Secret Santa--Three days left for signups!

Come on, we want more signups, guys! Get them in!

(yes, the deadline for signups has been pushed back two days from what I originally put down, if anyone noticed)



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How this will work:


Every author who signs up will be given a set of prompts to write a story with, and will give their own set of prompts for another author to write. After posting is over, I will reveal who wrote for who.



Timeline:


November 12 - November 24 NOW: Signups.
November 24 - November 30: Matchups
December 1 - December 25: Writing time!
December 25 - January 10: Posting.

(yeah, it's changed a little from last time)



Signups


PLEASE ONLY SIGNUP USING THE OFFICIAL SIGNUP FORM (BELOW) OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE LISTED. Preferably you do this by sending a note to the group, if you want you could comment here but your comment will be hidden as soon as it's read to preserve anonymity. When signing up, please provide the following information:


Firstly, if you'd be interested in a poetry section If you're ONLY interested if there's a poetry section, that is. Which means you don't have to fill in the rest of this form. If there is a poetry section (if enough people are interested) I will contact you again with a poetry signup form.

Anything you can't/won't write (optional) (i.e. if you absolutely can't write mystery, or refuse to write romance, or something)

Anything you prefer not to write but will give a go if needed (optional) (i.e. if you're not great at fantasy or whatever but willing to try)

What genre you'd to be written for you(horror, romance, coming of age, mystery, whatever)

A character to be included

And object to be included

A location to be included

Any additional notes (optional)


So, your prompt will be something like:

"I'd like a family drama story involving a prince, a kettle, and a swimming pool. I'd also please like no romance."

If you like, you could give two if your first one was difficult or if you weren't sure if you writer would be willing to write it. You can also give your character a name (though please no existing characters or real people) and make the location specific (i.e. the Great Wall of China). Your additional information could including the year you'd like your story set in, the length of the action (the action inside the story, that is, i.e. "I'd like the story to all take place without ten minutes"), or anything else.

Basically, be creative! We want to be surprised with what our authors come up with!

And yes, that's a cue too, be creative with what you're given! It doesn't have to be clear-cut. Your "prince" could be the characters watching Cinderella, or a toddler playing dress-up. Your swimming pool could be in a dream, or be a barbie swimming pool.



What's up next:


I'll post more detailed information as we get to each stage, but here's an overview.

You have ten days to put your name down, and then I'll start arranging the information swap between authors. The writing period is only rough, of course you can start as soon as you get your prompt and finish as late as January 10, but we encourage you finish earlier rather than later if possible because we will assign posting dates. Once the posting period draws near, each author will message the group with three possible posting dates and we'll space posting out for readers' convenience and to make sure they're not all lumped to the end of the period. Also, no one knows which story is theirs until after all the posting's done and authors will be instructed not to reveal their prompt, which is an encouragement to read all entries!

Stories can be as long as the author wants--write a novel if you're inspired! No limit for shortness, but please don't just write 2 paragraphs or something. We want maybe, 600, 800 words minimum. If it's flash fiction length, make it a good solid piece of flash fiction.

There may be pinch hitter signups along the way for last minute extra author signups if anyone has to pull out (but don't pull out, really, there's someone writing for you and someone waiting to receive, please don't). This author can be someone already involved who won't mind writing another, or someone who didn't signup but would like to help out. Depending on how much the writing author has done, you may or may not receive the story you want.

Oh, and I'll probably participate. Anyone keen to get me?



Rules

- No fanfiction requests. Sorry, we can't guarantee your author will know the fandom.

- STORIES MUST HAVE A PLOT. I have to stress this. Don't have a character walking aimlessly, or just description. Someone has to happen, someone has to drive that, someone needs to change by the end of the story.

- No explicit material, for requests or writers. If you are writing and want to know if your prompter would be fine with (not 18+) gore, sex etc., contact me and I'll pass the question on.

- You DO NOT have to be part of the group, and DO NOT have to be a teenager. What the hell, open it up to everyone!

- Signup only within the signup period. If you miss it and we're in matchups, well, send a note to us if you like but we can't guarantee anything at that stage.



So, I think that's it! I'm quite excited for this If you have any questions, feel free to comment and ask.

Write away!