FAQ
Hermione Big Bang FAQ
Some questions and answers; additional Q and A will be added as we hear them.
First of all, what's a Big Bang?
Writing
If I sign up to write for this, what am I committed to?
What does the minimum wordcount mean?
Is there a maximum wordcount?
It has to be done by July 3? Really?
Can I use something I'm already working on?
What other limitations are there?
Can I write something like…
What if I need help generating ideas?
Can I co-write the fic?
Can I write more than one fic?
Does my fic have to be beta-read?
How should I format my fic?
Art
If I sign up to do art, what am I committed to?
Can I just do separate, non-illustration art?
What if the fic you assign me to illustrate doesn't inspire me?
What's the difference between art and graphic art?
What's the deal with this art-that-inspires-fic part?
Other
If I sign up to cheerlead, what am I getting myself into?
What about beta reading?
What if my author doesn't want a cheerleader?
What's a Big Bang?
This particular usage traces back to 2006, when some folks in the Harry/Draco corner of fandom invited a handful of authors to create H/D novels of at least 50,000 words. Since then, the idea has been adapted to various other pairings, fandoms, and characters. This one is centered on Hermione Granger, so all fics should be stories about her.
If I sign up to write for this, what am I committed to?
The initial sign-up is a commitment to try to write a story of at least 20,000 words centered on Hermione by July 3, 2009. You will sign up again once you've completed the rough draft of your fic (by the deadline), at which point you are committing to: 1. turning in a polished version by the second deadline (September 6, 2009), 2. allowing us the exclusive rights to host the fic, and 3. allowing one or more artists to illustrate scenes of their choosing.
Wait, I sign up twice? What?
The initial sign-up (March 4-27) is so we have some idea how many people are playing, and how many fics, at maximum, we will see. However, we know there will be some sort of drop-out rate due to losing interest, and some number of people who will write the idea they have, but find it doesn't meet the minimum wordcount. The second sign-up, open only from June 26 to July 3, will be the one that says you are definitely in, with fic at the ready.
What does the minimum wordcount mean?
The point of a Big Bang-type event is to create an archive of longer fics--the original one was for novels, defined as 50,000 words. Therefore, there is a word-count minimum which is higher than the length of most of the fics written for various exchanges and fests. We've chosen a minimum length of 20,000 words.
But what if my fic is only 12,000 words? That's pretty long.
It is! And we like those fics too. However, we won't include them in the archive or the set that artists are working on. But! We do have some ideas about shorter fics; news on that front will come later, so if you have a 12,000 word idea, don't despair.
But I don't know if I can manage 20,000 words!
If you initially sign up and then find you aren't a novella sort of writer, there are some things to do. First, we plan to have cheerleaders to help you along. The cheerleaders are people you can turn to to help you brainstorm, to help keep you writing, etc. This is also what the writers' community is for. Second, if you just can't write something that long, that's okay; as noted above, we have some ideas we're not ready to announce. Or, well, worst case, you have a Hermione fic you can post on your own.
Okay. Is there a maximum wordcount?
Nope. The only requirement on the upper end is that the fic does have to be finished--you can't give us the first 30,000 words of a fic that will eventually be 100K.
It has to be done by July 3? Seriously?
Yes, that's the last day of the official sign-up, at which point you must turn in a complete rough draft. However, if you are very close to done with your rough draft and have already exceeded the minimum wordcount, we can talk; if that comes up we will decide what to do on a case-by-case basis.
Can I use something I already started or am already working on?
Define already started. If you have something sitting unposted on your hard drive that you've been working on, we'll never know, but we don't want fic that's already been posted anywhere, so for most cases, this is going to mean it's something new, written specifically for this fest. If you have questions about a specific case, please ask.
Okay, so I'm clear on the length limits, and it has to be a new and finished fic. What other limitations are there?
You can't write underage smut, for which we are using age 18, simply because some readers and writers are legally constrained against reading or writing sexual situations for characters younger than that; we are aware this is not the law everywhere and some of us think it's a fairly silly law, but we'd like anyone who is legal to read smut in the first place to be able to read what you write. You can write fic in which characters are under 18, but they can't contain smut.
You also can't write RPF, which means real-person fiction. That means you can't write Hermione/Rush Limbaugh or Hermione/Prince William.
Do you really think there's much danger of anyone writing Hermione/Rush?
Not excluding it seems like inviting trouble.
Right, so no underage smut, and no RPF. What else?
No other restrictions. You can write any pairing, any rating, any kink, no kink, no pairing… Anything goes. We will be placing warnings as needed on the fic, and will ask you to provide a summary that makes it clear what the reader will be reading.
Crossovers?
Yep. Though, if the other fandom with which you are crossing over is particularly obscure, we may ask you to help us identify a beta and/or artist.
Threesomes?
We like those! Just remember, Hermione is the focal character in the fic, so while a fic in which, for example, Harry, Hermione, and Luna are a threesome, would be fine, a fic in which Harry and Luna are a couple and occasionally they invite Hermione over for fun probably would not, unless it were focused on Hermione's point of view and feelings about the situation. If you aren't sure whether your specific plot fails this test, please be in touch, and we'll see what we think.
Can I pair Hermione with Oscar the Grouch?
Yes, though I imagine between him throwing trash and being persistently cranky at her and her hexing him stupid, their relationship might be really quite troubled.
I'm not sure I have enough ideas, or I that can keep going through a long fic.
Don't worry, we're not going to just say, "go!" and leave you to write by your lonesome for 4 months! We'll be posting periodic check-ins to make sure everyone is coming along at a good pace and to offer help and encouragement to anyone who needs it. We'll also post prompts and ideas to help you workshop and refine your story. You'll be able to share these with the rest of the community or do them in private - whatever works best for you! And of course, there will be the cheerleaders.
I'm not sure my writing is good enough.
This is why we're having everything beta-read, and assigning beta-readers as well as leaving you with your own. We'll be looking at the rough drafts, and if we think there is a big problem, we'll be in touch about the nature of the problem. It's true that we do want "good" fic in the archive, so we do need writers who will work with beta readers.
Can I co-write the fic? That is, can two of us collaborate on one fic? Are there special rules for that?
Yes, you can definitely collaborate, and no, there aren't special rules--all the same rules, including beta reading and deadlines and everything, apply. If you are interested in co-writing with another author, but don't actually have a partner in crime, tell us; if we get a few of you we'll put you in touch.
Can I write more than one fic?
We appreciate your enthusiasm! First, write one and really make it shiny. We're rather get one really good one than two that you have trouble getting beta-read and edited, of course. That said, if you can really do two, okay, do two. Same rules and deadlines all apply, and also, we probably want to chat with you at some point about this plan.
I've never had a beta before, and don't like when people criticize my writing. Can I just turn in my own work?
That's a problem--some authors write pretty clean prose from the get-go, but all of us need a second (or third or fifth) pair of eyes to tell us when things didn't translate well from brain to page; after all, we know what we meant, so we can't tell if it's unclear. Beta readers are required, so if that's a deal-breaker for you, this isn't the fest for you.
What if I don't agree with my beta?
You listen to her opinions and give them some honest consideration, and then decide what to keep and what to change. The mods will also be reading the fic, though, and will return anything that's got major grammar, style or characterization/plot issues and ask you to have another beta look at it.
But that's mean!
Sorry. We do want what goes up to be free of typos, free of major problems, and easy for readers to read. The point of beta readers is to help writers make that be the case.
What do I need to know about formatting the text of my fic?
Send it as an attached file rather than text in the body of email, definitely. You don't want to make us fix the formatting of 20,000 words after gmail gets done with them.
.txt, .rtf, and .doc files all work. Flora doesn't have office 07 at home, so she can't open a .docx file without using Open Office, which occasionally drops pieces of things in the conversion. Thus, please don't send a .docx.
Use html for the italics rather than simply using ctrl-i or the italics button in your word-processing software. We could in principle convert, but wow would I rather not x 20K x 100 people. Ditto boldface and underlines. We haven't discussed whether there needs to be consistency for section headers, but we'll let you know that well in advance of the due date.
--Brief html primer if you need it: In your text you just type
to make italics
to make bold
to make underlining
DO NOT use Word html (the thing in Word that saves as html). No, seriously. No, really, seriously. Flora will be happy to get on her soapbox about why; you probably don't want to get her started.
Do send a single email, probably with the fic as a single file (a zip with multiple chapters could be okay), though it you want the fic in chapters, you could also send them as separate files clearly labeled, like, florasbigbang1.doc, florasbigbang2.doc, etc. There is no requirement for things to be broken into chapters.
Font won't matter, as all we're going to do is paste text with html. e-fiction recognizes hard returns, so p tags aren't necessary. Well, no, I suppose font will matter in the sense that if you use, like, Curlz, we will probably go with public flogging.
We haven't prepared information for you about making consistent headers yet, but will get to that, too, way in advance of the deadline.
All right, so that's all great for the writers, but I'm an artist. What am I getting myself into?
First and primarily, you are committing to provide at least one illustration, more if you can, based on the rough drafts writers turn in during the June 26-July official sign-up period (the rough draft deadline), based on us assigning you a rough draft or summary to work from. This is the thing you're actually committing to. However, in addition to that, if you want to draw art of your own by July 3, we will invite authors who are done with their final product to write a scene around your art. Depending on how many of each there are, there might be one scene per art, or several.
Can I just do that art of my own part?
But then we will cry! Seriously, there will almost certainly be if anything a shortage of artists, as there always is for fests. We'd really rather if you can only do one piece total that it's an illustration. But we love arts and hope you're up for both.
What if the fic you assign me to illustrate doesn't inspire me?
We will try not to create that situation on purpose (that is, if you really don't like drawing boys, we will try not to assign you a super-smutty MMF threesome fic to illustrate), but we expect we may have to cheerlead you guys, too, and also expect there may have to be some shuffling.
You've separated out graphic artist from artist. Graphic art is art! What's the difference?
True; we're envisioning trying to get something more in the vein of traditional art (drawn, painted, etc, using traditional or digital media) for each fic, or, failing that, for the longer fics, and if we have enough artists to swing it, perhaps a piece of graphic art and a piece of traditional art for each. We'll need graphics for fic-headers, banners, icons, etc, as well. In either case, we do reserve the right to quality control here, as well; artwork that looks really slapdash won't be included.
What's the deal with this art that inspires fic part? Can I participate by just doing a ficlet inspired by art?
Well, the short answer is yes, because more Hermione fic is good, but: 1. We don't know that we will actually get any such art (we might! But we might not!) and 2. We hope this option won't make you think, hey, I don't have to write 20K at all! We want those novellas!
Okay, so about this cheerleading thing. If I sign up to cheerlead, what am I getting myself into?
You're committing to making yourself available, via comments, email, or IM, to help the author(s) you are cheerleading for brainstorm, think their ways out of corners, and keep working when they get a little down. Your job will be to toss ideas as needed, listen as needed, encourage, and generally provide moral and conceptual support.
What about beta reading? Is that part of cheerleading?
It might be! Or not--you can cheerlead without ever offering a word of editorial advice. Sometimes these functions overlap, and for some people, the way they cheer might include that kind of help. We'll have a sign-up for cheerleaders in which we explain some more, and in which cheerleaders and authors can match up.
Do I have to bring a megaphone and pompoms?
No, but if you have video of yourself cheering, we'd find that very entertaining.
Okay, can I offer to beta only? I'm not very good at being perky or anything.
You can cheer without being perky, but yes, we will definitely need beta readers. Our plan it to assign the rough drafts to beta readers, one to one if we have enough betas. If you are up for doing beta work on more than one, we'd definitely like to know that. There will be a sign-up post for betas, too, in which you can identify your own strengths. Ideally each fic will be looked at by at least one person who's really strong at grammar and style, and at least one person who's really good with characterization and scenery.
I'm willing to beta, but I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
The job of the beta reader is to notice problems. Problems might be anything from simple typos (teh for the or an for and) and misspelled words, to pointing out major flaws in the characterization or plot, or canon compliance. If that's not something you're okay with doing, beta work may not be for you. We don't want fic turned in in which no one has pointed out to the author that actually, Hermione was in the same year as Harry, so making her Head Girl during his fifth year with no explanation for the discrepancy is weird.
What if my author doesn't want a cheerleader?
That's okay! We know authors work differently, and some may not want a rally squad of their own. We'll ask them if they want a cheerleader in the first place, and not assign one if they don't. Also, you can practice random acts of cheerfulness on the Big Bang community, as needed.
Some questions and answers; additional Q and A will be added as we hear them.
First of all, what's a Big Bang?
Writing
If I sign up to write for this, what am I committed to?
What does the minimum wordcount mean?
Is there a maximum wordcount?
It has to be done by July 3? Really?
Can I use something I'm already working on?
What other limitations are there?
Can I write something like…
What if I need help generating ideas?
Can I co-write the fic?
Can I write more than one fic?
Does my fic have to be beta-read?
How should I format my fic?
Art
If I sign up to do art, what am I committed to?
Can I just do separate, non-illustration art?
What if the fic you assign me to illustrate doesn't inspire me?
What's the difference between art and graphic art?
What's the deal with this art-that-inspires-fic part?
Other
If I sign up to cheerlead, what am I getting myself into?
What about beta reading?
What if my author doesn't want a cheerleader?
What's a Big Bang?
This particular usage traces back to 2006, when some folks in the Harry/Draco corner of fandom invited a handful of authors to create H/D novels of at least 50,000 words. Since then, the idea has been adapted to various other pairings, fandoms, and characters. This one is centered on Hermione Granger, so all fics should be stories about her.
If I sign up to write for this, what am I committed to?
The initial sign-up is a commitment to try to write a story of at least 20,000 words centered on Hermione by July 3, 2009. You will sign up again once you've completed the rough draft of your fic (by the deadline), at which point you are committing to: 1. turning in a polished version by the second deadline (September 6, 2009), 2. allowing us the exclusive rights to host the fic, and 3. allowing one or more artists to illustrate scenes of their choosing.
Wait, I sign up twice? What?
The initial sign-up (March 4-27) is so we have some idea how many people are playing, and how many fics, at maximum, we will see. However, we know there will be some sort of drop-out rate due to losing interest, and some number of people who will write the idea they have, but find it doesn't meet the minimum wordcount. The second sign-up, open only from June 26 to July 3, will be the one that says you are definitely in, with fic at the ready.
What does the minimum wordcount mean?
The point of a Big Bang-type event is to create an archive of longer fics--the original one was for novels, defined as 50,000 words. Therefore, there is a word-count minimum which is higher than the length of most of the fics written for various exchanges and fests. We've chosen a minimum length of 20,000 words.
But what if my fic is only 12,000 words? That's pretty long.
It is! And we like those fics too. However, we won't include them in the archive or the set that artists are working on. But! We do have some ideas about shorter fics; news on that front will come later, so if you have a 12,000 word idea, don't despair.
But I don't know if I can manage 20,000 words!
If you initially sign up and then find you aren't a novella sort of writer, there are some things to do. First, we plan to have cheerleaders to help you along. The cheerleaders are people you can turn to to help you brainstorm, to help keep you writing, etc. This is also what the writers' community is for. Second, if you just can't write something that long, that's okay; as noted above, we have some ideas we're not ready to announce. Or, well, worst case, you have a Hermione fic you can post on your own.
Okay. Is there a maximum wordcount?
Nope. The only requirement on the upper end is that the fic does have to be finished--you can't give us the first 30,000 words of a fic that will eventually be 100K.
It has to be done by July 3? Seriously?
Yes, that's the last day of the official sign-up, at which point you must turn in a complete rough draft. However, if you are very close to done with your rough draft and have already exceeded the minimum wordcount, we can talk; if that comes up we will decide what to do on a case-by-case basis.
Can I use something I already started or am already working on?
Define already started. If you have something sitting unposted on your hard drive that you've been working on, we'll never know, but we don't want fic that's already been posted anywhere, so for most cases, this is going to mean it's something new, written specifically for this fest. If you have questions about a specific case, please ask.
Okay, so I'm clear on the length limits, and it has to be a new and finished fic. What other limitations are there?
You can't write underage smut, for which we are using age 18, simply because some readers and writers are legally constrained against reading or writing sexual situations for characters younger than that; we are aware this is not the law everywhere and some of us think it's a fairly silly law, but we'd like anyone who is legal to read smut in the first place to be able to read what you write. You can write fic in which characters are under 18, but they can't contain smut.
You also can't write RPF, which means real-person fiction. That means you can't write Hermione/Rush Limbaugh or Hermione/Prince William.
Do you really think there's much danger of anyone writing Hermione/Rush?
Not excluding it seems like inviting trouble.
Right, so no underage smut, and no RPF. What else?
No other restrictions. You can write any pairing, any rating, any kink, no kink, no pairing… Anything goes. We will be placing warnings as needed on the fic, and will ask you to provide a summary that makes it clear what the reader will be reading.
Crossovers?
Yep. Though, if the other fandom with which you are crossing over is particularly obscure, we may ask you to help us identify a beta and/or artist.
Threesomes?
We like those! Just remember, Hermione is the focal character in the fic, so while a fic in which, for example, Harry, Hermione, and Luna are a threesome, would be fine, a fic in which Harry and Luna are a couple and occasionally they invite Hermione over for fun probably would not, unless it were focused on Hermione's point of view and feelings about the situation. If you aren't sure whether your specific plot fails this test, please be in touch, and we'll see what we think.
Can I pair Hermione with Oscar the Grouch?
Yes, though I imagine between him throwing trash and being persistently cranky at her and her hexing him stupid, their relationship might be really quite troubled.
I'm not sure I have enough ideas, or I that can keep going through a long fic.
Don't worry, we're not going to just say, "go!" and leave you to write by your lonesome for 4 months! We'll be posting periodic check-ins to make sure everyone is coming along at a good pace and to offer help and encouragement to anyone who needs it. We'll also post prompts and ideas to help you workshop and refine your story. You'll be able to share these with the rest of the community or do them in private - whatever works best for you! And of course, there will be the cheerleaders.
I'm not sure my writing is good enough.
This is why we're having everything beta-read, and assigning beta-readers as well as leaving you with your own. We'll be looking at the rough drafts, and if we think there is a big problem, we'll be in touch about the nature of the problem. It's true that we do want "good" fic in the archive, so we do need writers who will work with beta readers.
Can I co-write the fic? That is, can two of us collaborate on one fic? Are there special rules for that?
Yes, you can definitely collaborate, and no, there aren't special rules--all the same rules, including beta reading and deadlines and everything, apply. If you are interested in co-writing with another author, but don't actually have a partner in crime, tell us; if we get a few of you we'll put you in touch.
Can I write more than one fic?
We appreciate your enthusiasm! First, write one and really make it shiny. We're rather get one really good one than two that you have trouble getting beta-read and edited, of course. That said, if you can really do two, okay, do two. Same rules and deadlines all apply, and also, we probably want to chat with you at some point about this plan.
I've never had a beta before, and don't like when people criticize my writing. Can I just turn in my own work?
That's a problem--some authors write pretty clean prose from the get-go, but all of us need a second (or third or fifth) pair of eyes to tell us when things didn't translate well from brain to page; after all, we know what we meant, so we can't tell if it's unclear. Beta readers are required, so if that's a deal-breaker for you, this isn't the fest for you.
What if I don't agree with my beta?
You listen to her opinions and give them some honest consideration, and then decide what to keep and what to change. The mods will also be reading the fic, though, and will return anything that's got major grammar, style or characterization/plot issues and ask you to have another beta look at it.
But that's mean!
Sorry. We do want what goes up to be free of typos, free of major problems, and easy for readers to read. The point of beta readers is to help writers make that be the case.
What do I need to know about formatting the text of my fic?
Send it as an attached file rather than text in the body of email, definitely. You don't want to make us fix the formatting of 20,000 words after gmail gets done with them.
.txt, .rtf, and .doc files all work. Flora doesn't have office 07 at home, so she can't open a .docx file without using Open Office, which occasionally drops pieces of things in the conversion. Thus, please don't send a .docx.
Use html for the italics rather than simply using ctrl-i or the italics button in your word-processing software. We could in principle convert, but wow would I rather not x 20K x 100 people. Ditto boldface and underlines. We haven't discussed whether there needs to be consistency for section headers, but we'll let you know that well in advance of the due date.
--Brief html primer if you need it: In your text you just type
to make italics
to make bold
to make underlining
DO NOT use Word html (the thing in Word that saves as html). No, seriously. No, really, seriously. Flora will be happy to get on her soapbox about why; you probably don't want to get her started.
Do send a single email, probably with the fic as a single file (a zip with multiple chapters could be okay), though it you want the fic in chapters, you could also send them as separate files clearly labeled, like, florasbigbang1.doc, florasbigbang2.doc, etc. There is no requirement for things to be broken into chapters.
Font won't matter, as all we're going to do is paste text with html. e-fiction recognizes hard returns, so p tags aren't necessary. Well, no, I suppose font will matter in the sense that if you use, like, Curlz, we will probably go with public flogging.
We haven't prepared information for you about making consistent headers yet, but will get to that, too, way in advance of the deadline.
All right, so that's all great for the writers, but I'm an artist. What am I getting myself into?
First and primarily, you are committing to provide at least one illustration, more if you can, based on the rough drafts writers turn in during the June 26-July official sign-up period (the rough draft deadline), based on us assigning you a rough draft or summary to work from. This is the thing you're actually committing to. However, in addition to that, if you want to draw art of your own by July 3, we will invite authors who are done with their final product to write a scene around your art. Depending on how many of each there are, there might be one scene per art, or several.
Can I just do that art of my own part?
But then we will cry! Seriously, there will almost certainly be if anything a shortage of artists, as there always is for fests. We'd really rather if you can only do one piece total that it's an illustration. But we love arts and hope you're up for both.
What if the fic you assign me to illustrate doesn't inspire me?
We will try not to create that situation on purpose (that is, if you really don't like drawing boys, we will try not to assign you a super-smutty MMF threesome fic to illustrate), but we expect we may have to cheerlead you guys, too, and also expect there may have to be some shuffling.
You've separated out graphic artist from artist. Graphic art is art! What's the difference?
True; we're envisioning trying to get something more in the vein of traditional art (drawn, painted, etc, using traditional or digital media) for each fic, or, failing that, for the longer fics, and if we have enough artists to swing it, perhaps a piece of graphic art and a piece of traditional art for each. We'll need graphics for fic-headers, banners, icons, etc, as well. In either case, we do reserve the right to quality control here, as well; artwork that looks really slapdash won't be included.
What's the deal with this art that inspires fic part? Can I participate by just doing a ficlet inspired by art?
Well, the short answer is yes, because more Hermione fic is good, but: 1. We don't know that we will actually get any such art (we might! But we might not!) and 2. We hope this option won't make you think, hey, I don't have to write 20K at all! We want those novellas!
Okay, so about this cheerleading thing. If I sign up to cheerlead, what am I getting myself into?
You're committing to making yourself available, via comments, email, or IM, to help the author(s) you are cheerleading for brainstorm, think their ways out of corners, and keep working when they get a little down. Your job will be to toss ideas as needed, listen as needed, encourage, and generally provide moral and conceptual support.
What about beta reading? Is that part of cheerleading?
It might be! Or not--you can cheerlead without ever offering a word of editorial advice. Sometimes these functions overlap, and for some people, the way they cheer might include that kind of help. We'll have a sign-up for cheerleaders in which we explain some more, and in which cheerleaders and authors can match up.
Do I have to bring a megaphone and pompoms?
No, but if you have video of yourself cheering, we'd find that very entertaining.
Okay, can I offer to beta only? I'm not very good at being perky or anything.
You can cheer without being perky, but yes, we will definitely need beta readers. Our plan it to assign the rough drafts to beta readers, one to one if we have enough betas. If you are up for doing beta work on more than one, we'd definitely like to know that. There will be a sign-up post for betas, too, in which you can identify your own strengths. Ideally each fic will be looked at by at least one person who's really strong at grammar and style, and at least one person who's really good with characterization and scenery.
I'm willing to beta, but I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
The job of the beta reader is to notice problems. Problems might be anything from simple typos (teh for the or an for and) and misspelled words, to pointing out major flaws in the characterization or plot, or canon compliance. If that's not something you're okay with doing, beta work may not be for you. We don't want fic turned in in which no one has pointed out to the author that actually, Hermione was in the same year as Harry, so making her Head Girl during his fifth year with no explanation for the discrepancy is weird.
What if my author doesn't want a cheerleader?
That's okay! We know authors work differently, and some may not want a rally squad of their own. We'll ask them if they want a cheerleader in the first place, and not assign one if they don't. Also, you can practice random acts of cheerfulness on the Big Bang community, as needed.