WIP challenge - logistics

[littlebutfierce]

There was definite interest in having a WIP challenge in the comm, so hooray!

Let's talk about how to run this thing. I will freely admit that I've never done anything like this before, so any suggestions would be fantastic. Also, any offers to run it with me would be super extra fantastic!

The features people seemed to want most were:

• Being able to set the challenge level (length of fic to finish, timeframe)
  
• Buddy system: being paired up with someone for mutual encouragement
  
• Check-in posts
  

Here are my thoughts on how we could do this: please chime in with yours! Especially because some bits I have no clue on how to make work.

A very sensible suggestion was to have common deadlines, so we can all cheer for each other, but that what was due on the deadline was left up to each individual writer: a chapter, the whole fic, a specific number of words. I propose having one-month deadlines, then, because that seems like a reasonable chunk of time.

Buddy system--I don't think we should pair people up fandom-wise, mostly because there will always be people left out, & also I think anyone can cheerlead for someone else no matter the fandom. Plus maybe having someone who might not be in your fandom to talk to & bounce ideas off of might result in new ideas.

What about being matched up to people w/similar goals? People writing long fic with others doing the same, etc. I am kind of hoping no one wants this because it seems like it would make it even more difficult to pair people up, hahaha. To me I don't think it would matter so much if I was paired with someone writing something quite different from me; lots of writerly bits of encouragement would still apply no matter the length of the fic.

I have no idea how to match up people if it was just random, though. Maybe a sign-up post with comments screened & then me/whoever's running the challenge just pairs up people in order of their comments? Or... something involving a random number generator? I don't know!

And what happens if Person A signs up & has come up with deadlines for 3 months (one chapter a month or whatever), but Person B, who is assigned to them as a buddy, wants to commit to a different length of time? How do we get around that? I'd hate to have new buddy system sign-ups every month--that seems onerous & maybe jarring to writers. Should we have a minimum number of months to sign up for? Or maybe only a few options (3 months, 6 months, a year) for people to choose from? That would increase the odds of everyone being matched up for the same length of time, but I don't know if people would value flexibility more.

What would people expect from their buddies? I know it could vary a lot--some may end up with a lot of contact, some less so--but what would your minimum expectation be? Someone to send grumpy DW messages/e-mails to when you're struggling? Brainstorming sessions? Purely cheerleading stuff? (& if so, through what medium? PMs, e-mail? Should everyone have their own thread on check-in posts for people to cheerlead/commiserate?)

Check-in posts are easy. I can handle those! Ideally I think these should be weekly.

There were also some people who would like help finding a beta. Maybe we could make a separate post for people to ask for/offer beta services.

I just want to reiterate that I've never run (or participated) in anything like this before, so please, all suggestions welcome, so we can try to make this useful for as many people as possible. Thanks!

Comments

[pyrasaur]

Maybe when people sign up for the WIP challenge, they can specify a few buddy-matching criteria in order of importance? Like if their first choice is that they'd really prefer someone else in the same fandom, second choice is someone else writing a longfic like they are, and third choice is someone willing to exchange tons of inspirational E-mails. If you can find that person a buddy who matches on all three fronts, great! If not, you can start at their first choice and see what you can do.

[littlebutfierce]

Hm... yeah, I can see the use of that, although eeeeeek throwing more variables in the mix makes me quiver. Some folks have suggested having small groups of buddies instead of just pairs, which would make this easier (as each buddy wouldn't have to be everything to their writing partner, if that makes sense).

[pyrasaur]

It does sound like groups would be easier to manage in general. And I'd imagine a group effort that isn't too closely managed would have a more comfortable, casual feel, too. Might be less intimidating for the participants, as well as for you!

[factorielle]

Hmmm, that does sound like a complex thing to set up. Considering the variables... I'm going to think about this.

Regarding the buddy system, I'd definitely take someone to whine at (and I can weather other people's whining well, I think, so that work out!). And to guilt-trip me when I'm not keeping up. Come to think of it, it might be that the most important criteria in matching people up would be the level of expectations from the buddy system? Since not everybody can commit to the same extent, and it'd suck to be left high and dry?

[littlebutfierce]

I really liked your suggestion via PM of people having 2 or 3 buddies--both because it would make matching less stressful & so that there's less chance of someone being left high & dry by someone who turns out to have a different level of commitment!

[raletha]

I'm really excited by the idea of a WIP whip challenge! I have so many half written fics from a long period where I had trouble finishing anything.

These are two things I've participated in in the past that are fun and helpful for the purposes of getting words down:

Word races: When an old friend and I were doing NaNoWriMo a few years back, we'd -- via a chatroom -- do a 'ready, set, GO' and write 500 words as fast as we could, take a break to goof off and refill coffee cups, and then go again until we'd reached our daily goals. There wasn't a prize for winning, except bragging rights, but the pressure of the race helps you turn off your inner editor and build good momentum. Because you're just letting the words out, you can come up with some interesting stuff, too. That can help work through blocks.

We got to where we could get 500 words out in twenty-minutes. Not too bad! I imagine Write or Die has a similar effect, just less companionable! A little bit of friendly competition is motivating, too.

Writeathon: I've done this one with larger groups of people via a comm on insanejournal. Basically, we'd agree on a date, and set aside 12 hours. Some people stayed for the whole 12 hours, some just dropped in & out when they could. The idea was to have hourly check-ins where you'd post what you'd written for the hour, take a fifteen minute, and then get ready for the next hour. Sometimes the organiser set an optional theme for the hour, to help folks who were feeling stuck, but you could always do your own thing.

This was good for breaking the backs of longer, more complex scenes, and for having other folks cheering you on during the breaks.

Don't know if either of these would appeal to other members, but I thought I'd share. ^^


Sadly, I don't have any genius ideas for a buddy system. There are a lot of variables to consider. What I would consider most important would be someone who can be a sounding board and cheer leader when I get stuck, and with whom I could have regular check-ins.

[factorielle]

I've never done a writeathon, but word wars/races are, indeed, fantastically efficient when it comes to getting things written.

[littlebutfierce]

Cool! Thanks for the ideas--maybe suggesting writeathons or having buddies set up time to do word races could be something brought up once we have the challenge officially started (... whenever that ends up being). I think a fair number of people would be interested!

I've heard of several people doing word races where (as you said w/the writeathon) you post what you've done in that time. Am I the only one who kinda wants to cry at the thought of doing that? I know expectations will be low/forgiving since, as you say, it's all about getting the words out & shutting down the editor. But aaaaaaaaaahhhhh the idea of doing something Write or Die-ish & then sharing it w/other people? ;_;

[dbskyler]

I'm part of a semi-regular writeathon community on LiveJournal called fic_rush that is the best thing ever for breaking through a block on an old WIP, so I'd highly recommend doing something like that here. Or else you would all be welcome to come participate at the next fic_rush if you liked -- a poll should be going up soon for when to hold the next round (rounds last for 48 hours over a weekend). Also, I already know of one person who's thinking about setting up a Dreamwidth version of fic_rush, so that's yet another possibility.

I've never done word races, but that sounds like an interesting idea, too.

While I like the concept of a buddy system, I'm a little worried about how it would work logistically. Instead of a mod having to pair people up, what if people found their own "buddies" via threads where they said what they're working on and what they're looking for in a writing buddy? I'm also wondering if we need to limit it to pairs of just two people. What's wrong with one person having several "buddies," or one person being "buddies" with more than one person? In fact, that could help protect against a problem if someone unexpectedly has to drop out of buddy duties due to RL issues.

That's it for my thoughts . . .

[littlebutfierce]

Intriguing! If someone does set up fic_rush here, please do post about it (although of course you could do a post w/the LJ link too, but yeah... DW mirror comm would be awesome).

factorielle suggested mini-groups of buddies, too--3 or 4 people. I think that's a good idea. Possibly better than using threads where people post looking for buddies? IDK... I'm just thinking about what if someone posts & no one wants to be their buddy (or conversely someone has 8 people who want to be their buddy).

HMMMMM. A lot to think about, eek.

[dbskyler]

I'm guessing that it will be awhile before there's a DW version of fic_rush, if there ever is, but if you think that it would be appropriate for this community, I'd be happy to post a link to the next round when it happens over on LJ. I do know that everyone here would absolutely be welcome, and I believe DW accounts can post on LJ with OpenID? (I'm a little new to DW, though, so I could be wrong about that.)

It's also possible to do a similar thing here on this comm, geared specifically to this comm's members, as one of the activities for the WIP challenge. I'd be willing to help with that if you'd like since I've seen how it works over in fic_rush.

Good point about buddy threads possibly turning into a popularity contest. Hmm, so maybe use some minimal matching criteria, such as what people want from a buddy and what people are willing to do for a buddy, and assign everyone into small groups? That might work really well.