Anyone for having a crack at writing a challenge fic?

I'll start the ball in play but if anyone thinks of anything that would work better then throw it in :) .

I'm thinking of going with a theme on a two weekly basis? We could try dialogue prompts but I think to start off it might be easier just to go with something as wide open to interpetation and style as possible. Anything from 100- 1000 (ish) words and any form the writer choses - poem, story, art, video - whatever you feels comfortable.

For any one feeling ring rusty or unsure then this should be the place - we have a great tracj record of providing support and encouragement.

I'm thinking we could start out with 'guilt' as a theme. It lends itself to any and all of the characters. Whether you go for a serious piece or something humourous I'm sure it could work within mostly any format.

Thoughts anyone?

Count me in, Benj. It's a tops idea.

Sounds good. All post in the one thread? Or should we have a heading?


My thoughts? Very good idea. Where do I sign? When can I start? :D

C'mon people... ;)


*Bangs knife and fork on table* Chal-lenge fic! Chal-lenge fic!

So. When do we start/what do we have to do?

*fiddles restlessly with paper tableware*

Hey AE - could be me and you vs the world to quote an awesome Space song. Let it matter not -we'll have a go and see if we can inspire someone - or at least provoke someone to step in and say 'damn you're getting it all wrong challenge fic worls like this...'.

So shall we try a 'guilt' based theme, anyone, anytime, anwhere (within the House world) and any format. Try and get something posted within a week? I'm not sure whether broad/narrow is best for a 'theme' - is it easier to go with a line/character prompt? If you have any thoughts then go for it. If it ends up being the two of us duking it then so be it but if you're reading this and thinking 'nah, don't fancy that' then please feel free to stop by and say why/what you think would be a better plan.

This sounds really, really fun and I promise that at some point in the future I will try a challenge fic.

I PROMISE.

I'm just kind of swamped right now. :blink:

You're on Benj! I thin kwe'll just play it by ear at first. The only thing I think we must have now is a deadline.

Not that someone can't post after the deadline but I think it'll keep the writers moving forward on things and just keep all the challenges moving forward. Kind of supresses the procrastination, at least for me it does.

I need to rewatch all the episodes but if I ever get off my ass I'll attempt to respond I'm gonna go download the second season on to my ipod and put the first season on my ipod so I can watch them and my room mates can have their gay ass MTV but I won't stand for that when the new eps air

eurm... could there be a bit more detail than just 'guilt'?

<dodges rotten tomaters being thrown at me>

Just my take but I'd say anything that includes guilt as a theme, motive or plot device - but mostly interepret as you you wish. Misplaced guilt, remorse - I think pretty much every main character has something they feel guilty about - if none of those appeal then make something up or a patient with something to feel guilty about?

Oh... I just went to reply and realised I was in a cool little topic area! Cool!

Yes indeedy, Rt. And we have guidelines! Guidelines!

Would I be wrong in saying we could start when Benj (or someone else) started a new thread with the challenge in it? And that the challenge could say something along the lines of: 'Be finished two weeks from now, midnight in your closest capital city'?

(And would a quote make it more specific? - It doesn't have to be a quote from the show, it could be anything).


Also, I think we should perhaps add guidelines about posting fic elsewhere, perhaps.
You know, just say it came from a prompt on this board. Well, that might be a bit pedantic but on the plus side we might get more traffic coming in from fic-reading circles, so.



Another thought: maybe to keep the ball rolling we should have a loose idea of who is starting the next challenge, etc?

Well, you guys are all on the ball, it's fun to sit by and think about guilt. Bring on the writing!
(hoping that doesn't lead to a terrible anticlimax).

Thanks for all your hard work guys, this is exciting.

Yeah, a little slow but I eventually get there! :lol:

I figure we're all well behaved but if these challenges bring in outside writers of unknown skill and intent it'd be good to have some basics posted.

Plus,since none of us are really sure what we're doing we have to start somewhere and keep it consistant until we can get the scoop on how this really works. Heck, we may like our setup better! :P

I think we can start Benj's challenge now but with all the subsequent ones (Wishful thinking?) they would officially start when posted. As far as the deadline, however you want to phrase it as long as you've got one!

Like I said, latercomers can still write a fic based on the challenge guidelines and post them but once the deadline has passed they won't be eligble for prizes. ( :blink: Prizes, who said anything about prizes?!)

Which brings me to picking a winner so to speak. I have gotten the impression in the past that challenges differ from 'adopt a plot bunny' in that it's a competition. I don't know how that works and again I'll be researching all that but in the meantime I think we need to get a plan there.

I would suggest that we do one of two things. Either...

A) The issuer of the challenge is responsible for picking a winner. They must post the winner's name and fic name and the reason they chose it.

or,

B) Once the deadline has occured we can have a board wide vote. Setup a poll and within a week of the deadline. close the poll and crown the winner.

Either way I think I'll make a special page on the dr-house.com fanfiction site for the challenge winner. Each winning story will get posted to the page for at least a week, or until the next challenge winner is chosen, which ever is longest. We can use that to spread the word by posting links to the winners page on other sites.

I'm not sure what you mean here. Do you mean others posting already written challenge fics here or if the author here decided they want to post a challenge fic they wrote to another site?

I presume you mean the last one (makes more snese to me that way.) That would be a good one, I'll add that to the guidelines tonight.

I think anyone with an idea can start the next challenge. Do we want to limit it to only one open challenge at a time? Could be good, could be bad.

It might prompt folks to try something new if we limit it but then again having two or three going may allow a nice variety that would intice more writers.

What do you think?

Yes it is, Thank's Benj for stepping up and getting the ball rolling on this. Now lets get some fic up!!!

Right now, for this challenge, and maybe the next few I think it'd be good to see how it goes. Maybe if you know another author you can invite them over to try their hand at it but I'd like keep it low key until we get the kinks worked out. Once we see how it goes then have at it! Post a notice at any board you frequent that you feel will attract writers that aren't strictly ship whores. ;) :lol:

Remember to include that they have to be a member of the board to post. It's easy and painless so I see no reason to eliminate that step of the process just for this.

Any other thoughts or suggestion are highly welcome! Thanks guys!

<Goes back to formulating guilty plot :ph43r: >

:blink: Cool. Very good ideas.

Well, I meant the latter, although both make sense. (Exams have sucked all of the reason and writing ability out of my brain, that's my story and I'm sticking to it).
The other prompt based fic thing that I have actively participated in asks that you mention that the piece was written to a prompt on that community if you post anywhere else. (house_month).

Well, no harm in playing it by ear until this gets to it's feet but this is a really smashing idea.
I agree, we should see how it goes first but I have no problem in pimping the board and the challenge on LiveJournal communities, and I'm sure other people belong to other sites... What do people think?

While the guidelines are great (Thanks Rt), I definitely think that the emphasis here should be on the writing. (Says the ultimate time-waster and master of vacillating).

So... Look over there! It's a guy with a beard and a stethoscope! *Sound of frantic typing*.

*Goes to think up stupid questions*.

Cheers. (Still blown away by the awesomeness of this idea).

AE.

Did we ever decide on a deadline for this? I do actually have some ideas perking around in my head and have even done a bit of research (minimal, but it's something) so I don't sound totally clueless, but I keep not getting around to actually starting to write (that whole thing with intentions and hell, I know). So I'm trying to figure out if I need to pick up the pace on the "perking" so to speak.

Hmmm, don't know, I don't think so. Benj issued the challenge so we'll hav to go poke him with the pointy stick and get a deadline from him. Until then, I say it's still open to submissions, but hurry up!! :D ;)

*duly slapped* Sorry folks! Um.. deadline.. Tuesday 19th Sept -anyone going to struggle with that?

Hey, no prob. It was I who needed the slap in order to actually get something done, as I seem to have contracted a serious case of the "lazies" lately. And I did finally get in gear and for better or worse, I will be posting my contribution in the proper area momentarily.