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slowburnbigbang2017-05-14 04:31 pm
slowburns) wrote in slowburnbigbang2017-05-14 04:31 pm
Entry tags:
Frequently Asked Questions
When can I start writing?
As soon as you sign up! The moment you submit you signup form is when any words you write for your Slow Burn Big Bang fic begin counting towards your goal of either 50,000 or 100,000.
Do I need a Dreamwidth or AO3 account to sign up? What is required for me to participate?
Nope. All we require from you is a name or pseudonym, and a working email.
You don't even need any past history of writing or any other published works or accounts on the internet. We don't care about that—all we're concerned with is your participation here, a name we can give credit to you for, and an email so we can contact you and send you news and updates.
Can I sign up for both seasonal stretches?
Yes! As signups for the spring stretch will take place before the stretch starts (November 30, 2017 - December 31, 2017), you should keep an eye out for our community by watching or tracking so you don't miss it. But we don't prohibit—we even encourage it—for any autumnal participants to also sign up for the spring stretch, if your schedule can allow it.
Can I sign up as a seasonal participant and a gold star participant?
The answer is not no—it's certainly possible, and if you're capable of it we won't stop you. However, we do encourage anyone who wants to participate not to load themselves with goals just for the sake of quantity.
If I signed up as seasonal but think/would like this fic would be at least as long as 100k and written longer than 6 months, can I switch to a gold star participant?
Yes. Let us know and if needed we'll further discuss it with you to make sure that you have the challenge goal that works best for you. Sometimes 50,000 is shorter than it seems! Just anticipate your story at least hitting around the 95,000 word count range and you're ★golden★.
If I signed up as a gold star but am not sure if my story will be long enough for 100k within the span of 12 months, can I switch to a seasonal participant?
Yes. Just let us know whenever, wherever, and we can discuss it to see what works best for you. One 100,000+ word story isn't easy—50,000 isn't, either, but it's understandable if it's more reachable for you.
I switched from a seasonal (or gold star) to a gold star (or seasonal) and now I want to switch back. What should I do?
Please discuss it with us if you have no idea what's going on with your story. Word counts (and freedom of schedules) can be difficult to anticipate, and we only want what is best for you and your fic.
Can I sign up as a beta reader and a writer?
Yes.
When/Can I post my fic on my own AO3/other story archiving site eventually?
Yes. After one month of reveals - i.e. on January 1, 2019 - you are allowed to post your fic to any other archiving site at your discretion.
What's with the website?
The website is our showcase - think of it like a museum, or some other really fancy setting where finished products are put on display for public consumption. There are a number of reasons we're utilizing it instead of having writers post on their own, and/or to AO3. The reasons are:
Is there art in this event?
Due to the nature of this event being multifandom, beginning - and, really, ending - with writers signing up, there is no art portion as it would be solely dependent on the fandoms represented by the writers. Obviously this doesn't mean that artists cannot make art for any works in this challenge; the art portion that is typically found in other big bang challenges simply will not be a part of this one. This also allows lateral equality between all finished writing submissions.
What's the difference between a formal relationship (not allowed in fic prior to the end to be considered Slow Burn), and an informal relationship/relationship play?
The way we're defining a romantic relationship - and then Slow Burn - is significantly based on
Romantic relationships are intended to reflect the romantic feelings of both parties, and can only be established if they are communicated with each other and mutually reciprocated at the same time.
Confessions can be a grey area within this realm, e.g.
Can I write for [obscure fandom] or [rareship] or [dead fandom] or [actor RPF] or [video game] or [animanga] or [sports RPF] or [crossover ship] or [franchise fandom] or [virtually any ship or any fandom]?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. We have no content guidelines aside from that you write 50k+ or 100k+ of slow burn for it. That's it. Do whatever you want otherwise.
When works are submitted, we will require fandom(s), pairing(s), and warning(s) tags. But that's in the relatively distant future.
Can there be secondary relationships that aren't slow burn?
Yes. Slow burn just has to pertain to the central pairing of your story—the pace and dynamic of any other side relationship in your story can do whatever they want in the periphery.
Microsoft Word says that my fic is 47,979 words long, but wordcounter.net says it's 48,001 words long. Am I disqualified?
Nope! So as long as at least one medium reflects that your fic at least reaches the minimum word count allowance (this is not the same as our target goal—the target goal is what you should be aiming for), we will allow it.
Will you be checking the word count for each submission? Will you be reading each submission to make sure it qualifies as slow burn?
Well... the answer's not no here, either ;) Definitely to the word counts—we have access to the varying word processor platforms too, so if it makes it easier for you, you can tell us which platform you used that says your fic fits within our word count word range, so we don't have to check in every other word processor with paranoia.
For the slow burn qualification, we will have a team of readers to make sure that every submission qualifies (and also because we are hungry readers who love reading, as well.) This is not to say that you should worry about disqualification, but while every story will be different and follow different plots, everyone should have at least a similar intention with how your story might qualify as slow burn. If you sign up for our challenge with no intention to write a story that fits our definition of slow burn, then that's when it has the potential to be visible and when we might have a problem.
What's up with the reading team?
The reading team is like a final check, last stand proofreader for the works. We don't want you to be fearful of your work getting disqualified as long as there's some evidential intention of making your story a slow burn (which, of course, we're hoping for considering your participation in our event.) Our reading team is more of a "safety" for all the works in this event - any work that gets disqualified would be a work that was never written to qualify in the first place. Plus, everyone has a lot of time to write and flesh out and make sure that their work is "slow burn enough" for us, as well.
Am I allowed to start out with a Work In Progress for this event?
Yes. Our rules for that can be found here.
What if I have to/miss a check-in?
We allow two weeks of check-in. If you miss a check-in, you will be temporarily disqualified until you contact us again, giving us a reason and also the information we require at the check-in. However, if you know in advance that you will not be available for a particular check-in, please let us know as soon as possible and we will arrange with you around that.
What is required at check-ins?
Not much, it's pretty simple! We'll ask about your word count, how you're feeling about your work (which is optional), and... that's pretty much it. It's really very low pressure, but the reason we have them is to make sure that everyone is still participating, or at least still in, and hasn't fallen off the face of the earth. We'll also inquire about any needs for extensions or drop outs during check-ins, in case you forget to contact us otherwise.
What happens if I drop out?
There is no shame in being disqualified—but the nature of this event will therefore may make it necessary, if your fic is not completed and/or does not meet the designated minimum word count. You are free to finish, post, and do whatever you want with your fic afterwards, even if it cannot end up as a part of our collection. We still appreciate your efforts and participation, and hope you had a good run with us :)
(The whole point of this event is to have a common goal, however, after all.)
Are Autumn fics getting posted at the same time as Spring & Gold Star fics?
Yes. We are aware that this gives Autumn fics more time to beta - but on the other hand, they also have a longer wait, so we figure that the pro/con balances out. Additionally, we want to release all works at once for the sake of achieving the equality when all works are revealed. We know it requires a wait, but it is preferable to us than releasing the Autumn collection earlier, as that would create a stagger for reception between Autumn participants versus Spring and Gold Star participants.
Have any questions? Leave them here and we'll answer them as soon as possible.
Anonymous commenting is ON; you do not need to have a Dreamwidth account to leave a question.
As soon as you sign up! The moment you submit you signup form is when any words you write for your Slow Burn Big Bang fic begin counting towards your goal of either 50,000 or 100,000.
Do I need a Dreamwidth or AO3 account to sign up? What is required for me to participate?
Nope. All we require from you is a name or pseudonym, and a working email.
You don't even need any past history of writing or any other published works or accounts on the internet. We don't care about that—all we're concerned with is your participation here, a name we can give credit to you for, and an email so we can contact you and send you news and updates.
Can I sign up for both seasonal stretches?
Yes! As signups for the spring stretch will take place before the stretch starts (November 30, 2017 - December 31, 2017), you should keep an eye out for our community by watching or tracking so you don't miss it. But we don't prohibit—we even encourage it—for any autumnal participants to also sign up for the spring stretch, if your schedule can allow it.
Can I sign up as a seasonal participant and a gold star participant?
The answer is not no—it's certainly possible, and if you're capable of it we won't stop you. However, we do encourage anyone who wants to participate not to load themselves with goals just for the sake of quantity.
If I signed up as seasonal but think/would like this fic would be at least as long as 100k and written longer than 6 months, can I switch to a gold star participant?
Yes. Let us know and if needed we'll further discuss it with you to make sure that you have the challenge goal that works best for you. Sometimes 50,000 is shorter than it seems! Just anticipate your story at least hitting around the 95,000 word count range and you're ★golden★.
If I signed up as a gold star but am not sure if my story will be long enough for 100k within the span of 12 months, can I switch to a seasonal participant?
Yes. Just let us know whenever, wherever, and we can discuss it to see what works best for you. One 100,000+ word story isn't easy—50,000 isn't, either, but it's understandable if it's more reachable for you.
I switched from a seasonal (or gold star) to a gold star (or seasonal) and now I want to switch back. What should I do?
Please discuss it with us if you have no idea what's going on with your story. Word counts (and freedom of schedules) can be difficult to anticipate, and we only want what is best for you and your fic.
Can I sign up as a beta reader and a writer?
Yes.
When/Can I post my fic on my own AO3/other story archiving site eventually?
Yes. After one month of reveals - i.e. on January 1, 2019 - you are allowed to post your fic to any other archiving site at your discretion.
What's with the website?
The website is our showcase - think of it like a museum, or some other really fancy setting where finished products are put on display for public consumption. There are a number of reasons we're utilizing it instead of having writers post on their own, and/or to AO3. The reasons are:
- All works are then in an exclusive forum where they all get an equal amount of attention within it.
- An individual server for this big bang is reminiscent of the original big bang, which was also hosted on its own website.
- It allows us to be in control of how works can be sorted, and also spices up stories in general with a fresher cosmetic display.
- Having this website also guarantees equality without needing to be sorted by an arbitrary number of popularity.
- We are/will be proud of every one of the works for this event that putting them on our own server gives the added element of the collection as an anthology - and what better way to show off our participants than to show them off on our own website?
- Downloading stories as PDFs, MOBIs, or ePubs for offline usage
- Responsive themes, allowing the website as a whole to be easily readable on mobile and tablet devices
- A comment system wherein all the information you need to provide is a Name, Email, and Comment Text in order to leave a review on a story. All comments can also be replied to, either by the author or anyone else who wishes to start a discussion about a story.
- Catch-all disclaimers for all fanfiction and RPF posted on the site.
- Browsing by site-specific tags, which includes but is not limited to tags indicating the type of participant (seasonal, autumn, spring, gold star), and general word count.
- Search through all works on the site, for common phrases, an author, or just something you recall reading but can't remember what story it was from
- LightBox for images, allowing linked images to appear in a same-page popup (think Tumblr)
Is there art in this event?
Due to the nature of this event being multifandom, beginning - and, really, ending - with writers signing up, there is no art portion as it would be solely dependent on the fandoms represented by the writers. Obviously this doesn't mean that artists cannot make art for any works in this challenge; the art portion that is typically found in other big bang challenges simply will not be a part of this one. This also allows lateral equality between all finished writing submissions.
What's the difference between a formal relationship (not allowed in fic prior to the end to be considered Slow Burn), and an informal relationship/relationship play?
The way we're defining a romantic relationship - and then Slow Burn - is significantly based on
- communication between the characters, and
- the intention of their dynamic
Romantic relationships are intended to reflect the romantic feelings of both parties, and can only be established if they are communicated with each other and mutually reciprocated at the same time.
Confessions can be a grey area within this realm, e.g.
- 1: If character A confesses to character B, character B rejects/does not reciprocate at first but both characters remain in potential contact of each other when character B starts to develop feelings for character A.
- 2: If character C confesses to character D, character D rejects them, they go on with their lives and become reunited due to [plot device] at a later date and begin the process of typical Slow Burn.
Can I write for [obscure fandom] or [rareship] or [dead fandom] or [actor RPF] or [video game] or [animanga] or [sports RPF] or [crossover ship] or [franchise fandom] or [virtually any ship or any fandom]?
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. We have no content guidelines aside from that you write 50k+ or 100k+ of slow burn for it. That's it. Do whatever you want otherwise.
When works are submitted, we will require fandom(s), pairing(s), and warning(s) tags. But that's in the relatively distant future.
Can there be secondary relationships that aren't slow burn?
Yes. Slow burn just has to pertain to the central pairing of your story—the pace and dynamic of any other side relationship in your story can do whatever they want in the periphery.
Microsoft Word says that my fic is 47,979 words long, but wordcounter.net says it's 48,001 words long. Am I disqualified?
Nope! So as long as at least one medium reflects that your fic at least reaches the minimum word count allowance (this is not the same as our target goal—the target goal is what you should be aiming for), we will allow it.
Will you be checking the word count for each submission? Will you be reading each submission to make sure it qualifies as slow burn?
Well... the answer's not no here, either ;) Definitely to the word counts—we have access to the varying word processor platforms too, so if it makes it easier for you, you can tell us which platform you used that says your fic fits within our word count word range, so we don't have to check in every other word processor with paranoia.
For the slow burn qualification, we will have a team of readers to make sure that every submission qualifies (and also because we are hungry readers who love reading, as well.) This is not to say that you should worry about disqualification, but while every story will be different and follow different plots, everyone should have at least a similar intention with how your story might qualify as slow burn. If you sign up for our challenge with no intention to write a story that fits our definition of slow burn, then that's when it has the potential to be visible and when we might have a problem.
What's up with the reading team?
The reading team is like a final check, last stand proofreader for the works. We don't want you to be fearful of your work getting disqualified as long as there's some evidential intention of making your story a slow burn (which, of course, we're hoping for considering your participation in our event.) Our reading team is more of a "safety" for all the works in this event - any work that gets disqualified would be a work that was never written to qualify in the first place. Plus, everyone has a lot of time to write and flesh out and make sure that their work is "slow burn enough" for us, as well.
Am I allowed to start out with a Work In Progress for this event?
Yes. Our rules for that can be found here.
What if I have to/miss a check-in?
We allow two weeks of check-in. If you miss a check-in, you will be temporarily disqualified until you contact us again, giving us a reason and also the information we require at the check-in. However, if you know in advance that you will not be available for a particular check-in, please let us know as soon as possible and we will arrange with you around that.
What is required at check-ins?
Not much, it's pretty simple! We'll ask about your word count, how you're feeling about your work (which is optional), and... that's pretty much it. It's really very low pressure, but the reason we have them is to make sure that everyone is still participating, or at least still in, and hasn't fallen off the face of the earth. We'll also inquire about any needs for extensions or drop outs during check-ins, in case you forget to contact us otherwise.
What happens if I drop out?
- If you tell us, then don't worry. We understand that the schedule might not be the best for everyone, or that not everyone is at a place in their lives to write 50k in 6 months/100k in 12 months. It's fine! And there's no shame in it either—it just happens.
- If you are temporarily dropped out due to a missed check-in, just contact us as soon as possible and once we've got you up to speed, you're back in.
- If you don't tell us and don't communicate with us and are clearly ignoring or blocking us, we will ban you in the future. Telling us you're dropping out is better than no communication.
There is no shame in being disqualified—but the nature of this event will therefore may make it necessary, if your fic is not completed and/or does not meet the designated minimum word count. You are free to finish, post, and do whatever you want with your fic afterwards, even if it cannot end up as a part of our collection. We still appreciate your efforts and participation, and hope you had a good run with us :)
(The whole point of this event is to have a common goal, however, after all.)
Are Autumn fics getting posted at the same time as Spring & Gold Star fics?
Yes. We are aware that this gives Autumn fics more time to beta - but on the other hand, they also have a longer wait, so we figure that the pro/con balances out. Additionally, we want to release all works at once for the sake of achieving the equality when all works are revealed. We know it requires a wait, but it is preferable to us than releasing the Autumn collection earlier, as that would create a stagger for reception between Autumn participants versus Spring and Gold Star participants.
Have any questions? Leave them here and we'll answer them as soon as possible.
Anonymous commenting is ON; you do not need to have a Dreamwidth account to leave a question.
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