know, ask. (It's a simple life motto, really.)
1) This won't be like any other virtual season you may have participated in before.
Why not, you ask? Because the weakest part of episodic television is that there is very little continuity and very little collaboration. This usually happens because there are twenty-odd screenwriters independently writing their own little scripts with no desire to know what else has happened in the show's universe. (There are exceptions, of course, but this is sadly true for the vast majority of television shows.)
I think that must change in order for us to write a superior season two. To facilitate that change, we will work out as a group what the main arc of the season is going to be and what major plot points will happen throughout the season before any writing is done or story assignments are made.
Another way this will be different is the level of collaboration I expect from every single member of this community. You will not take your story assignment off into a corner, write it up by yourself, have your editor edit it and then post it without any feedback from the other members of the VS crew. Instead, you will take your list of plot points, genre and central characters, write the episode, have it edited by someone in the group, and then post parts on a regular schedule to the community LJ so that everyone can read it over and make suggestions for edits or catch any plot holes prior to the episode being "aired." That way there won't be any "but the whole point of the episode is ridiculous, because if they'd just done this, none of it would have happened" conversations from readers after the fact. *g*
2) Not everyone in the community is a writer, but everyone's input is equally valuable. I've asked several people to join and help as editors, plot-hole catchers, and to be a preview audience. Listen to them as well as your fellow writers, as they're the ones who will tell you when the Emperor is naked. *g*
3) Yes, you read that right: you will have to audition in some fashion in order to participate in this virtual season. More details on that process will follow shortly.
4) All posts--except for a few admin posts that I make (like this one)--should be friends-locked. I've set the defaults for the community to lock all posts automatically, so it shouldn't be an issue, but be aware of the f-lock all the same. Remember that half the fun is keeping the plots a secret until an episode airs. In my opinion, anyway. ;)
Corollary: don't talk about the details of your story with other people not participating in this VS. You're more than welcome to talk about it in general terms, but any specific discussion should be kept to this community. Failure to keep the story to yourself until it airs will result in my beating you over the head with a puddle jumper.
5) Actual episodes will be announced via an RSS feed, so there's no point in friending this LJ in order to be notified when episodes air. I will announce far and wide where to go to get that information when the time comes.
6) In the event that a consensus cannot be reached on whatever topic is under discussion, I have the final say. In other words, I'm the dictator. A benevolent dictator, but a dictator nonetheless. I don't expect to ever have to use that line-item veto power, since all you folks are sane and intelligent, but I wanted to make sure this was clear from the very start. *g*
7) If you don't know, ask. (It's a simple life motto, really.)