More Yuletide musings

[sholio]

You know, it seems like every year, there are some fandoms I offer to write because I'm wildly enthusiastic about them and they make me squee and bounce, and some fandoms that I offer because it's a book I really loved when I read it back in 1990, or a comic that's been running since 1954 of which I've read the 1986-89 issues only ... and invariably, that's what I'm assigned. XD I'm not really complaining, because I've found my assignments challenging and fun, but THIS year, "Self," I told myself, "don't sign up for anything you're not crazy about writing, okay?" And then, of course, I got to looking through the list of fandoms and going (as usual) "Oh! I've heard of that! I could probably write it!"

*reviews signup thoughtfully*

I keep wondering if I ought to come to my senses and delete some of these. Like, say, the series I stopped reading with book 3 because I'd lost interest in it. Or the one that I added because I thought the idea of fic for it -- I mean, the idea of fic actually existing -- would be hilarious, but it doesn't have any actual characters, and now that I'm looking at it, I'm thinking "... you know, trying to get 1000 words out of a series of unconnected jokes is probably a bad idea." On the other hand, winnowing my list down to my top 4 or 5 most squeeful favorites sort of feels like a cop-out. I dunno. (Okay, I think I'm taking that last one out. There's a difference between being challenged, and offering to write something that fills me with horror at the very idea. *edits*)

In other Yuletide-related stuff, I was pondering this post on Yuletide letters asking for no sexism/racism/etc in their fic. I've seen several people doing that this year, and I find myself agreeing that it doesn't sound like a terribly useful thing to ask for if you aren't specific. No one sets out to write sexist, racist, or homophobic fic, right? I think it's way more useful to specify what you mean: I wouldn't find "no misogyny" particularly helpful, but "Please don't shove the female characters into the background while the male characters get all the plot" gives me something to actually work with. (Which, incidentally, is more or less why I asked not to have canon couples broken up in my own Yuletide letter; I thought about getting more specific, but basically, it's not that I can't stand to read ANY story in which [x] and [y] are not together; it's that I hate the general trope of breaking up couples in order to shuffle the girl offscreen, which is almost invariably what happens. But I think that's a more useful way to phrase the request than just saying "No sexism" or even "Don't ignore the female characters", because a couple of my requests are for all-male characters and what is the poor writer supposed to do then?)

This entry is also posted at http://friendshipper.dreamwidth.org/299389.html with comments.

Comments

[skieswideopen]

I hadn't thought about it before, but you (and naraht) are absolutely right--it's not at all helpful just to ask for no "ists." All it's likely to do is make the poor writer tense as they second-guess what they're writing, trying to figure out where they may have slipped up. (I'm a little stressed just reading the requests, and I haven't even signed up yet! Still deciding whether I should...)

[sholio]

You should! It's fun! :) It's challenging, but the sense of accomplishment at the end is awesome; I think of all the fandom fests I participate in, this is the one that makes me the happiest, because the feeling of providing a fic for someone in a fandom that may have no other fics at all is such an awesome feeling. (Plus, you get a rare fic of your own in return!) ETA: Okay, I just realized that the problem isn't you haven't done it before, it's that you don't have time which, er, just ignore my enabling then. >_>

And yes, exactly! I suppose that it could provide the useful service of at least letting you know what your recipient's hot-button topics are; if I got a request that said "no misogyny", for example, I'd pay special attention to make sure I wasn't backgrounding the female characters or using the word "bitch" without thinking about it or whatnot (... well, I doubt if I would do that last one in a fic for someone I didn't know, but I guess it would depend on canon). But it would still be SO MUCH MORE USEFUL to have my recipient just say "I hate misogynist slurs and don't want them in my fic" or "I love the women in this canon, please make them awesome" or whatever.

[skieswideopen]

Oh, the enabling is good too, because I haven't done Yuletide before, and it is a bit daunting. The stories I've read from it have all been so good! (Possibly reflecting the fact that they were all rec'd!) But time is a big issue--December is exam period, and I know I'll be spending at least two weeks doing nothing but grading. And then there's all the holiday preparations. So signing up for a December ficathon is a bit scary.

And I completely agree--being specific on exactly what you do and don't want is much better than vague statements. It is much more useful to provide details and examples.

(I also read penknife's statement from last year on Yuletide requests, and there were lots of great points there. I dread people who go into ficathons and say "anything goes." That doesn't make life easier--it makes it much harder!)

[sholio]

Ah, so I was right the first time. Well, there is no limit to how far into my mouth I can shove my foot. XD So ... back to my original point! Yuletide is a lot of fun and you should do it. *nods*

It's true that the ratio of good fic to bad fic in Yuletide is incredibly high! But I wouldn't worry too much about it; another thing I like about Yuletide is how supportive everyone is -- when the fics come out, I've very rarely (maybe never?) seen people complaining about their fic, or pointing out fics they didn't like. Everyone is all SQUEE! BOUNCE! REC! instead. :D Probably it's at least partly because there is so much fic that even if your own personal fic isn't all you could've hoped, there is more than enough to read. I don't think there needs to be ... performance anxiety or anything of that nature about it. (Not that I don't get ridiculous performance anxiety myself. But, er ... do as I say, not as I do? *hides*)

[skieswideopen]

Well, there is no limit to how far into my mouth I can shove my foot.

Not at all! Thanks in part to your encouragement, I'm now contemplating fandoms. I have three that I definitely want (including one that I almost certainly won't get), but choosing the fourth...gah. How to narrow it down?

And then I need to figure out my offers.

(I actually really love doing the whole sign-up thing--choosing prompts and descriptions and so forth. It gets me into trouble sometimes. :D)

[water-soter.livejournal.com]

Hey, can I ask you a question, how can I sign up for Yuletide? Or join the archive of our own?

[sholio]

There are details (... oh so many details) at yuletide_admin, but here's the short version:

You need an AO3 account to sign up for Yuletide. To get an AO3 account, you need an invite code. Right now they're saying that the invite queue is pretty long, so they're asking people to email yuletide@yuletidetreasure.org to request an invite code for Yuletide.

And then, once you have your account, you go to the Yuletide signup page here: http://archiveofourown.org/collections/yuletide2010/signups/new

There is also a page with really detailed instructions for filling out the signup form, including video, here: http://community.livejournal.com/yuletide_admin/106124.html

I hope this helps! :)

[water-soter.livejournal.com]

O.O Huh, that's very . . . elaborate O.O. I almost feel like I'm signing away a kidney or something (like my first born) :-P

[sholio]

Well, the actual signup procedure is really not all that complicated (hey, *I* did it, so it must be easy *g*); the main thing is just that you can't do it without an AO3 account, and you have to ask for one in order to get one at this point. I'm looking forward to when the site is out of beta and you can just sign up without needing a code ...

[water-soter.livejournal.com]

Ah, so that's why. I thought it was strange but thank you for taking the time to clarify this for me. I'm an idiot when it comes to computer things. My shinning moment every day is when I'm actually able to turn on the computer and not have it a)blow up on me, b)set itself on fire or c)just wipe itself completely blank.

[leesa_perrie]

Yuletide scares me! But then, I'm struggling to write fic at all, let alone in a fandom other than SGA!!!

But yes, I think putting down something more specific than 'no x-ist' is better. I've tried to be specific in a couple of things I've signed up for recently - possibly too specific, but I did put a 'so long as it's not on my dislike list I'll probably be fine with it - it's the giving not the receiving' sort of thing at the end for those who find too specific posts offputting!! *g*

t's that I hate the general trope of breaking up couples in order to shuffle the girl offscreen

Yes, although I don't read slash or much that could be classed as het, the idea of breaking up a relationship in order to shuffle the girl offscreen sounds just like the sort of thing I'd hate too!

[sholio]

I actually enjoy the challenge of Yuletide a great deal! I've ended up writing in fandoms I never imagined writing in, and I've been very happy with the fic I've gotten. (Especially the first year I did it, oh man. It was so awesome.) But yeah, vague instructions are the WORST. I've gotten that in fic exchanges a couple of times, and it's so hard to deal with. Luckily people in the SGA exchanges are pretty good about being specific with what they want; I haven't had much trouble with the prompts I've gotten through the sga_santa and sheppard_hc exchanges. (Well, in terms of specificity, anyway. Actually writing them is sometimes a different thing!)