The Brave Author Challenge
Brave Authors!
It's taken a while to figure out what the rules and practicalities of this challenge should be, but I think it should work as follows.
Stage 1 - starts NOW!
Brave Authors volunteer themselves. Comment to this post saying you are a Brave Author. You are allowed to make ONE stipulation about something (or someone) you will not write.
It would be helpful for Brave Authors to include a link to an index of their fic.
Stage 2 - starts late on Wednesday 26th
On the evening (my time) of Wednesday 26th, I will combine the Brave Author comments into a post inviting Anonymous Readers to enter.
The Anonymous Readers will be invited to email my Beast to say they wish to prompt an author. Anonymous Readers may either
(a) re-list ALL the Brave Authors in order of preference,
or
(b) state NO PREFERENCE
You may not combine these options.
Beast will allocate the authors as he sees fit. I will have nothing to do with the process. He will then email the Anonymous Readers who have been allocated an author, to tell them who that author is, and ask for prompts.
The Anonymous Reader should reply, submitting THREE story prompts (of no more than, and preferably less than, 100 words in length, including pairing).
The prompts cannot all have a factor in common. They must be sufficiently different to allow the Brave Author some room to manoeuvre. No fair asking for, um, Brian and Nick fight Zombies in 1850, or, Chris and Kevin fight Zombies in Atlantis, or Nsync fight Zombies in Los Angeles.
You may choose to specify a character, or pairing, or not. However, the prompts cannot all have a main character in common. The authors need some leeway. However. Some writers are known to have particular love for one specific character, so there can be some flexibility on this rule (for instance, if you gave me three prompts involving Lance, I'd be fine with it). If you *know* your Brave Author will be okay with it, you may re-use ONE character in all three prompts.
If you fail to comply with the prompting rules, your Brave Author has the right to complain and send the prompts back for a rewrite. (If necessary, I will arbitrate-I don't think Beast is qualified.)
If there are too many Anonymous Readers, some will not be allocated a Brave Author. Tough break. On the other hand, if there are too many Brave Authors, some Anonymous Readers may be lucky enough to supply prompts for more than one.
Stage 3 - starts Friday 28th
Beast will forward the prompts to the Brave Authors, in order to maintain anonymity of readers.
Authors will write at least 500 words (no upper limit) to fit one of the prompts, and will post at least an extract from the story during February.
Any author who has completed one assignment can, if they wish, volunteer for more by emailing Beast to ask for another Anonymous Reader. Or, you can complete more than one prompt from your original prompt-giver.
Stage 4 - Stories! Yay!
Brave Authors post their stories wherever they choose, and put a link in this community as part of the February Festival.
Stage 5 - Anonymous Readers are Revealed - March 1st
Everyone is welcome! You can volunteer to be a Brave Author, or you can be an Anonymous Reader, or both!
Let's go.
It's taken a while to figure out what the rules and practicalities of this challenge should be, but I think it should work as follows.
Stage 1 - starts NOW!
Brave Authors volunteer themselves. Comment to this post saying you are a Brave Author. You are allowed to make ONE stipulation about something (or someone) you will not write.
It would be helpful for Brave Authors to include a link to an index of their fic.
Stage 2 - starts late on Wednesday 26th
On the evening (my time) of Wednesday 26th, I will combine the Brave Author comments into a post inviting Anonymous Readers to enter.
The Anonymous Readers will be invited to email my Beast to say they wish to prompt an author. Anonymous Readers may either
(a) re-list ALL the Brave Authors in order of preference,
or
(b) state NO PREFERENCE
You may not combine these options.
Beast will allocate the authors as he sees fit. I will have nothing to do with the process. He will then email the Anonymous Readers who have been allocated an author, to tell them who that author is, and ask for prompts.
The Anonymous Reader should reply, submitting THREE story prompts (of no more than, and preferably less than, 100 words in length, including pairing).
The prompts cannot all have a factor in common. They must be sufficiently different to allow the Brave Author some room to manoeuvre. No fair asking for, um, Brian and Nick fight Zombies in 1850, or, Chris and Kevin fight Zombies in Atlantis, or Nsync fight Zombies in Los Angeles.
You may choose to specify a character, or pairing, or not. However, the prompts cannot all have a main character in common. The authors need some leeway. However. Some writers are known to have particular love for one specific character, so there can be some flexibility on this rule (for instance, if you gave me three prompts involving Lance, I'd be fine with it). If you *know* your Brave Author will be okay with it, you may re-use ONE character in all three prompts.
If you fail to comply with the prompting rules, your Brave Author has the right to complain and send the prompts back for a rewrite. (If necessary, I will arbitrate-I don't think Beast is qualified.)
If there are too many Anonymous Readers, some will not be allocated a Brave Author. Tough break. On the other hand, if there are too many Brave Authors, some Anonymous Readers may be lucky enough to supply prompts for more than one.
Stage 3 - starts Friday 28th
Beast will forward the prompts to the Brave Authors, in order to maintain anonymity of readers.
Authors will write at least 500 words (no upper limit) to fit one of the prompts, and will post at least an extract from the story during February.
Any author who has completed one assignment can, if they wish, volunteer for more by emailing Beast to ask for another Anonymous Reader. Or, you can complete more than one prompt from your original prompt-giver.
Stage 4 - Stories! Yay!
Brave Authors post their stories wherever they choose, and put a link in this community as part of the February Festival.
Stage 5 - Anonymous Readers are Revealed - March 1st
Everyone is welcome! You can volunteer to be a Brave Author, or you can be an Anonymous Reader, or both!
Let's go.