About Optional Details (Which are Optional!)

[elynross]

OPTIONAL DETAILSWhile you don't have to include any optional details in your requests, these can be very helpful in letting your author know what kinds of stories you like, and what kinds of stories you don't like. Each year I act as a go-between to help some Yuletide writers get additional information from their recipients, and the most common

Comments

[carmarthen]

I do fairly often mention non-nominated characters I like, with more detail than "I like all the characters, so anything is fine," but never because I really want those and I DON'T want the nominated characters I requested--more to give the writer additional options if they're not feeling it for the characters I requested. is that okay?

[elynross]

Absolutely! I tried to make that clear, I'm sorry if it wasn't. It's pretty much all in how it's said, whether it's given as extra info to make sure they don't feel they have to limit *just* to the requested characters, or if someone says, "Clyde wasn't nominated this year, but that's who I'd really like a story for!" This is particularly awkward when they end up matched to someone who offered specific characters, rather than "Any".

It's okay to say, "I like these guys, too", but every year we get multiple reports of people trying to use the details to get around not having someone nominated that they want to request, and I wanted to make it clear that that is just not on.

[carmarthen]

I try to not be limiting in my letters, but I get paranoid, since I see so many complaints about Dear Author letters....

[elynross]

One of the things I try to keep in mind is that the complaints (about anything, really) generally only add up to a handful of people, at most, while there are nearly 2000 participants. Far more people are pretty happy with how things work, but what you hear are the people who publicly complain.

I figure that if I approach it with a good heart and good intent, and just do the best I can, it will work out (wrt details/letters). But trust me, I agonize over them right along with you.

[lukecanwaltz88]

This is so helpful! Thank you!

[myxginxblossoms]

You can, but make sure it's only one of your prompts. If I matched with someone who wanted a Supernatural crossover, for instance, I'd be completely fucked, even though it's very popular. And I would advise not to make it sound like you wanted the other fandom more than the one you actually requested. Someone who signs up to write about The Last Unicorn isn't probably going to be too cheered if the prompt they receive makes it clear that their recipient really wants to read about the Avengers.

But if you just throw it in as something they might want to consider, it's cool! I'm doing that this year, too. ♥

[elynross]

Yes, you totally can -- I've gotten requests like that, and had a blast. *g* And they don't have to be eligible, but remember, it's entirely possible your writer won't be familiar with the fandom in question. As long as you give multiple prompts, and are clear that any of them are equally enjoyable, it should be fine. The way you put it here sounds good!

[the_con_cept]

Um, I tried to offer for "Dirk Gently" but it only gave one character as an option to write . . . and then it told me I couldn't offer only one character? Do I just need to choose "any?"

[ultrapeach]

The same happened to me... only one pops up but two are actually nominated. I hit 'any', figuring it's just a small mistake.

[the_con_cept]

Oh, I see! Any works fine for me, thanks. :)

[elynross]

There are actually two characters (Dirk Gently, Richard Macduff) based on the tag set (although both may not show up in the pulldown), so you can either specify them both, or just tick "Any", and that will work the same way.

[elynross]

Hmmm. Well, if all of the prompts have that one character, it's going to seem very much that that's the character you want. So, yes, I do think it would be better to actually request that character, because if you choose 0, you may get someone who didn't offer that particular character at all, and then when they see that every prompt *has* that character...

Whereas if you do request that one, then you'll match anyone who offers that one + any others, or "Any", and if you then say you aren't committed even to that one, if they want to write something else... I think that way has less potential to make an assigned writer feel awkward.