Newsletter--February 2006
February's Challenges
This February, as we snuggle in for the last leg of winter, we celebrate romance and love stories with two challenges, one tooled for adult writers and the other acceptable for authors of all ages. Many thanks go to Jenni (digdigil) for her input and ideas regarding this month's challenges.
One True Love (for adult authors)
Many of us are guilty of it: that one pairing that captures our fantasies, the love story that Tolkien never wrote...but we just know it should have been. It torments our thoughts, expresses itself in awkward behavior in our otherwise well-behaved characters, and many times, goes unwritten for shame. It is wholly unjustified by the canon or is just too weird. Maybe the characters lived too far apart in time or geography to be brought together; maybe their differences were insurmountable to friendship much less romance. The characters might be different races, different species, or the same gender.
But for this challenge, I want you to forget all of your qualms, cast aside your inhibitions, and write your one true pairing.
No matter how odd, no matter how wrong it feels, share in a story why this pairing captivates you. Whether it is an AU (alternate universe) pairing as common as Maedhros and Fingon or as strange as Galadriel and Aulë (or even stranger!), your goal for this challenge is to build a story around the premise of love between two characters that we never seen Tolkien's canon. Het or slash is acceptable, but both characters in the pairing must be canon characters (although only one needs to be from The Silmarillion) and the story should be more than just a raucous love scene. Create characters and build a story that convinces your readers that these characters belong together, and use love scenes to advance your plot and characterization.
Love Conquers All (for all authors)
So the old saying goes: "Love conquers all?" Does it? Can love overcome the death of a loved one? The trauma of war? The pain of exile?
In this challenge, show how one character helps another to overcome a difficulty in his or her life through love and romance. At least one of the characters must be a canon character, but the pairing may also involve an original character or may be AU (alternate universe). It may be slash or het, and any rating is acceptable. The difficulty faced may be from the canon, implied by the canon, or may be AU.
Here are a few examples:
If you have ideas for compelling story hooks for this challenge or know of any good examples of stories that satisfy this challenge (either your own or someone else's), please feel free to share them in a comment or in a post to the group.
The Quote of the Month Challenge
As of February, a new quote will be presented each month as inspiration for stories, poems, and drabbles. The resulting stories need not take place at the point in the book from which the quote was taken but should be based on the idea and theme that the quote expresses. So, for example, while this month's quote involves Olwë speaking to Fëanor, a story for this challenge might take place in the Second Age, between the royalty of Numenor.
Thanks to Jenni (digdigil) for suggesting this challenge and for the first month's quote!
“But it may be the part of a friend to rebuke a friend’s folly”.
-Olwë to Fëanor, The Silmarillion, “Of the Flight of the Noldor”
Do you have a favorite quote that you think might inspire other authors as well? Let me know! I am seeking quotes for future quote challenges; please email me at DawnFelagund@comcast.net with your ideas.
Other Ongoing Challenges
At SWG, challenges never die. You are welcome to write for a challenge at any time. All of our past challenges have been tagged and may be found here.
A Call for New Challenges!
The SWG does not have a committee or person devoted to challenges: The challenges are for members to create! If you have an idea for a challenge or would like to suggest a quote for the monthly quote challenge, please do not hesitate to suggest it on-list or email me privately at DawnFelagund@comcast.net.
As always, all Silmarillion writing, including challenge responses, is welcome in our LJ community.
Welcomes and Birthdays
I would like to extend warmest welcome wishes to Atanwende, Alina, Vana, mrspotterslullaby, Wolfwind, jeanngenie, and Marina, our new members who joined the Yahoo! portion of our group in January! Welcome also to those who have joined or are following our LiveJournal.
Maedhros (nelyo) will be celebrating her birthday on 13 February! She has requested stories about the House of Fëanor, the House of Hador, Beleg, Gwindor, or Morgoth, especially those which tell of events "historical" to the canon. No slash or AU, please.
Do you want to get stories for your birthday and other special occasions? Sign up on our "Give Someone a Silmaril" database, located on our Yahoo! Groups homepage or post your request to the list or the LiveJournal.
News and Announcements
The SWG Archive Site
Thank you to all for the excellent input I received this past month about our archive site, as well as for the technical suggestions and offers to volunteer. I have created a database at our Yahoo! group for those who are interested in helping to build and maintain our archive site, found here. Please sign up if you're interested in helping out.
We Still Need a Logo!
While we have two wonderful icons kindly created and donated by evils_hero and tarion_anarore, we will need an actual group logo--preferably something simple and of a small file size--to use on our group site. Many of you, I know, are talented with art and graphics, and if you have any ideas for our logo, please send them to me at DawnFelagund@comcast.net. If I receive more than one, we will let the group vote on them.
Not a member? Do you want to be?
The SWG consists of two components: a Yahoo! email group, for discussions, story promotions, and planning, and a LiveJournal community for sharing our Silmarillion writing. Members are welcome to belong to both or just one, depending on what best suits their needs.
Read more about the Silmarillion Writers' Guild at our LiveJournal Community Information page.
To join our Yahoo! group:
At any time, I encourage people--both members and non-members--to contact me with inquiries. I may be reached at DawnFelagund@comcast.net or through either the Yahoo! or LiveJournal groups.
This February, as we snuggle in for the last leg of winter, we celebrate romance and love stories with two challenges, one tooled for adult writers and the other acceptable for authors of all ages. Many thanks go to Jenni (digdigil) for her input and ideas regarding this month's challenges.
One True Love (for adult authors)
Many of us are guilty of it: that one pairing that captures our fantasies, the love story that Tolkien never wrote...but we just know it should have been. It torments our thoughts, expresses itself in awkward behavior in our otherwise well-behaved characters, and many times, goes unwritten for shame. It is wholly unjustified by the canon or is just too weird. Maybe the characters lived too far apart in time or geography to be brought together; maybe their differences were insurmountable to friendship much less romance. The characters might be different races, different species, or the same gender.
But for this challenge, I want you to forget all of your qualms, cast aside your inhibitions, and write your one true pairing.
No matter how odd, no matter how wrong it feels, share in a story why this pairing captivates you. Whether it is an AU (alternate universe) pairing as common as Maedhros and Fingon or as strange as Galadriel and Aulë (or even stranger!), your goal for this challenge is to build a story around the premise of love between two characters that we never seen Tolkien's canon. Het or slash is acceptable, but both characters in the pairing must be canon characters (although only one needs to be from The Silmarillion) and the story should be more than just a raucous love scene. Create characters and build a story that convinces your readers that these characters belong together, and use love scenes to advance your plot and characterization.
Love Conquers All (for all authors)
So the old saying goes: "Love conquers all?" Does it? Can love overcome the death of a loved one? The trauma of war? The pain of exile?
In this challenge, show how one character helps another to overcome a difficulty in his or her life through love and romance. At least one of the characters must be a canon character, but the pairing may also involve an original character or may be AU (alternate universe). It may be slash or het, and any rating is acceptable. The difficulty faced may be from the canon, implied by the canon, or may be AU.
Here are a few examples:
- After the death of Finwë's wife Miriel, how did Indis help him to cope with this? Along the same lines but with more of an AU slant, how might a lover have helped Turgon to recover from the loss of his wife while crossing the Helcaraxë?
- How might the love between a husband and wife help them cope with the difficulty of raising their first child?
- How did Fingon help Maedhros to recover his strength and pride after being rescued from Thangorodrim? Or, alternatively, how did an original female character do the same?
If you have ideas for compelling story hooks for this challenge or know of any good examples of stories that satisfy this challenge (either your own or someone else's), please feel free to share them in a comment or in a post to the group.
The Quote of the Month Challenge
As of February, a new quote will be presented each month as inspiration for stories, poems, and drabbles. The resulting stories need not take place at the point in the book from which the quote was taken but should be based on the idea and theme that the quote expresses. So, for example, while this month's quote involves Olwë speaking to Fëanor, a story for this challenge might take place in the Second Age, between the royalty of Numenor.
Thanks to Jenni (digdigil) for suggesting this challenge and for the first month's quote!
“But it may be the part of a friend to rebuke a friend’s folly”.
-Olwë to Fëanor, The Silmarillion, “Of the Flight of the Noldor”
Do you have a favorite quote that you think might inspire other authors as well? Let me know! I am seeking quotes for future quote challenges; please email me at DawnFelagund@comcast.net with your ideas.
Other Ongoing Challenges
At SWG, challenges never die. You are welcome to write for a challenge at any time. All of our past challenges have been tagged and may be found here.
A Call for New Challenges!
The SWG does not have a committee or person devoted to challenges: The challenges are for members to create! If you have an idea for a challenge or would like to suggest a quote for the monthly quote challenge, please do not hesitate to suggest it on-list or email me privately at DawnFelagund@comcast.net.
As always, all Silmarillion writing, including challenge responses, is welcome in our LJ community.
Welcomes and Birthdays
I would like to extend warmest welcome wishes to Atanwende, Alina, Vana, mrspotterslullaby, Wolfwind, jeanngenie, and Marina, our new members who joined the Yahoo! portion of our group in January! Welcome also to those who have joined or are following our LiveJournal.
Maedhros (nelyo) will be celebrating her birthday on 13 February! She has requested stories about the House of Fëanor, the House of Hador, Beleg, Gwindor, or Morgoth, especially those which tell of events "historical" to the canon. No slash or AU, please.
Do you want to get stories for your birthday and other special occasions? Sign up on our "Give Someone a Silmaril" database, located on our Yahoo! Groups homepage or post your request to the list or the LiveJournal.
News and Announcements
The SWG Archive Site
Thank you to all for the excellent input I received this past month about our archive site, as well as for the technical suggestions and offers to volunteer. I have created a database at our Yahoo! group for those who are interested in helping to build and maintain our archive site, found here. Please sign up if you're interested in helping out.
We Still Need a Logo!
While we have two wonderful icons kindly created and donated by evils_hero and tarion_anarore, we will need an actual group logo--preferably something simple and of a small file size--to use on our group site. Many of you, I know, are talented with art and graphics, and if you have any ideas for our logo, please send them to me at DawnFelagund@comcast.net. If I receive more than one, we will let the group vote on them.
Not a member? Do you want to be?
The SWG consists of two components: a Yahoo! email group, for discussions, story promotions, and planning, and a LiveJournal community for sharing our Silmarillion writing. Members are welcome to belong to both or just one, depending on what best suits their needs.
Read more about the Silmarillion Writers' Guild at our LiveJournal Community Information page.
To join our Yahoo! group:
At any time, I encourage people--both members and non-members--to contact me with inquiries. I may be reached at DawnFelagund@comcast.net or through either the Yahoo! or LiveJournal groups.