ADMIN: Rough Draft FAQs
First off, the mods would like to take this opportunity to officially say that all deadlines for thelittlebang have been pushed back by one week. The updated remainder of the schedule is as follows:
When you say "first draft," what exactly do you mean?
For the purpose of thelittlebang, we're defining "first draft" as: anything ranging from a mostly finished story that's just in need of a polishing beta to a story that has all of the major elements of plot/storyline included, but is missing some scene details/prose and is still in need of fairly deep beta-ing.
The following FAQs should help you figure out whether or not your draft fits into that (pretty broad) category.
Does my first draft need to be exactly 15,000 words? what if it's more? what if it's less?
15k is just the minimum required word count for a finished story to be included in thelittlebang - if you've written more than 15k, that's cause for celebration!
On the other hand, if you get to 19th September and you're still a little bit under 15,000 words, don't despair! As long as you're fairly close (let's say no less than 13,000 words), your story meets the requirements for plot and details outlined below, and you feel reasonably confident that you'll be able to hit 15,000 words by the final deadline, you can absolutely turn in your draft.
There will be a place for you to explain why you're under the 15k minimum in the template you'll be using to turn your draft in, and we mods will review your story to make sure there is potential for it to be finished by the final deadline and that there is enough for an artist or vidder to work with. We'll also contact you privately a couple of times over the following month to make sure you're making good progress towards hitting the 15k mark. This allows us the opportunity to pull the artist/vidder as soon as it becomes obvious that the story will not be finished, should that turn out to be the case.
What if my first draft is missing scenes and/or prose?
As long as the missing scenes and/or prose don't make up too large a part of your story or plot, that should be okay. You may want to consider leaving any plotting notes or comments about those missing pieces in your story, so your artist/vidder can get a feel for what's not there.
If you're worried about this being an issue, pass your story by a beta or friend before you turn it in. If they are able to follow the flow of your story even with the missing bits, your assigned artist/vidder will probably be able to, too. There will also be a place in the formatting you'll use to turn your story in where you'll be able to note that your story has missing prose/scenes, so your artist/vidder will have fair warning before they start reading.
What if my first draft is missing key plot points?
Your first draft needs to have the main plot points nailed down. Even if you haven't turned those points into scenes or fleshed them out with prose, they still need to be included in your first draft in the form of notes or comments, or whatever works best. We'll be reviewing turned in stories with an eye to this, and will hold stories back from being assigned to artists until a draft that includes a full plot outline is turned in.
As above, running your story by a beta or friend for advice/help with this issue is a good way to avoid a delay in your story being assigned to an artist or vidder.
What if I end up making a couple of changes to my story after I turn in the first draft?
Of course you'll be changing things as you continue to write and/or edit before turning in your final draft. That's totally fine, just as long as those changes don't drastically affect the plot and/or outcome of the story.
What if I decide to make major, drastic changes to the plot or events of the story after I turn in my first draft?
Honestly? You'll have to face the wrath of a couple of angry moderators. it's simply not fair of you to give an artist/vidder one story to work with only to turn in a completely different story. So just, you know, don't do it.
Does my first draft need to be beta read?
No, though if you have the chance and the time for even a quick, basic beta read that would be great. Your assigned artist/vidder knows they're going to be working with an unfinished story, but that doesn't mean you can't make things easier for them to read if you have the chance.
Does my first draft need to be spell checked?
Absolutely! Let me say that again: your first draft must be spell checked. It takes about five seconds to click the spell check button, and it's just basic, common courtesy. We will be reviewing stories as they are turned in, and while we will not run spell check for you (we will not change your story in any way), we WILL hold it back from being assigned to an artist/vidder until you send us a new, spell checked version.
If you write in a program that is not equipped with spell check, please either c&p your story into one that is able to spell check or use an online checker.
When you say first drafts are due on 19th September, you really mean that I can turn mine in on the 20th or 21st, right?
The simple answer is no. We're not expecting everyone to turn their stories in at exactly 12:01 on the 19th, and we understand that sometimes RL things come up and get in the way of fannish commitments. But we mods are working against a deadline to get turned in first drafts out to assigned artists and vidders, and we'd rather not miss that deadline. Some of our artists/vidders will be creating for more than one story, and we want to give them as much time to work their magic as possible. Therefore, any stories turned in after the 19th will be dropped to the bottom of the list and be assigned artists/vidders only as they become available.
Is there a particular file format or template I need to use to turn my story in?
Yes,, and that will be in the next post after this one, along with the template information that was previously mentioned.
If you have any questions about first drafts that haven't been addressed, please feel free to ask them in the comments to this post and we'll do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.
- Rough Drafts Due: September 19 by 23:59 EST
- Editing, Complementary Fanworks Creation: September 20 - October 23
Claiming and creation of complementary fanworks, whether, fanart, vids, or written works.
Editing of initial fanworks.
- Posting Begins: October 24
Initial and complementary fanworks to be posted. Please note: Stories will be posted at the AO3. We will create a challenge for TLB. Fanart and vids will be hosted on alternate webspace. (If the AO3 is up and running on hosting fanart, it will be hosted at the AO3 as well, but we can't promise anything, of course.)
When you say "first draft," what exactly do you mean?
For the purpose of thelittlebang, we're defining "first draft" as: anything ranging from a mostly finished story that's just in need of a polishing beta to a story that has all of the major elements of plot/storyline included, but is missing some scene details/prose and is still in need of fairly deep beta-ing.
The following FAQs should help you figure out whether or not your draft fits into that (pretty broad) category.
Does my first draft need to be exactly 15,000 words? what if it's more? what if it's less?
15k is just the minimum required word count for a finished story to be included in thelittlebang - if you've written more than 15k, that's cause for celebration!
On the other hand, if you get to 19th September and you're still a little bit under 15,000 words, don't despair! As long as you're fairly close (let's say no less than 13,000 words), your story meets the requirements for plot and details outlined below, and you feel reasonably confident that you'll be able to hit 15,000 words by the final deadline, you can absolutely turn in your draft.
There will be a place for you to explain why you're under the 15k minimum in the template you'll be using to turn your draft in, and we mods will review your story to make sure there is potential for it to be finished by the final deadline and that there is enough for an artist or vidder to work with. We'll also contact you privately a couple of times over the following month to make sure you're making good progress towards hitting the 15k mark. This allows us the opportunity to pull the artist/vidder as soon as it becomes obvious that the story will not be finished, should that turn out to be the case.
What if my first draft is missing scenes and/or prose?
As long as the missing scenes and/or prose don't make up too large a part of your story or plot, that should be okay. You may want to consider leaving any plotting notes or comments about those missing pieces in your story, so your artist/vidder can get a feel for what's not there.
If you're worried about this being an issue, pass your story by a beta or friend before you turn it in. If they are able to follow the flow of your story even with the missing bits, your assigned artist/vidder will probably be able to, too. There will also be a place in the formatting you'll use to turn your story in where you'll be able to note that your story has missing prose/scenes, so your artist/vidder will have fair warning before they start reading.
What if my first draft is missing key plot points?
Your first draft needs to have the main plot points nailed down. Even if you haven't turned those points into scenes or fleshed them out with prose, they still need to be included in your first draft in the form of notes or comments, or whatever works best. We'll be reviewing turned in stories with an eye to this, and will hold stories back from being assigned to artists until a draft that includes a full plot outline is turned in.
As above, running your story by a beta or friend for advice/help with this issue is a good way to avoid a delay in your story being assigned to an artist or vidder.
What if I end up making a couple of changes to my story after I turn in the first draft?
Of course you'll be changing things as you continue to write and/or edit before turning in your final draft. That's totally fine, just as long as those changes don't drastically affect the plot and/or outcome of the story.
What if I decide to make major, drastic changes to the plot or events of the story after I turn in my first draft?
Honestly? You'll have to face the wrath of a couple of angry moderators. it's simply not fair of you to give an artist/vidder one story to work with only to turn in a completely different story. So just, you know, don't do it.
Does my first draft need to be beta read?
No, though if you have the chance and the time for even a quick, basic beta read that would be great. Your assigned artist/vidder knows they're going to be working with an unfinished story, but that doesn't mean you can't make things easier for them to read if you have the chance.
Does my first draft need to be spell checked?
Absolutely! Let me say that again: your first draft must be spell checked. It takes about five seconds to click the spell check button, and it's just basic, common courtesy. We will be reviewing stories as they are turned in, and while we will not run spell check for you (we will not change your story in any way), we WILL hold it back from being assigned to an artist/vidder until you send us a new, spell checked version.
If you write in a program that is not equipped with spell check, please either c&p your story into one that is able to spell check or use an online checker.
When you say first drafts are due on 19th September, you really mean that I can turn mine in on the 20th or 21st, right?
The simple answer is no. We're not expecting everyone to turn their stories in at exactly 12:01 on the 19th, and we understand that sometimes RL things come up and get in the way of fannish commitments. But we mods are working against a deadline to get turned in first drafts out to assigned artists and vidders, and we'd rather not miss that deadline. Some of our artists/vidders will be creating for more than one story, and we want to give them as much time to work their magic as possible. Therefore, any stories turned in after the 19th will be dropped to the bottom of the list and be assigned artists/vidders only as they become available.
Is there a particular file format or template I need to use to turn my story in?
Yes,, and that will be in the next post after this one, along with the template information that was previously mentioned.
If you have any questions about first drafts that haven't been addressed, please feel free to ask them in the comments to this post and we'll do our best to get back to you as soon as possible.