Writeathon MAQ
Thought it would be a good idea to have this here as well as in my own journal. Apparently I can't back-date it, but at least it's here somewhere.
Writeathon MAQ (Muskrit-Anticipated Questions)
What's this writeathon thing? The idea is to write for a set period of time, 8 hours straight through this time around.
What sort of writing is eligible? Fiction is strongly preferred, but if you want to write non-fiction that's fine, too. Just so long as it isn't 8 hours of blog entries and rants, because the primary motivation for doing this is to get into the creative groove.
Well, what if Treize had a blog and I wrote entries for that for 8 hours? That would be fine. In fact, I'd like to read that!
I don't know who Treize is. That's okay, you can still play here.
So, fiction. Any kind of fiction? Yes -- original and fan (ALL fandoms) are equally welcome.
Do I have to start from scratch, or can I work on a previously-started piece? You can work on whatever you want. This is for each participant's benefit, so whatever will help you get the most out of the experience is not only fine but highly encouraged.
Can I write with a partner? Sure. In fact, I was thinking it might be fun to pair up for one of the hours randomly, and see what happens as an experiment.
I don't play well with others. No worries. Any of the challenges offered will be optional, not required.
What sort of challenges? I don't have all the ideas yet, but I was thinking that as part of the check-in process each hour, there could be an optional challenge for the next hour for anyone who was interested.
What's this check-in process of which you speak? Part of the reason for setting up a writeathon is to form a support community for the duration. So the idea is that at the top of the hour, we spend a few minutes meeting up in chat to vent or brag or whatever, and mostly to encourage each other along.
Will the chat be open during the hour as well? Not officially, because then there would be too much temptation for the day of writing to turn into a day of chatting. Yep. But we try very hard not to let the day of writing turn into a day of chatting. ;p And of course, if people have challenges going on that require staying in communication, there will be chat rooms open for those.
What chat program will I need for this? AIM has been working so far, so we're sticking with that for now.
NEW: What if I want to write but I don't want to be in the chat? We'll miss you, but you certainly won't be barred from posting. Hourly challenges are posted in the writeathon comm, so you can check there. The only minor thing is that you'll probably wind up falling out of synch with the official "hours" (we write for 60 minutes, break for 15 minutes in chat, and then start the next hour--so if Hour 1 starts at 8:00, Hour 2 will start at 9:15, etc.).
What if I can't do the full 8 hours? No worries.
What if I do finish the full 8 hours? Beyond the satisfaction of having written for 8 hours? Um. I could make stick figure plaques of achievement for those who make it to the end.
No fair! Now I feel pressure to finish so I can get a plaque! Well, okay -- I'll make participant plaques, as well.
... Or I don't have to!
All right, so aside from the hourly check-in, how will this work? We have a comm on Insanejournal for everyone to post their work for the hour, each hour.
I don't have an IJ account. Basic accounts are free (and they don't have ads!).
NEW: Is posting friends-only? Right now, the default for new posts is set to "public." Administrative posts, including voting on writeathon dates and hourly challenges during the writeathon will always be public. When it comes to posting your hourly writing, it's entirely up to you: if you're happy to have anyone who might wander by read your stuff here, go ahead and leave it unlocked; if you'd rather that only fellow participants be able to see it, please lock it up.
Posting every hour -- that sounds like pressure. It's not meant to be! It'll be closed to the participants (see above), and we're all in the same boat. Really, it's meant to give you a sense of accomplishment, and to share what you're working on.
So it doesn't have to be finished? Nope.
It doesn't have to be polished? Nope. In fact, you are strongly encouraged just to keep on with the writing without stopping to edit or polish. That is much easier said than done, I know.
Are there word count requirements? Definitely not, just so long as you write something each hour. It's possible that one or more "word races" will be held, but like all other challenges, those will be optional.
So I can write 1 word an hour? If you want to be a wisenheimer. ;p Remember -- this is for you, so what you put into it and get out of it is all that really matters.
Okay, so -- it doesn't have to be good? It doesn't have to be anything but written.
Is this friends-list only, or can anyone play? It's open to everyone.
Even people who don't have an LJ account? Yes. I'm looking for a sandbox outside of LJ for this. But you will need an IJ account (see above).
Where do I sign up? You can leave a comment here, if you like. But there's no official sign up. I'll make a post with more details once those are set.
What details are set so far? The date this time is Sunday, September 7th, starting at 8:00am PT. I'll post a link to the chat room in my personal LJ and at the IJ Writeathon comm.
Anything else? Not that I can think of, but since I'm sure there are questions I've failed to anticipate, ask away in comments.