Like bratfarrar, I tend to do better when I know there's someone writing specifically for me and I'm writing for them.
The other thing is that with a "pick your own prompt" option, I'd end up signing up to write something and then discover that no-one's written anything that I'd really like to read.
The "pick your own prompt" skews the results in favour of what's popular and provides disincentive for people like me - who have little to no interest in the "popular" genfic (ie. John and Rodney BFF) - to participate.
I don't know that there's a solution to this problem, but it's something to consider. I get involved in ficathons because very few people write the stories I'd like to read unless I specifically request it. (And even then, they usually skip out of writing it.)
no subject
The other thing is that with a "pick your own prompt" option, I'd end up signing up to write something and then discover that no-one's written anything that I'd really like to read.
The "pick your own prompt" skews the results in favour of what's popular and provides disincentive for people like me - who have little to no interest in the "popular" genfic (ie. John and Rodney BFF) - to participate.
I don't know that there's a solution to this problem, but it's something to consider. I get involved in ficathons because very few people write the stories I'd like to read unless I specifically request it. (And even then, they usually skip out of writing it.)