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What's a ficathon
A ficathon is a story exchange where you sign up to write a story and, in exchange, you get a story written for you!
To give your assigned writer something to work with, you'll be asked to provide three prompts when you sign up, together with some information on what you would like (for example, genre and pairing wise) and what you would not like (for example 'no deathfic' or 'I'd rather not get pairing Y'). Your assigned writer will then write a story based on one of these prompts (or a combination of prompts if they're feeling particularly creative) and you'll do the same for your assigned recipient in return.
Assignments will be kept anonymous until the day of posting - i.e. you won't know who is writing for you until they post their story, and you won't reveal who you're writing for until the day stories are due.
All stories will be posted on the same day so there will (hopefully) be a smorgasbord of fic to read.
How it works
Sign up below, giving the required information and providing an e-mail address to which we can send your assignment.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aithine and I will then mix and match requests and assign you someone to write for.
When the big day arrives, you post your work in your LJ or on another journal site or your webpage and I make a post and ask you to comment, linking to your work and saying who it's for. Thenaithine and I put together a master list of all stories.
How long does the story need to be?
At least 1,000 words.
When does it have to be done by?
Sign ups are open until 30 April.
Assignments will be sent out in early May.
Stories are due on 30 June 2008. That means you'll have around 8 weeks to write something.
What if I can't complete my assignment on time?
First of all, please give it your best shot. It's really not fair if someone signs up, delivers their promised assigment and then discovers that the person assigned to provide something for them has dropped out.
That being said, if there's no helping it, please let eitheraithine or me know as soon as possible. The earlier you can let us know, the more time we have to find someone to step into the breach (pinch hit).
Why only stories?
We've run thing-a-thons before, where people sign up to create fanart as well as stories, but as this is the first time we've run one of these in the Primeval fandom, we thought we'd keep it simple.
If there is interest in expanding the challenge to include vids, fanart etc, then we'll consider it for future thing-a-thons, but baby steps first :)
I see I can make it clear what I don't want written for me, but what if I can't/don't want to write something?
You'll also be able to say what you don't want to write (for example death fics, non-con, a particular pairing). However, as this is a small fandom, I'm going to ask that people are as flexible as they can be in what they'll write. We'll try and match recipient and writer as closely as possible, but it may not be possible to have a perfect match, for example if you only request a very rare pairing or indicate that you're only willing to write a very rare pairing. Obviously, if you say that you can't write a particular pairing, you won't be assigned it, but on the other hand if you say you'll only write a particular pairing, then it may not be possible to accomodate you if no one requests it.
Also, please bear in mind that you are trying to fill someone else's request. You may like writing and reading angsty, non-con or death fics but that doesn't mean that your recipient will like receiving a story that contains these things. Please take a cue from the prompts they've submitted.
What should my prompts be?
Anything you like, really. To give you some ideas, it can be: a short synopsis of a story; an opening line; a quote you think might be inspiring; or three words that you'd like your assigned author to include in the story. Please keep the prompts fairly simple rather than detailed plot synopses, because they're no fun for the writers to work with.
However, we are going to caveat this a little:
- please keep your prompts clean. That doesn't mean that the end story needs to be ::g:: but there are a lot of younger authors in the fandom, so you should bear in mind that one of them may receive your prompts and word them accordingly.
- please be reasonable about your requests. A ficathon is a great place to request a story that you may not get to read otherwise, but remember that someone has to write it.
This means that while we won't stop you from requesting original characters, crossovers or smut, only one of your prompts should fall into any of these categories. For the first two, there's no guarantee that your assigned author will be familiar with the original character you or your friends may have created or any show other than Primeval that you watch. For the last one, if your assigned author isn't old enough to read (and therefore write) explicit stuff, then again they need to have prompts that they can work with. In all three cases, that would mean that these prompts would be automatically eliminated, and we need to make sure that authors have at least two prompts that they can choose from.
Does that mean I can't write or won't get more adult stories?
No. Provided that you and your assigned author/recipient are adults and your recipient has indicated that they're fine with more adult stuff in their request, then it would be fine to write something like that. However, I would suggesting wording your prompts in such a way as to make it easy for people to also write non-adult stuff if they're not comfortable with it.
For example:
- I'd like a dark Stephen and Nick story, with slash preferred, and first time if you can make it
- I'd like a romantic first time Abby/Connor story, featuring Rex, an accident with a tranquiliser gun and a prehistoric creature we haven't seen yet.
Those requests wouldn't be rating specific, but could be written to any rating.
What if I don't have a livejournal? What if I don't have a webpage?
If you don't have a livejournal, you can still play. Just provide your e-mail address and I'll send the assignment there. When the day arrives you can either send me the link to your work, whether that's posted to livejournal, the web or another journalling site, or, if none of these are applicable, you can send it to me and I'll post it to my webspace and link it. I'll also be mirroring the masterlist post on insanejournal as well as livejournal, and possibly journalfen if there's interest from there.
Cool. What do I need to do?
Comment below in the following format:
Name/livejournal:
e-mail address:
Three prompts: e.g. Connor and Abby save the world from large prehistoric frogs! (Remember, you'll only get - and will have to write - one story.)
What you would like: e.g. 'a happy ending'.
What you would not like: e.g. 'everybody dies, omg!'
Maximum rating you can or will read: If you're not old enough to read (or write) smut, then you need to make it clear here so that your assigned author (and we) know how far they can go. Also, if you don't like reading stories with a high rating, again you can make that clear here so that you won't get a story you wouldn't be comfortable reading.
The pairings you would like: up to a maximum of three for your assigned writer to choose from - note: they don't have to write more than one unless they want to and you don't have to request a pairing. If you'd like a gen fic, please just put 'gen only' or 'no pairings' here.
What you don't want to write: e.g. deathfic, non-con, pairing etc.
Would you be willing to pinch hit? This means would you be interested in stepping in if someone else has to drop out, and fill in the gap so that no one is left without something nice on the day. If you think you can do that, please let us know.
A ficathon is a story exchange where you sign up to write a story and, in exchange, you get a story written for you!
To give your assigned writer something to work with, you'll be asked to provide three prompts when you sign up, together with some information on what you would like (for example, genre and pairing wise) and what you would not like (for example 'no deathfic' or 'I'd rather not get pairing Y'). Your assigned writer will then write a story based on one of these prompts (or a combination of prompts if they're feeling particularly creative) and you'll do the same for your assigned recipient in return.
Assignments will be kept anonymous until the day of posting - i.e. you won't know who is writing for you until they post their story, and you won't reveal who you're writing for until the day stories are due.
All stories will be posted on the same day so there will (hopefully) be a smorgasbord of fic to read.
How it works
Sign up below, giving the required information and providing an e-mail address to which we can send your assignment.
aithine and I will then mix and match requests and assign you someone to write for.When the big day arrives, you post your work in your LJ or on another journal site or your webpage and I make a post and ask you to comment, linking to your work and saying who it's for. Then
aithine and I put together a master list of all stories.How long does the story need to be?
At least 1,000 words.
When does it have to be done by?
Sign ups are open until 30 April.
Assignments will be sent out in early May.
Stories are due on 30 June 2008. That means you'll have around 8 weeks to write something.
What if I can't complete my assignment on time?
First of all, please give it your best shot. It's really not fair if someone signs up, delivers their promised assigment and then discovers that the person assigned to provide something for them has dropped out.
That being said, if there's no helping it, please let either
aithine or me know as soon as possible. The earlier you can let us know, the more time we have to find someone to step into the breach (pinch hit).Why only stories?
We've run thing-a-thons before, where people sign up to create fanart as well as stories, but as this is the first time we've run one of these in the Primeval fandom, we thought we'd keep it simple.
If there is interest in expanding the challenge to include vids, fanart etc, then we'll consider it for future thing-a-thons, but baby steps first :)
I see I can make it clear what I don't want written for me, but what if I can't/don't want to write something?
You'll also be able to say what you don't want to write (for example death fics, non-con, a particular pairing). However, as this is a small fandom, I'm going to ask that people are as flexible as they can be in what they'll write. We'll try and match recipient and writer as closely as possible, but it may not be possible to have a perfect match, for example if you only request a very rare pairing or indicate that you're only willing to write a very rare pairing. Obviously, if you say that you can't write a particular pairing, you won't be assigned it, but on the other hand if you say you'll only write a particular pairing, then it may not be possible to accomodate you if no one requests it.
Also, please bear in mind that you are trying to fill someone else's request. You may like writing and reading angsty, non-con or death fics but that doesn't mean that your recipient will like receiving a story that contains these things. Please take a cue from the prompts they've submitted.
What should my prompts be?
Anything you like, really. To give you some ideas, it can be: a short synopsis of a story; an opening line; a quote you think might be inspiring; or three words that you'd like your assigned author to include in the story. Please keep the prompts fairly simple rather than detailed plot synopses, because they're no fun for the writers to work with.
However, we are going to caveat this a little:
- please keep your prompts clean. That doesn't mean that the end story needs to be ::g:: but there are a lot of younger authors in the fandom, so you should bear in mind that one of them may receive your prompts and word them accordingly.
- please be reasonable about your requests. A ficathon is a great place to request a story that you may not get to read otherwise, but remember that someone has to write it.
This means that while we won't stop you from requesting original characters, crossovers or smut, only one of your prompts should fall into any of these categories. For the first two, there's no guarantee that your assigned author will be familiar with the original character you or your friends may have created or any show other than Primeval that you watch. For the last one, if your assigned author isn't old enough to read (and therefore write) explicit stuff, then again they need to have prompts that they can work with. In all three cases, that would mean that these prompts would be automatically eliminated, and we need to make sure that authors have at least two prompts that they can choose from.
Does that mean I can't write or won't get more adult stories?
No. Provided that you and your assigned author/recipient are adults and your recipient has indicated that they're fine with more adult stuff in their request, then it would be fine to write something like that. However, I would suggesting wording your prompts in such a way as to make it easy for people to also write non-adult stuff if they're not comfortable with it.
For example:
- I'd like a dark Stephen and Nick story, with slash preferred, and first time if you can make it
- I'd like a romantic first time Abby/Connor story, featuring Rex, an accident with a tranquiliser gun and a prehistoric creature we haven't seen yet.
Those requests wouldn't be rating specific, but could be written to any rating.
What if I don't have a livejournal? What if I don't have a webpage?
If you don't have a livejournal, you can still play. Just provide your e-mail address and I'll send the assignment there. When the day arrives you can either send me the link to your work, whether that's posted to livejournal, the web or another journalling site, or, if none of these are applicable, you can send it to me and I'll post it to my webspace and link it. I'll also be mirroring the masterlist post on insanejournal as well as livejournal, and possibly journalfen if there's interest from there.
Cool. What do I need to do?
Comment below in the following format:
Name/livejournal:
e-mail address:
Three prompts: e.g. Connor and Abby save the world from large prehistoric frogs! (Remember, you'll only get - and will have to write - one story.)
What you would like: e.g. 'a happy ending'.
What you would not like: e.g. 'everybody dies, omg!'
Maximum rating you can or will read: If you're not old enough to read (or write) smut, then you need to make it clear here so that your assigned author (and we) know how far they can go. Also, if you don't like reading stories with a high rating, again you can make that clear here so that you won't get a story you wouldn't be comfortable reading.
The pairings you would like: up to a maximum of three for your assigned writer to choose from - note: they don't have to write more than one unless they want to and you don't have to request a pairing. If you'd like a gen fic, please just put 'gen only' or 'no pairings' here.
What you don't want to write: e.g. deathfic, non-con, pairing etc.
Would you be willing to pinch hit? This means would you be interested in stepping in if someone else has to drop out, and fill in the gap so that no one is left without something nice on the day. If you think you can do that, please let us know.
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From:
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e-mail address: joereaves AT gmail DOT com
Three prompts: 1. a could be an episode plot but from the pov of one of the nameless Special Forces soldiers. 2. S2 Nick and Stephen get stuck in the past. 3. Something big and impossible to cover up (T Rex, Argentinasaurus, sauropod of some kind etc) in somewhere very public (Oxford St, Wembley in the middle of the FA Cup, live on TV, etc etc)
What you would like: slash, Lester having a decent sized role if possible, Ryan still being around if it's S2 (don't care if you explain why or not)
What you would not like: graphic het, character death
Maximum rating you can or will read: Anything.
The pairings you would like: Nick/Stephen, Connor/Ryan, Lester/any of the guys
What you don't want to write: het, deathfic, non con
Would you be willing to pinch hit? Yes I could probably manage that.