While chatting with femmedesneiges the other day about how there's not enough fanfiction for Asian dramas, I started thinking that it could be fun to run some fic challenges. All the same, I figured I should probably see what sort of interest there is before I put too much thought into this, lol. So-- would anybody want to take part in something like that? Don't let the word "challenge" worry you; this could be as basic as just being given a prompt to help inspire ideas. Or, we could do something more structured, depending on what people want. Even if you've never written before but want to try, that's fine!

If this is something you'd be interested in, please let me know here or send me a message. (You're not committing to it if you do; I just want to see if this is worth starting.) And if you have any questions, feel free to ask, though nothing's definite yet.

This sounds so interesting! I would love to be a part of it, but I really can't commit because I feel I have become too fickle with writing. >_< I have suffered from a long writer's block and I never know when I will suddenly want to write nor when I will suddenly lose interest. :(

Also, I want to suggest another idea that I have had for a very long time which is somewhat similar in nature. I used to to play text based RPG games a lot. I have always wanted to create an Asian drama-like RPG on the MUX or MUSH platform. However, I have never been able to understand or learn the code in order to create a game like this. >_< What I have had in mind is like just a general game that takes a place in an Asian city. Players would create thier own characters and interact with each other by text based roleplaying creating stories. They can even build thier own houses and stuff. There would be staff to come up with general gamewide plots and activities and stuff and to make sure no one is breaking the rules. I am able to help with most aspects except for hosting and coding. At least, I *think*. :p It would depend on how usable any android apps are for Mu connecting since I currently only have access via my phone and tablet. 

Most of you probably have no idea what I am talking about though so this dream of mine will probably never happen. :p
Interested! Committing to crack! But you already know that... :P


@CherryBunny That idea has crossed my mind a few times, but I have no experience whatsoever in that area. 
@CherryBunny No commitment at all, at this point-- this is just sort of an informal poll. :-) I've run and participated in a ton of different fic challenges/communities, so I can absolutely tailor something that'll work for the most writers here. Is there anything in particular that would be of the most help or inspiration for you? One-word prompts, detailed themes, beta readers, writing partners... anything along those lines? (I get it if nothing will do the trick, but if there is something, let me know!)

As for the game, I don't know anything about that, but it sounds interesting! The closest thing I've done is online rp-- I actually tried to take Akiyama from Liar Game into an rp, but it kinda fizzled out. :-/

@femmedesneiges Lol, I know, and I can't wait!! :-D
Motivation is random with me. :p There is never one thing that does the trick. It either comes or it doesn't. :p 

A game like that would be fun and very interesting! The problem is, no one knows how to make it. :p The ones that do are not into this sort of interest. Or, at least, no one I know. How it works is, it is like....a series of rooms that people can go into and interact with other people in them by roleplaying. Unlike message board roleplay, the people are connected live and take turns 'posing'. Each room is a place, described in words. There are no graphics, just text. It's like being in a story and writing along with everyone else. 

I think more people have heard of MUDs. It is very similar except a MUX is geared for more creative interaction between players and relies less on a bunch of code. While MUDs ypu can generally play through by yourself, a MUX needs players to intermingle to weave a story. So in many ways they are alike but MUX is much less complicated. http://mudconnect.com is a huge database of different text based games. There are only a handful of MUXs and MUSHs left though and most of them are either based on tabletop dice games or completely inappropriate stuff. >_< That's why I don't play anymore.
Actually, I have been developing a drama-type idea for a little while (I think of it more as a Netflix series). I find writing fanfiction tends to stimulate my original ideas, so the two things aren't entirely separate to me. Still, I'd be happy to talk about it in another thread or if you'd like to message me, but I don't want to entirely derail this thread right after it gets started, lol, since the fic challenge is still something I'm hoping people will be interested in. :)
A fic challenge could be really, REALLY fun if we got to motivate people. Knowing this community, this could get crazy hilarious !
Let me think about it...

[Edit]

JUST SUBMITTING AN IDEA, DON'T TAKE ANY OF THIS TOO SERIOUSLY (fics are just for fun, after all)

For a Classic Drama Fanfiction Challenge :

1)Someone should make a Thread called something like 2016 Fanfiction Challenge
2)Users who have ideas would come to the thread to give a link to their fiction (posted here on MDL) and the one who posted the Thread would create in index in the first post. 
3)Some users could want to participate, but would have trouble finding ideas. So they would come in a thread...(here ?) and request a plot, saying only which drama +genre/theme  they'd like to work on, and another user would give a short twist or plot, something like "They suddenly have to live together", or "Turn this one into a Sageuk" or "This is actually happening in the 21th Century" or "The genders are reversed" or ANTHING that would give the user something to work on
4) The fiction would be posted with "2016 Fanfiction Challenge" in the title.

There should be some basic rules, like : 
- Something of a Deadline ( first chapter before the end of the year?)
- Do we allow fiction about non fictional people (actors, singers...)
- Ratings (we could use FF.net rating standards(K/K+/T/M/MA)...BTW what do we think of adult content (MA)? Is it even allowed by the admins?)
 

For a Theme imposed fanfiction Challenge : 

Pretty much the same thing applies, only every user us given the same theme/plot, (like in part 3 of the classic fic challenge). Generally the challenge lasts a season, there can also be special challenges for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day...

Most of the times, challenges are there for the purpose of a contest, even without prize. There could be a vote organized by a poll in an article, and then there would be an article about the winner (or top 3, top 5, top 10, depending on the number of participants). Just like we do with Best Drama of the Year. 

Or because we're all crazy fun here, we could just to it even without the contest part. BECAUSE WRITING STORIES IS FUN


I'm interested! I'm not sure if/how much I would write, because I haven't written anything in years (suddenly I feel shy, thinking about posting something here!), but I like the idea. I feel like I wouldn't be able to think about something on my own (it's been that long since I was inspired to write, I've almost forgotten what it feels like) but maybe some kind of prompt would make me write something... 
This is a wonderful idea!!! .... I am not a writer, but I could help w/ ideas suggestions...but mostly, I would be an avid fan to read the results!
Yay for interest in the idea!! \o/ :D (And thanks to @femmedesneiges for getting it back out there!!)

@Jukino - I've run many kinds of fic challenges, from simple to ridiculously complex, so I'm happy to go with whatever seems to work best for everyone. And with all those ideas, if you wanted to co-run it, I'd be open to that, too! :)

@lily_b - Don't be shy!-- it's all about fun and fanlove, no negativity allowed. :) And I'm all for prompts; maybe even people who don't want to/can't participate in the writing can submit some prompts, so we get a good list going.

@rainruma - Readers are just as important as writers! Would you possibly be interested in being a beta reader, to help a writer along as they go?

@Railise - You're the expert in fic challenge, so I'm waiting to see what you have in mind ! Of course, I'd love to help !
@Railise - Yes, count me in ... I sometimes do that IRL too :D
In any case, if you think of doing it, I'll write something. 
Okay, giving it some consideration, I think we should probably start with something on the slightly simpler side, and work up to voting contests once people are writing (I definitely intend to get to them, just not at first). But, we also should get a fire lit, so going too simple won't be good, either.

Sooo... what about a month-long Fic Fest? The intention will be more to get authors writing and increase the quantity of drama-based fanfiction, than to make anyone worry too much about quality just yet. In this case, we also won't aim for super long fics-- perhaps, word counts between 100 to 3k. We'll assemble a list of prompts (I'm thinking we can open prompt submissions to anybody here who'd like to suggest some, which can also get more people interested and hopefully reading the fics), but my question is this: would you guys prefer just having the prompts available if a writer wants them, or should we have a rule that each fic has to use at least one? And I'd like to get some beta readers lined up, too. Again, we're not going to worry too much about perfection, but encouragement and a second pair of eyes are always helpful. There'll be a sign-up form for that, to make sure writers and betas can pair up well; but it'd be fine if people wanted to arrange that outside of the fest, too.

To spice things up a bit, there could be competition for most fics written and highest word count (if there aren't a ton of participants, we'll just go with the #1 spot; if we get enough people, we could also do 2nd and possibly 3rd places)-- with profile banners as prizes.

How's this sounding?

Meanwhile, @Juniko raised a couple of good questions regarding ratings and content. Personally, I'd rather see fics centered around dramas/films and the characters in them than rpf, to possibly get people interested in things they haven't seen yet, and also to set aside any question of crossing lines; however, if the majority disagrees with me, I can be outvoted on that. And I'd think if everything is properly labeled and rated, there shouldn't be a cap on ratings-- unless it violates the site rules, which obviously we won't do. (I'll ask about that.) If MA rated works can't be posted on the site-- and if this doesn't also violate rules, which I'll also check into-- we could have them hosted off-site, instead, such as at FFN or AO3. (If that's not okay, either, then we'll just cap the ratings at T.) And speaking of that, would anybody want to cross-post at those sites? I can set up an AO3 collection and/or a FFN community to group them together. 


@chibiladychoi - How would you like to help? :)

@Juniko - Nah, I'm not an expert; just had some time on my hands when my older kiddo was in preschool and the younger one still took naps, lol. I'm glad you'll be writing! And let me know if this is something you'd like to help run. (No pressure if you don't!) :)

@rainruma - Awesome! That'll be a big help!


Since not everyone gets on the forums, I'm going to link to this on the feeds to try to get more people interested. If anyone else wants to give it a boost, that'd be helpful, too! :)