7th Wave: Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome! I'm thrilled to continue bringing you the Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley Fic-A-Fest. I hope that you and your friends join the H/G ficafest and I'm sure that we all look forward to your H/G fanfiction and artwork.
To take part in the ficafest, join the community, claim a challenge, and write or create your own H/G fic or artwork! The guidelines are located on the profile page.
Please note that the challenge list will not be posted until later this week, before or on December 1.
FAQ
How do I become a community member?
On the user info page, it says, "To join this community, click here", and you can click on the hyperlinked words "click here". Or, you can click on this.
I don’t see any challenges that I think suit me, but I still want to write and/or draw for the H/G ficafest. What do I do?
For fics, the prompt doesn't have to be the main plot or location. It can be a tiny detail within the story.
For artwork, maybe you could work with one of the participating writers to illustrate their fic.
Why are there different claiming dates?
For the first 48 hours (Dec. 1-2), past participants will have the first opportunity to claim a challenge. This is a small token of appreciation for writing and drawing previous ficafest entries. Starting December 3 (12:01AM EST), the challenges will be open to everyone.
Why are there two deadlines?
December 31, 2007 is the claiming deadline. If you want to submit artwork or fic for hpgw_ficafest, please claim by December 31st.
January 31, 2008 is the submission deadline. Please submit your entry by January 31st.
Why is the art claiming deadline different than the fic claiming deadline?
I've changed the art claiming deadline to January 31 so that there's an additional month that we can get more people to participate and submit a ficafest art entry. That's always a good thing, right? ;)
What if I still have plot bunnies and you've already posted the Challenges?
At this time, I won't be taking plot bunnies since we're using unused challenge prompts from previous waves.
How do I submit my ficafest entry?
First, you must be a member with posting access. Then, you can add an entry like you normally would to your LJ but instead, post it to hpgw_ficafest instead of your personal LJ. Your entry will be reviewed by a moderator before being posted in the community.
How long will it take for my challenge entry to show up in the community?
From less than 5 minutes to 48 hours. I need to make sure that your entry follows the guidelines and on top of that, I have RL obligations so I truly appreciate your patience and understanding.
I just LOVE H/G. Can I write or create more than one fic/artwork?
ABSOLUTELY! The more, the merrier. Just finish your first fic or artwork and submit it before the claiming deadline (December 31, 2007) before claiming another challenge.
What genre of fic will you be accepting?
Everything! We love all categories including comedy, tragedy, fluff, angst, smut, and romance.
Can I use a chapter of my WIP as my entry?
No. As stated in the Posting Rules, "previously written fics or new chapters of a non-ficafest WIP are not permitted."
In the template, some fields are optional. What does that mean?
In the Fic Template, "Summary", "Genre", "Word Count", and "Notes/Warnings" are optional so if you don't write something in those fields, you can delete them. For example, if the challenge prompt basically explains the summary, then you can just leave the summary blank. If you don't have any notes or warnings to add, you can remove the "Notes/Warnings" field.
However, you MUST list the first four (Author, Title, Challenge, Rating) in your template.
I’m not a LiveJournal member, but can I still join?
Everyone’s welcome to join, but you need to be an LJ member to post an entry. It’s free to have an LJ and you can click here to join.
What’s with the "fic-a-fest" term? Why not "ficathon" or "fuh-q-fest"?
When I started to organize this fanfiction challenge, I realized that most ficathons had "fic requests" while fuh-q-fests had "challenges". With the purpose of providing challenges rather than fic requests and to not concentrate on just smutty fics, I thought merging the two terms would work best. In addition, while the "fic" indicates the fanfiction part of the community, the "a" stands for "art". ;)
So yes, we're the original "ficafest".
Why do you use the term "waves"?
I'm not sure anymore. We used it once, and I stuck with the term and so I just haven't changed it to anything else.
So...if I think I want to do this now, but change my mind later, can I back out?
If you decide to claim a challenge but then realize that you're not able to finish it, just reply to your original claiming comment ASAP and I'll arrange it so that challenge is available to other authors and artists. No hard feelings. :)
Does joining the community mean I definitely have to do this?
To join the community doesn't necessarily mean to claim a challenge and create a fic or artwork, though I hope the people joining will participate.
Do we have to submit a plot bunny in order to claim one later?
Nope!
Is it okay if two writers collaborate on one challenge?
Yes, that's absolutely fine. We've had several authors work together on one challenge prompt in the past. It doesn't matter who submits the entry as long as it's one of the two authors and both of your names are listed in the Author line in the template.
We've also had a writer and an artist work together on one challenge prompt, so together, they submitted a fic and an artwork.
I know people are posting NC-17s - What about femslash? It's central to the story, even though the story is still H/G.
As long as the main ship of the fic is Harry/Ginny and there are proper warnings, then femslash or any type of slash is okay. Please remember to add warnings since some members prefer not to read slash. Thanks!
Is it allowed to join two challenges into one fic?
No, not at this time.
Where are the rated NC-17 challenges? Is there an age restriction?
For the 7th wave of challenges, there won't be any specifically rated NC-17 challenges. If you want to write or draw a NC-17 entry, you're welcome to do so. You must provide your birthdate in the Claiming Challenges post, and you will need to be at least 18 years or older to submit an entry.
Also due to the recent LJ changes, for NC-17 entries, each character must be at least 18 years old.
NOTE: Don't make me run around looking for your birthdate. If you've posted an NC-17 entry before, you don't need to provide it again, but if you're new, please make sure you've provided your birthdate. Otherwise, I''ll hold your entry hostage in the queue. =)
I've submitted my entry, but now I'm getting flames. :( What do I do?
Unfortunately, some trolls pass through with no real agenda other than to annoy people. It is possible to ban members so contact a moderator, but unfortunately, anonymous posters cannot be banned. For that reason, this community records anonymous member's IP addresses. In addition, since you are posting the challenge submission entry, you also have control over the comments replied to your entry. You can delete them, freeze them or screen them.
On the other hand, if these are really just negative constructive criticism (concrit), you might want to reconsider how you handle these reviews. Some authors would do anything for concrit, negative or positive, while others don't want any at all. If that's the case, I would suggest adding a note in your entry to ask for no concrit. Also, definitely get a beta reader so that you can get feedback before posting your entry.
What rating system are we using?
As of now, just continue using the same system as before: G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17. It's not like we own that popular system, but I assume that everyone is familiar with it and so it's the easiest one to use.
Is there a way to help pimp the ficafest?
Why, yes! This post holds the current information on how to upload images and link our lovely banners and icons to the ficafest, created by hrhobo.
Can I pimp my very own community/fanfiction/artwork or post other random things in this community?
NO. And please don't try to. Don't pimp your drabbles or say that the writers need to finish their fics now (OMG!!11!!!). It's a waste of my time as a moderator since I go through every post. I've been nice in the past about replying when clicking the "reject" button to delete your post from the moderation queue, but I won't make that effort anymore.
I do appreciate your attempts to create discussions on interesting topics like characters and ships, but there are many other Harry/Ginny communities and forums that provide an outlet for those topics.
LJ won't accept my whole fic in one entry. Why is that and what do I do?
LJ has a limitation on the number of characters in an entry (same thing goes for subject line, comments, and polls) and you can read that information in their FAQ. Basically, according to LJ, only 65,535 bytes or characters fit in one entry.
If LJ won't accept your long entry, try to split it in half and submit them separately. Don't forget to use the same format for the additional entries. Once the entries are posted, you can return and edit it to add a link to your different chapters or parts.
Why is the deadline January 31st and not later?
Because all good things must end at some point. XP And if I didn't give you a deadline, would you ever feel pressured to submit it?
Why do some links keep sending me to "hpgw-ficafest.livejournal.com" when it says it's for the FAQ or Claiming Challenge entry?
Because as I was trying to edit all these entries, I used that link as the default. Comment below to let me know where you still find that link and I'll fix it. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot.
Why did you screen or delete my comment?
As stated in the 6th Wave Claiming Challenge entry, only comments about claims, birthdates and unclaims are allowed. I am not receiving comments by email because of the volume, and so I have to go through everyone's comments. I know others are also reading these comments to skim the claimed challenges so not having these extra comments will make this flow smoother and more efficiently.
What are tags? Do I have to tag my entry?
These tags are a way to keep the community organized and accessible. You don't have to tag the entries since I have access to that ability, but if you want to tag your own entries, here's the system:
For fics: 7th wave, 7th wave:fic, author:authorLJname
For artwork: 7th wave, 7th wave:art, artist:artistLJname
For fics with an adult rating: fic warning:adult
For artwork with an adult rating: art warning:adult
Who is ladyranee? What happened to ladyg_funk?
ladyg_funk = Ranee
My question’s not answered here, what do I do?
You can comment below and ask your question and I will try to respond in a timely manner.
The Ten Steps to Participate in the H/G Fic-A-Fest
Things you can do as non-authors and non-artists:
1. Volunteer to beta read a fic.
2. Review hpgw_ficafest entries.
3. Tell your friends, strangers and grandmother's neighbor's mechanic's roommate's second cousin-twice-removed to check out the hpgw_ficafest.
Thanks in advance for all your hard work and participation!
To take part in the ficafest, join the community, claim a challenge, and write or create your own H/G fic or artwork! The guidelines are located on the profile page.
Please note that the challenge list will not be posted until later this week, before or on December 1.
FAQ
How do I become a community member?
On the user info page, it says, "To join this community, click here", and you can click on the hyperlinked words "click here". Or, you can click on this.
I don’t see any challenges that I think suit me, but I still want to write and/or draw for the H/G ficafest. What do I do?
For fics, the prompt doesn't have to be the main plot or location. It can be a tiny detail within the story.
For artwork, maybe you could work with one of the participating writers to illustrate their fic.
Why are there different claiming dates?
For the first 48 hours (Dec. 1-2), past participants will have the first opportunity to claim a challenge. This is a small token of appreciation for writing and drawing previous ficafest entries. Starting December 3 (12:01AM EST), the challenges will be open to everyone.
Why are there two deadlines?
December 31, 2007 is the claiming deadline. If you want to submit artwork or fic for hpgw_ficafest, please claim by December 31st.
January 31, 2008 is the submission deadline. Please submit your entry by January 31st.
Why is the art claiming deadline different than the fic claiming deadline?
I've changed the art claiming deadline to January 31 so that there's an additional month that we can get more people to participate and submit a ficafest art entry. That's always a good thing, right? ;)
What if I still have plot bunnies and you've already posted the Challenges?
At this time, I won't be taking plot bunnies since we're using unused challenge prompts from previous waves.
How do I submit my ficafest entry?
First, you must be a member with posting access. Then, you can add an entry like you normally would to your LJ but instead, post it to hpgw_ficafest instead of your personal LJ. Your entry will be reviewed by a moderator before being posted in the community.
How long will it take for my challenge entry to show up in the community?
From less than 5 minutes to 48 hours. I need to make sure that your entry follows the guidelines and on top of that, I have RL obligations so I truly appreciate your patience and understanding.
I just LOVE H/G. Can I write or create more than one fic/artwork?
ABSOLUTELY! The more, the merrier. Just finish your first fic or artwork and submit it before the claiming deadline (December 31, 2007) before claiming another challenge.
What genre of fic will you be accepting?
Everything! We love all categories including comedy, tragedy, fluff, angst, smut, and romance.
Can I use a chapter of my WIP as my entry?
No. As stated in the Posting Rules, "previously written fics or new chapters of a non-ficafest WIP are not permitted."
In the template, some fields are optional. What does that mean?
In the Fic Template, "Summary", "Genre", "Word Count", and "Notes/Warnings" are optional so if you don't write something in those fields, you can delete them. For example, if the challenge prompt basically explains the summary, then you can just leave the summary blank. If you don't have any notes or warnings to add, you can remove the "Notes/Warnings" field.
However, you MUST list the first four (Author, Title, Challenge, Rating) in your template.
I’m not a LiveJournal member, but can I still join?
Everyone’s welcome to join, but you need to be an LJ member to post an entry. It’s free to have an LJ and you can click here to join.
What’s with the "fic-a-fest" term? Why not "ficathon" or "fuh-q-fest"?
When I started to organize this fanfiction challenge, I realized that most ficathons had "fic requests" while fuh-q-fests had "challenges". With the purpose of providing challenges rather than fic requests and to not concentrate on just smutty fics, I thought merging the two terms would work best. In addition, while the "fic" indicates the fanfiction part of the community, the "a" stands for "art". ;)
So yes, we're the original "ficafest".
Why do you use the term "waves"?
I'm not sure anymore. We used it once, and I stuck with the term and so I just haven't changed it to anything else.
So...if I think I want to do this now, but change my mind later, can I back out?
If you decide to claim a challenge but then realize that you're not able to finish it, just reply to your original claiming comment ASAP and I'll arrange it so that challenge is available to other authors and artists. No hard feelings. :)
Does joining the community mean I definitely have to do this?
To join the community doesn't necessarily mean to claim a challenge and create a fic or artwork, though I hope the people joining will participate.
Do we have to submit a plot bunny in order to claim one later?
Nope!
Is it okay if two writers collaborate on one challenge?
Yes, that's absolutely fine. We've had several authors work together on one challenge prompt in the past. It doesn't matter who submits the entry as long as it's one of the two authors and both of your names are listed in the Author line in the template.
We've also had a writer and an artist work together on one challenge prompt, so together, they submitted a fic and an artwork.
I know people are posting NC-17s - What about femslash? It's central to the story, even though the story is still H/G.
As long as the main ship of the fic is Harry/Ginny and there are proper warnings, then femslash or any type of slash is okay. Please remember to add warnings since some members prefer not to read slash. Thanks!
Is it allowed to join two challenges into one fic?
No, not at this time.
Where are the rated NC-17 challenges? Is there an age restriction?
For the 7th wave of challenges, there won't be any specifically rated NC-17 challenges. If you want to write or draw a NC-17 entry, you're welcome to do so. You must provide your birthdate in the Claiming Challenges post, and you will need to be at least 18 years or older to submit an entry.
Also due to the recent LJ changes, for NC-17 entries, each character must be at least 18 years old.
NOTE: Don't make me run around looking for your birthdate. If you've posted an NC-17 entry before, you don't need to provide it again, but if you're new, please make sure you've provided your birthdate. Otherwise, I''ll hold your entry hostage in the queue. =)
I've submitted my entry, but now I'm getting flames. :( What do I do?
Unfortunately, some trolls pass through with no real agenda other than to annoy people. It is possible to ban members so contact a moderator, but unfortunately, anonymous posters cannot be banned. For that reason, this community records anonymous member's IP addresses. In addition, since you are posting the challenge submission entry, you also have control over the comments replied to your entry. You can delete them, freeze them or screen them.
On the other hand, if these are really just negative constructive criticism (concrit), you might want to reconsider how you handle these reviews. Some authors would do anything for concrit, negative or positive, while others don't want any at all. If that's the case, I would suggest adding a note in your entry to ask for no concrit. Also, definitely get a beta reader so that you can get feedback before posting your entry.
What rating system are we using?
As of now, just continue using the same system as before: G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17. It's not like we own that popular system, but I assume that everyone is familiar with it and so it's the easiest one to use.
Is there a way to help pimp the ficafest?
Why, yes! This post holds the current information on how to upload images and link our lovely banners and icons to the ficafest, created by hrhobo.
Can I pimp my very own community/fanfiction/artwork or post other random things in this community?
NO. And please don't try to. Don't pimp your drabbles or say that the writers need to finish their fics now (OMG!!11!!!). It's a waste of my time as a moderator since I go through every post. I've been nice in the past about replying when clicking the "reject" button to delete your post from the moderation queue, but I won't make that effort anymore.
I do appreciate your attempts to create discussions on interesting topics like characters and ships, but there are many other Harry/Ginny communities and forums that provide an outlet for those topics.
LJ won't accept my whole fic in one entry. Why is that and what do I do?
LJ has a limitation on the number of characters in an entry (same thing goes for subject line, comments, and polls) and you can read that information in their FAQ. Basically, according to LJ, only 65,535 bytes or characters fit in one entry.
If LJ won't accept your long entry, try to split it in half and submit them separately. Don't forget to use the same format for the additional entries. Once the entries are posted, you can return and edit it to add a link to your different chapters or parts.
Why is the deadline January 31st and not later?
Because all good things must end at some point. XP And if I didn't give you a deadline, would you ever feel pressured to submit it?
Why do some links keep sending me to "hpgw-ficafest.livejournal.com" when it says it's for the FAQ or Claiming Challenge entry?
Because as I was trying to edit all these entries, I used that link as the default. Comment below to let me know where you still find that link and I'll fix it. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot.
Why did you screen or delete my comment?
As stated in the 6th Wave Claiming Challenge entry, only comments about claims, birthdates and unclaims are allowed. I am not receiving comments by email because of the volume, and so I have to go through everyone's comments. I know others are also reading these comments to skim the claimed challenges so not having these extra comments will make this flow smoother and more efficiently.
What are tags? Do I have to tag my entry?
These tags are a way to keep the community organized and accessible. You don't have to tag the entries since I have access to that ability, but if you want to tag your own entries, here's the system:
For fics: 7th wave, 7th wave:fic, author:authorLJname
For artwork: 7th wave, 7th wave:art, artist:artistLJname
For fics with an adult rating: fic warning:adult
For artwork with an adult rating: art warning:adult
Who is ladyranee? What happened to ladyg_funk?
ladyg_funk = Ranee
My question’s not answered here, what do I do?
You can comment below and ask your question and I will try to respond in a timely manner.
The Ten Steps to Participate in the H/G Fic-A-Fest
- Claim a challenge.
- For artists, create your artwork based on the challenge prompt. Then go to step 4.
For authors, based on the challenge prompt, write a new fic that is 500 words or more, is not a chapter of a current WIP and is obviously Harry/Ginny. Go to step 3. - When you've finished writing your fic, ask a beta reader to beta read your fic. Edit and check your fic for mistakes. Make sure the story follows the challenge prompt, make sure you've corrected grammatical and spelling errors and make sure the story makes sense (if it's supposed to). And then edit and double check your fic again.
- For artists, follow the ART TEMPLATE guidelines. Fill in the template and place your artwork under an LJ-cut. Provide a teaser thumbnail if you so desire. Preview your post and check that you've properly used and closed all your tags.
For authors, follow the FIC TEMPLATE guidelines. Fill in the template. For the optional fields, if you do not use them, delete them from your template. Put your fic under an LJ-cut. Preview your post and check that you've properly used and closed all your tags. - Submit your entry to hpgw_ficafest. It then goes into the community moderation queue.
- Wait for your entry to be moderated.
- If there are no problems with your entry, it'll be posted in the community. Go to step 8.
If there are problems: Your entry will be deleted from the queue and a detailed note will explain the reasons and how you can fix them if your entry had problems including these issues:
- You didn't put your entry under an LJ-cut.
- HTML or XML code was missing so it messed up your entry.
- You didn't put your entry under an LJ-cut.
- You used a non-worksafe icon.
- You didn't put your entry under an LJ-cut.
- You didn't follow the template guidelines.
- You didn't put your entry under an LJ-cut.
- Your fic was filled with spelling errors. (Seriously, I want you to get GOOD reviews!)
- You didn't put your entry under an LJ-cut.
- You submitted an NC-17/adult-rating entry and you didn't provide your birthdate.
- You didn't put your entry under an LJ-cut.
- Your entry appears in the community.
- Pimp it and link back to your entry in the hpgw_ficafest.
You can also now post your entry in archives and in your personal LJ. - Review fellow ficafest members' artwork and fics.
Things you can do as non-authors and non-artists:
1. Volunteer to beta read a fic.
2. Review hpgw_ficafest entries.
3. Tell your friends, strangers and grandmother's neighbor's mechanic's roommate's second cousin-twice-removed to check out the hpgw_ficafest.
Thanks in advance for all your hard work and participation!