Round 4: Signs ups for REMIXERS, i.e. to offer to write remixes (open until March 7)
[ Round 4: Signs ups for REMIXERS, i.e. to offer to write remixes ]
What is this?
Qualifying
Writing Details and The Final Product
How do I sign up?
» What is this?
Ever read a story and think, wow, what a fascinating story, but if I had written it, I would have...
Well, now here’s your chance to do just that. Rewrite someone else’s story, tell somebody else’s tale. Take the work of another person and wrap it up in your vision and style, just like a remixer does to songs.
So just take another person’s story and change everything?
º Yes and no. You can do whatever you like to the story-change POV, dialogue, mood, characterization, make it longer or shorter, whatever-except for three things: pairing(s), setting(s) (except in certain circumstances, see below), and the basic plotline.
Why can’t I change ________?
º Basic plotline. If you change the plot too much, then you’re really not writing the same story, right? This doesn’t mean you can’t change things, adding or deleting as you see fit. All details that fall outside the essential plot events are up for grabs. Look at all the different re-tellings of The Little Mermaid, for instance. This also tends not to be as much of a problem if you decide to remix a drabble; the essential plot is 100 words is usually obvious. If you’re remixing a longer piece, you can choose one detail/scene/theme from it and focus on that.
º Pairing(s). Don’t touch the pairing. This challenge is about reinterpreting a story that’s already been told, and when you change the pairing you’re doing more than that. So, no, you cannot change the pairing(s) in the story. We also do not want any slash pairings het-ified or het pairings slash-ified. You may, if you feel it necessary, background the pairing(s) and focus on less pairing-centric plot points.
º And with the settings, people may take non-AU stories and make them AUs only if the plot remains almost exactly the same.
All right. So then we can choose any story we want to rewrite?
º Not just any story. Each participant will be assigned a writer (who will be a fellow participant and chosen at random, but matched by fandom-every participant will have at least one fandom in common with their assigned remixee) and must choose a story from that writer.
You can choose any story written by the person you are assigned except for whichever story they designate as their safe story (explained below) or remixes they’ve written in the past (if they have any).
Also, please note that there is no matching on pairing or genre (i.e., slash, het, or gen), so if you only write het, for example, or only write a particular pairing or character, etc., you probably don’t want to sign up, because there is no guarantee you’ll get someone who matches on those requirements.
And just in case it’s not common sense, don’t pick a series or story that’s unfinished. It just causes bad feelings all around, which is something we are trying to avoid. So when you’re browsing, be sure that you’re not remixing into the middle of your remixee’s story; be sure that anything you pick is marked as able to stand on its own or eligible for remixing.
I’m still confused. We’re just writing someone else’s story?
º Rewriting. Don’t just change a line here and there. Despite the restrictions, there are still plenty of ways you can remix the story: Change the POV, the tense, the style of writing, the tone, mood-be creative. Have fun. Make a mess if you want. Remember, it’s a challenge.
» Qualifying
What fandoms/pairings qualify?
º This is a multi-fandom challenge, so everyone from BSG to Supernatural to Dr. Who fandom and beyond should join in. RPF and RPS are also welcome. If you’ve written in more than one fandom, so much the better. If you’ve only written in one fandom, you may ask to write in a new fandom, but must be willing to write in your current fandom. Actually, everyone must be willing to write in at least one of their written-in fandoms. Matching depends on how many people sign up, and what fandoms they’re in.
If you want to write in a more obscure fandom, make sure you bring two or three friends along who also write in that fandom, so you have something to remix.
So what’s a safe story?
º It’s the one story that you don’t want anyone messing with, for whatever reason. You only get one. You don’t have to have one, only if you want. Any story you wrote for any past Remix challenge is also ineligible to be remixed again, as it is based in part at least on someone else’s story, and may contain significant bits of that original story.
I’ve only written a few stories. Can I still play?
º As long as you have a minimum of five (5) stories of at least one hundred (100) words in one (1) fandom (crossover fandoms are acceptable), not including your safe stories or past remixes.
Works in Progress are not accepted, and crossovers are only acceptable if you have written at least (5) of the same crossover; say you’ve written (5) Heroes/Stargate: Atlantis crossovers, then you could count that as a qualifying fandom, but unless you had also additionally written (5) Heroes and (5) SGA only stories, they would not be eligible as single fandoms.
Do I have to have a website?
º Yes, because otherwise, how will we find your work? You don’t need your own website; hosted stories are fine as long as they’re all on the same site. Stories posted to LiveJournal are okay as long as there is some sort of index or listing for them, making them easily accessible. Stories posted only to friends-only LJs or LJ communities, message boards and/or mailing lists are ineligible because access to those is often limited. If your stories are hosted on a password protected archive, you must provide the Remix mod with the password, and she will pass it on to the person you are assigned to (and then forget she ever knew it).
»Writing Details / The Final Product
What if I’ve co-written with someone?
º If you have someone you co-write with regularly and the two of you wish to sign up for the challenge together, you will be counted as one participant and only the stories you have written together are eligible. If you regularly co-write with someone but only one of you signs up, then your co-written stories are off-limits. The same goes if both of you sign up but separately.
Is there a maximum length of the fic that I’m remixing (i.e. the fic that you’re writing a remix of)?
No. As long as your remixee’s story is complete, go for it. And if you can distill their 25,000 words down into 500 of your own, I think we’ll all be impressed. ;) You can also take just a portion of their larger completed work and write a drabble focusing on that-you’re not limited by the scope of their story, that is, you don’t have to write a remix that covers everything that happens in their original. You just have to stick with what occurs within the original fic.
Is there a maximum length to the remix that I write?
º Yes. Because this is a drabble-based remix-a-thon, we really really prefer if your remix can be between 100 and 500 words, with closer to 100 words strongly encouraged. Round numbers like 200, 300, 400 and 500 and drabbles and a half like 150, 250, 350, and 450 are also greeted with enthusiasm and cookies. Of course, if it’s not happening, don’t feel bad!-that’s why there’s some flexibility in there.
The absolute maximum length is 1,000 words, though we strongly encourage anyone who’d like to write a fic that length to check out remixredux, a challenge very similar to this whose minimum wordcount is 1,000. If at all possible, keep your fics 500 words and under. This upper wordcount limit is mainly so that no one finds that they haven’t received a remix on the due date because someone wrote them one that was too long.
Disclaimer:
The management, meaning me, is not responsible for whatever is done to your story. If you can’t handle the idea of someone else playing around with your babies, don’t sign up. If you do not sign up, your drabbles will not be remixed. Remix The Drabble is completely opt-in only, so please don’t comment in a panic that you don’t want your drabbles touched. Unless you sign up, you have nothing to fear from this challenge.
» How do I play?
Are there any sort of deadlines?
º Signs-ups for Round 4 will be open until March 7. Assignments will be sent out from March 8 to 10. Remixed drabbles will be due by 11:59PM PST on April 1.
How do I sign up?
Sign-ups this round will be a little different, because we are doing NON-RECIPROCAL remixes. That means that you have the option of offering your fic to be remixed, and you have the option of signing up to write remixes, but you are not required to do both.
This post is for OFFERING TO WRITE REMIXES, i.e. to participate in round 4 as a remixer. The qualifications for offering to write remixes is, well, that you are willing to write a remix and turn it in on time and that you are confident you can write in the fandoms you’re signing up for. This will be on the honor system, so please be honest about which fandoms you can write.
This round, I will be giving remixers the option of writing more than one remix. Remixers are only required to write one, but the option of writing up to five remixes will be available.
The way this will work is that participants who sign up to write more than one remix will be given a PRIMARY assignment, i.e. a singular assignment that they HAVE to write, and the other four will be remixes they can write if they have time. There will be no penalty if you sign up to write five remixes and only write one as long as you write your REQUIRED PRIMARY ASSIGNMENT. This is to ensure that as many remixees as possible get matched up with qualified writers.
Put another way, if you sign up to write five remixes, you will be sent one required assignment and four potential additional assignments. Your four additional assignments will be completely optional.
To offer to write remixes this round, reply to this post with the following information:
º LJ (if you have one; not required to participate) or name
º Preferred e-mail address
º Number of remixes you’d like to write (the minimum is one, the maximum is five, and you will only have one required assignment regardless of how many you sign up to write)
º The top three fandoms you’d like to write in (you are not required to offer three or more fandoms, but obviously offering more will increase the likelihood of you getting matched up)
º Other fandoms you’re willing to write
º Whether or not you’ll be willing to pinch hit if someone defaults
Filled out with my info as an example:
LJ: trascendenza
E-mail: trascendenza [at] livejournal [dot] com
How many remixes I’d like to write: 5
Top three fandoms I’d like to write in: The Invisible Man, Brimstone, Threshold
Other fandoms I’m willing to write in: Big Wolf on Campus, Bare: A Pop Opera, RENT, Good Omens, Neverwhere, Farscape, Firefly, Heroes (if you don’t want to list them all, please do link me to a comprehensive list)
Pinch hit: Yes.
You can copy and paste the following:
LJ or name:
E-mail: [at] [dot]
How many remixes I’d like to write:
Top three fandoms I’d like to write in:
Other fandoms I’m willing to write in:
Pinch hit:
If you're looking for the remixee, that's here.
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