The Annual Shadow-Monkeys Big Bang

Sorry about the delay, but today's really been a day.

Anyway.

@Authors it's time you let us lick the batter off your spoon. Give us a taste of the delicious cake y'all are baking for us!

@Artists (fanartists, mixers and fanvidders) keep your eyes open here. See if there's anything you like and would be willing to work with!

Btw: if you're an Artist and haven't originally signed up (or at least signed for that role), it's okay! You have until Sep 9th to join the fun. When the summaries are posted, just pick one and leave a note (on the form itself) letting me know you're a late register.

Our motto here is: yay, two cakes!*

Shhh… can you hear that? It's the tension, crackling in the air.

The Writers' Check-in and Artists' Claim approaches the horizon.

We're getting closer and closer to the final posting day. The excitement is inebriating!

Now. I know a lot of you are wondering what the fuck a Writers' Check-in is, and I'll bet money I don't have that Artists (fanartists, fanmixers and fanvidders) are also curious to know how they'll pick the fics with which to work. Wanna get all the deets?

Read up.

WRITERS' CHECK-IN

Dear Authors, you've had two whole months to conceive, plan, structure and get started on the first draft of your soon-to-be hit. This is your opportunity to tease us with it.

On September 2nd, a.k.a. this Friday, you'll fill up a Google Form with the following:

A summary for your fic Make it as detailed and enticing as possible, without revealing too much. This is your pitch. Your selling point. Make sure this fandom's Artists are sallivating after after getting a taste of what you're cooking up!

The e-mail address with which you'd like to exchange info with your Artist Your Artist will be your partner in crime here. Make sure it's an email address you can access often

Your tumblr handle (optional)

After that, you'll have the following week to pick 2 to 3 scenes you'd like to share with your Artist. These can either be moments you'd specifically like to have illustrated/Mixed for/Edited or just the ones you feel better represent your story's essence.

Remember: you wanna give your Artist enough material with which to work, so choose wisely.

Hot tip: it'd be nice to give them a bit of context for these scenes as well. Something along the lines of:

"[SOMETHING COOL HAPPENS HERE, WHICH GETS THESE TWO CHARACTERS IN THE SAME SCENE] {chosen scene} [BAD THING HAPPENS THAT PUSH THEM APART]".

ARTISTS' CLAIM

A week after our writers have sent their delicious summaries (i.e., on Sep 9th), I'll create a Google Form with all of them. You'll be able to select which one you liked best.

On Monday (Sep 12th) I'll stop by the Artist's inbox/DM with the e-mail address of their chosen Writer. From that point on, Artist and Writer will be free to communicate as often as you want to get your Big Bang entries done!

IMPORTANT

So! Forty-five days until the first check-in and the first building blocks for the fanartists. How's that heart o' yours feeling?

Do you guys have any doubts, wanna ask for some help, or just wanna tease us with your awesome upcoming story(ies)? Well, that's what the askbox is for! Don't be shy. Drop by at any moment, and let's make use of this amazing community that makes up the AM/TLSP fandom.

You're not alone here. We're all in this together ([war flashbacks of hsm]). Even if I can't personally help you, I'm sure someone else in the community can.

So! You've signed up for the role of ficwriter, you've claimed a prompt and you're ready to rock and roll............ but your brain decided to clown on you.

Yeah. We've all been there. Thus is the nature of writing, I'm afraid =/

Never fear, though. You can kick that traitor brain of yours in the ass by simply using some of the resources listed below.

Oh, btw. These work even if you're signed up for other roles and/or for other projects. Their main goal is helping you plan, structure and tell a story.

Enjoy:

National Centre for Writing: a UK page with lots of resources for beginner writers! Here you'll find articles, podcasts, free classes, newsletters, etc.

Jane Friedman - How to Use a Plot Planner: the most important part in writing a story is planning what happens in it. This article gives a pretty dynamic insight on how to plan and structure your plot. A must-read for all writers.

Story Planner: and since we're on this topic... Enjoy the tools here and let your imagination go wild--with the appropriate structure.

Creative Writing for Beginners: a collection of articles and resources to help you improve your writing skills.

Learn to Write: everything you could ask for in terms of resources and articles. Go nuts!

Character Development Worksheets: ok, i fucking love this stuff. It really helps you get to the core of your characters and plan your story more organically. Use and abuse these, you won't regret it.

More Character Development Worksheets: there's never too many of them.

Plot Worksheets: same as above, but for your plot.

Canva: I'm a huge fan of this one, tbh. It has a shitton of templates for everything your heart may desire--mind maps, moodboards, movie posters, planners, etc. Whatever way you get inspired, Canva got you covered. I use it for literally everything, be it IRL stuff or ficwriting.

Creative Writing Now: and we finish it off with a little bit of everything. Knock yourself out, this baby got you covered.

It's time to pick your poison and get cracking!

It's officially time to play!

Send your prompts and go wild! Send as many as you want and don't hold back on the creativity, will ya. Let's put these creatures into situations >=)

Sign-up is officially here! You have until July 8th to get in on the game.

Important info I forgot to add to the original rules' post: minors, proceed with caution. Creators must add the relevant tags and warnings, so don't go reading/looking at 18+ stuff you shouldn't. Also, and this goes without saying, do not create explicit stuff if you're a minor.

SCHEDULE:

June 30th-July 8th: sign-up.

July 1st-July 8th: time to send your prompts.

July 9th: writers' prompt claim.

Sep 2nd: writers' checkpoint (basic plot, approximate word count and at least 3 workable scenes).

Sep 9th: fanart, fanmixing and fanvid claims.

So! Sign-up starts tomorrow, June 30th. Everyone excited? Good. So am I.

Here's what you all need to know:

SIGN UP

Starts tomorrow and closes a day before Prompt Claiming, i.e., on July 8th. That's whole nine days to make up your mind if you want to participate or not!

HOW CAN I SIGN UP

Simple: tomorrow I'll post the link for the form and the participant will be the able to choose which category in which they want to play: prompter, writer, fanartist, vidder or fanmixer.

CAN I PICK MORE THAN ONE

Sure. Knock yourself out. Just keep in mind that once you do, you're committing to those roles. Don't try to bite more than you can chew. If you think you're not gonna be able to juggle more than two or three positions, it's best to let someone else play.

I WANNA BE A FANARTIST FOR A PROMPT

Awesome! However, this is a collaborative effort. Meaning: your fanart can absolutely be for a prompt, but it needs to be an illustration for a fic for that prompt.

If no writer claims a prompt by the end of the claiming period, then yeah, you absolutely can fly solo for that one.

Just bear in mind: the idea is to have the community supporting each other. That is, it wouldn't be cool to leave a writer hanging, ok?

IS ANYTHING OFF-LIMITS

No. Go balls to the walls. The only limit is your imagination. In fact, AUs and crazy ideas are more than encouraged! Let's flex those creative muscles.

WHAT IF IT'S SUPER FUCKED UP, THOUGH

Did I stutter? Nothing's off-limits. Just tag accordingly and don't forget the warnings. Every idea has an audience for it, but let's not trigger anyone unnecessarily, alright?

ETA:

what is it

An all-skill-inclusive event. We have room for everyone here! Ficwriters, fanartists, fanvidders, fanmixers and even prompters. If you've got a creative itch in you, then trust me, you can (and should!) contribute.

The goal is to get as many people involved as possible. Getting back to fandom roots: from fans, by fans, for fans.

how does it work

Anyone can send a prompt (rules will be released soon). A writer then claims that prompt. Fanartists, fanmixers and fanvidders can pick the fic with which they want to collaborate.

At the end of the day, this is what this Big Bang is: a collaborative effort!

i'm not great with deadlines...

No problem! The final posting date is in early November, so everyone will have plenty of time to finish their projects. No pressure, babies. We're just here to have fun and spread some love =)

and what's the deadline

Sign up for all creators: 30/06

Prompts: 01/07

Prompt claim: July 9th

Writers' Checkpoint (hand in basic plot, approximate word count and at least 3 workable scenes): Sep 2nd

Fanart, fanmixing and fanvid claims: Sep 9th

Posting/Reveal date: Nov 11th