Fanfiction Prompt Challenge Discussion

Sovereign · **Reply #240 on:** December 21, 2017, 10:23:17 AM

Two stars already! That feels rather good!

In any case, I certainly look forward to seeing both of your entries and it's nice to see you participating too F-14!

Also, Darkwolf, I'm sorry to keep you waiting for my OC banner request but I still haven't really decided who I want for it but I try to make up my mind soon enough.

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #241 on:** December 22, 2017, 08:08:03 PM

Congrats! And no worries, take your time

rhombus · **Reply #242 on:** January 10, 2018, 11:59:06 PM

I know that I don't exactly have room to talk as I am still working on my December prompt, but is anyone else planning on completing something for the December prompt?

Fyn16 · **Reply #243 on:** January 11, 2018, 08:12:35 AM

I'm back! Just figured I'd give you guys a quick update. Unfortunately I am not working on any of the 2017 prompts, nor do I plan to. I'm hoping to knock out some more progress on my main fic, and I need some time dedicated to it in order to do so. I will continue to watch and co-regulate the prompt challenge, though.

Sneak · **Reply #244 on:** January 11, 2018, 09:02:31 AM

Can you pretty please, remind me, what is our current start-end dates of each "month" prompt?

And, as I understand, if people ask to move enddate in some days, prompt period offically changes?

rhombus · **Reply #245 on:** January 11, 2018, 10:22:34 AM

Quote from: Sneak on Jan 11 2018, 08:02:31 AM

Can you pretty please, remind me, what is our current start-end dates of each "month" prompt?

And, as I understand, if people ask to move enddate in some days, prompt period offically changes?

Generally if a person submits an entry late then they can still qualify for the participation banner, but to qualify for winning the month's prompt challenge a person must submit their story on time. The schedule for the prompt challenge is as follows:

December 2017 (December 1 – January 15)
-write a snow fic!
-write a fic about surviving the winter elements
-write a fic featuring Santa Claws

-write a fic that parallels your own holiday of choice

January 2018 (January 1 – February 15)
Incorporate the following into your story: ”He (or she) had once imagined becoming the leader of the herd. But not like this… not like this.”

February 2018 (February 1 – March 15)
Write a story about "undying love." What exactly this means is up to you.

March 2018 (March 1 – April 15)
Write a myth or legend set in the Land Before Time universe

April 2018 (April 1 – May 15)
Nothing to see here, folks. Move on!

May 2018 (May 1 – June 15)
Incorporate the following phrase into your story: “when the bright circle rose the next day, it rose over a very different Great Valley.”

June 2018 (June 1 – July 15)
Everyone writes a prompt of their own choosing, then the prompts are shuffled and redistributed back to the writers. The writers must then do a story based on their new prompt!

July 2018 (July 1 – August 15)
Your theme for this month: there comes a time in everyone's life where a choice must be made, one which may irreversibly alter the path ahead.

August 2018 (August 1 – September 15)
Goodbyes are never easy. Write a story about a parting.

Sneak · **Reply #246 on:** January 11, 2018, 05:25:35 PM

thank you!

rhombus · **Reply #247 on:** January 17, 2018, 02:00:04 AM

Just to let everyone know, Fyn and I will be reviewing the entries for the December prompt over the next few days. We are very appreciative of Sovereign and F-14 Ace, our two entrants for last month's prompt, and we are hopeful that participation will grow as the months continue to roll by.

And for those who are interested, please keep in mind that the January prompt continues through February 15.

Ducky123 · **Reply #248 on:** January 17, 2018, 11:43:07 AM

May I suggest a general change to the prompt challenge? I know it is mostly meant to be for shorter works but I typically go for larger stories as short stories are rarely satisfying to write for me personally. I guess I could have pushed myself hard to finish the story I wanted to submit if I really tried but a lot of other things would have been left unattended which I really wanted to tackle during my winter break so I decided to take it slow with the story and finish in due time rather than rush it.

Either way, a prompt every month is certainly a bit much to tackle for me. Well, none of the next few prompts immediately sparked an idea anyway but we'll see about that, you never know where inspiration takes you

rhombus · **Reply #249 on:** January 17, 2018, 02:06:19 PM

Quote from: Ducky123 on Jan 17 2018, 10:43:07 AM

May I suggest a general change to the prompt challenge? I know it is mostly meant to be for shorter works but I typically go for larger stories as short stories are rarely satisfying to write for me personally. I guess I could have pushed myself hard to finish the story I wanted to submit if I really tried but a lot of other things would have been left unattended which I really wanted to tackle during my winter break so I decided to take it slow with the story and finish in due time rather than rush it.

Either way, a prompt every month is certainly a bit much to tackle for me. Well, none of the next few prompts immediately sparked an idea anyway but we'll see about that, you never know where inspiration takes you

I am in my office hours at the moment so I can only post on here and not access Discord or Skype, but Fyn and I were discussing perhaps changing some things around with the fanfiction prompt challenge in the future to make it more inclusive and accessible to everyone. Some ideas that have been discussed is perhaps including a one-word optional prompt (like "hope" or "change") as an alternative to the more verbose prompts. Another idea was perhaps to allow a longer period of time for each prompt. Nothing has been decided yet, but if any of these ideas (or other ones) sound promising then please let us know. We are always looking to improve upon the challenge. By the way, it's great to have you back.

Sovereign · **Reply #250 on:** January 17, 2018, 04:25:30 PM

I understand if others have problems with how this challenge works but it has worked rather fine for me. I wouldn't want to do longer stories monthly and I'm not sure if doing a longer story every two or three months would actually help any, at least with me. Also, the prompts usually take 3 or 4 days for me to write so the time limit doesn't seem like a problem. And to be honest, Ducky, I don't get a great inspiration for my short stories right away when I see the prompt but the ideas come quickly when I come with a good setting and decide to keep it nice and simple. That being said, the challenge system works well for me and I'm not sure how to improve the format, sadly.

Ducky123 · **Reply #251 on:** January 17, 2018, 04:39:13 PM

Every writer is different and I definitely will go for it if an idea pops up in my mind regardless of the time limit (it's still fun to write wither way). One word prompts would be awesome, they sometimes leave a lot more room for interpretation after all

F-14 Ace · **Reply #252 on:** January 18, 2018, 04:00:30 AM

Perhaps there should be more than one prompt since that would offer more flexibility and options. Most that I have seen simply haven't sparked my interest.

rhombus · **Reply #253 on:** January 20, 2018, 07:36:34 PM

As there were only two entries this month the duty to decide the winner of the December Prompt Challenge has fallen upon Fyn and I. It was a close run thing, but after deliberation between us concerning both of these strong entries we have finally decided that F-14 Ace is the winner of last month's prompt challenge. Congratulations!

As the winner of last month's prompt you may pick from any of the one-star banners in this post and add them to your signature. Additionally, if you have an OC in mind for a banner, you may discuss the matter with DarkWolf. Despite the fact that there could only be one winner this month, we thank both of you for your participation in this challenge and for your wonderful entries.

We certainly look forward to any future entries you may decide to write.

Additionally, as the one word alternate prompt idea seems to sound promising to some of you, Fyn and I will be discussing the matter in the coming days. We will keep you informed if we decide to add them.

Sovereign · **Reply #254 on:** January 21, 2018, 07:50:39 AM

It was about time somebody dethroned me.

Congratulations F-14!

rhombus · **Reply #255 on:** February 03, 2018, 02:18:19 PM

Just a reminder everyone that we are approaching the due date for the January prompt (Feb 15) and the February prompt is now beginning. Those two prompts were as follows:

Quote

January 2018 (January 1 – February 15)
Incorporate the following into your story: ”He (or she) had once imagined becoming the leader of the herd. But not like this… not like this.”

February 2018 (February 1 – March 15)
Write a story about "undying love." What exactly this means is up to you.

We look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.

Sovereign · **Reply #256 on:** February 03, 2018, 03:38:23 PM

I certainly plan to partake in the February prompt too but it could take far more time than usual. I'm having some serious trouble trying to plan my main fic's continuation and that's my main concern for now. Still, there's over a month until the deadline so I hope I'm done by then.

Hypno · **Reply #257 on:** February 03, 2018, 08:51:34 PM

I’m just curious as to how that star thing works. If you win the month’s prompt, do you get a star or something?

rhombus · **Reply #258 on:** February 03, 2018, 10:19:11 PM

Quote from: Hypno on Feb 3 2018, 07:51:34 PM

I’m just curious as to how that star thing works. If you win the month’s prompt, do you get a star or something?

That is correct.

Also a no-star participation banner is given to all who participate in the 2018 prompt challenge but who fail to win.

DarkWolf91 · **Reply #259 on:** February 15, 2018, 01:17:29 AM

Been picking at my January prompt over the month, it'll definitely be submitted by tomorrow night