B2MeM 2014 (Yes, Really!)

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, my comods and I have really started talking about 2014's Back to Middle-earth Month. However, there is a good reason behind this! (Normally, the mods start discussion in December, with the members being brought on board by January or February.) There are two important things that we wanted to bring up to B2MeM participants for feedback.

First is the event for 2014. We have done daily-prompt challenges for the past three B2MeMs. These are always popular and are pretty easy to do (so long as BINGO cards aren't involved ... ;), but when we started running B2MeM, it was not necessarily a daily-prompt challenge, and while daily prompts are usually well-liked, we have also had requests to try a different format. So we wanted to propose an idea and see how the community felt about it.

Instead of a daily prompt, we have considered putting together a compilation this year. Those of you who have been SWG members for a few years know that we have done compilations there in the past. (Akallabêth in August is probably the best example of this.) The idea is that participants claim a prompt or prompts well before the event itself. Each participant then sets out to create a story, poem, or artwork based on that prompt, only instead of trying to get something created quickly to be ready for the next day's prompt, the participant has time to make the piece the best it can be. During the month of the event, one or a few of these pieces are "released" each day. By the end of the month, there is a compilation of stories, poetry, and art based around a theme.

Our idea is to put together such a compilation for this year's B2MeM, based around a theme that encompasses the diversity that our community has to offer, i.e., whether you write First Age or Fourth, Hobbits or Noldor, there will be a place for you. The pieces will be revealed over the course of March. At the end of the month, we would also like to offer an e-book or print-on-demand book of the compilation (for writers and artists who want to be included--this would NOT be mandatory). Ideally, there would be the opportunity for writers and artists to pair up to do illustrated stories, and we would offer beta assistance and other for authors who want it.

So what say you all? Are we willing to give the daily prompt a break for this year? Does a compilation seem like something we'd like to try for this year's B2MeM? Please remember that this community exists to promote a fandom holiday that will help bring the various corners of the Tolkien fandom together, so we need to know if our participants think an idea will work for them or not. In short: please be honest in your feedback! :)

The second point concerns moderators. B2MeM started as an alliance of Tolkien fandom groups that wanted to offer a month-long "holiday" in which Tolkien-based transformative works are celebrated. As a result of this basic structure, it was always assumed that the mods of the groups that participated would be the mods of B2MeM. In actuality, this doesn't work that well. For one, group mods already have significant responsibilities in running their groups. In many cases, they cannot also run B2MeM. Secondly, this keeps those who have ideas about B2MeM, time to volunteer, and who would make excellent moderators from actually serving as moderators.

As a result, we will be opening up moderation of B2MeM to more than just the mods of the groups that sponsor it. Moderators help plan out B2MeM events and get them ready for March. They help run things behind the scenes before and during the event. They help to answer questions from participants and cheer participants on. We tend to work closely together on planning and then divide up responsibilities for actually running the event, based on the talents and interests of each mod.

Please comment here, message me, or email me at DawnFelagund@gmail.com if you'd like to be a mod for this year's B2MeM. You should expect to be available beginning in December through early April. (Obviously, everyone needs time off, and we cover for each other when needed, but this is our "busy season," so to speak.) I will make sure to begin including anyone who is interested in moderator correspondence going forward.

Comments

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. So this story or artwork, or whatever we choose would have to be ready before March?

Edit: After reading a comment below, I have to ask. It won't be a fic swap, will it? I'm terrible at those. Otherwise, I like the idea. It will be less exciting maybe, but I understand that this is a lot fo work for the mods.

I wouldn't have anything I wrote printed, but that's just me. =)

[dawn_felagund]

So this story or artwork, or whatever we choose would have to be ready before March?

Yes. There would be a due date, possibly based on the prompt one chose. (E.g., a prompt that is going to be revealed on March 1 would be due before one scheduled to be revealed on March 31! :)

It won't be a fic swap, will it?

No, definitely not. To use Akallabeth in August as an example, we had a list of events from the Second Age that were prompts. Participants could claim one (more on the second round, if they wanted) and write/draw anything that fit that event.

AinA was obviously centered on a time period, which this likely won't be. (Although one of the mods has proposed a possible approach that would be chronological; the challenge is that B2MeM must cover the Time of the Trees through ???) But the general concept will apply: a list of very open prompts, centered on a theme, that people who want to participate can claim.

[dreamflower]

You know I'm in--but it would be good to have some extra mods on hand!

[dawn_felagund]

Yes, totally!

[tehta.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

I might change my mind as I think about this some more, but my first reaction is: eek, sounds stressful! I should probably sit this one out.

I guess I really liked the daily prompts, which made me feel like it was OK to spend only a few hours on a ficlet before posting it. (With the possibility of polishing it later, of course.) And then, it was exciting to see in nearly-real-time where different people's muses took them! I think it was the energy of the last B2MeM month that convinced me to get back into fandom.

If there are claimable prompts, and longer-term deadlines, and the expectation of perfection, then this becomes Yet Another Fic Exchange. And I find writing for exchanges an isolating experience, not an engaging one.

So, that's my take on it, anyway. I know I am not the most productive member of the community, though, so I am not sure how much it should matter.

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

I am a bit curious now... we will have a list of prompts that you can choose from, you still have to come up with something within a timed scheduled... there is still that thrill of meeting that deadline.

Only the huge difference this time will be that on daily basis, people will look forward to the fandom's contributions of that day. Your piece gets the chance to stand out and shine (very different in my experience than fandom exchanges where your story will be listed amongst many others revealed on one day only and it is very likely that only the person who will receive it will read it), the chances are very high that your piece will be read, and even after March has passed since it might end up in a compilation!

The only caveat I can think off is that once it is revealed, we (those who will do the page coding) won't go back and alter typo's. It is the same energy, only different.

Maybe you didn't consider that everyone who wants to play still can go to the community and share their progress made, ask for help or get encouragement. It is not that you write for one person and you can't talk about it (I have read Dawn's text above a few times over and I don't see words like keeping it secret there).

It is entirely up to the individual, also on how much time you want to spent on it! Want to crash out that ficlet: go ahead! If you want to write a longer story... that's fine as well! You, the participant, gets to decide how much energy/time you want to invest in it.

I remember writing for Akallabêth in August where I simply chatted about my progress being made, but I decided to keep the basic plot line to myself and looked forward to the day my piece would be made public for everyone to see. If you don't think your piece is perfect, you can always decide not to have it included in the compilation for example. Yet you still can put it up at an archive, link to B2MEM 2014 and tinker to your hearts desire. Just think about it a bit more... please :)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid I don't like this idea at all. I love the daily prompts and waiting to see what appeared and what my Muses made of it. Taking them away would take all the fun out of BTME. As Tehta says,BTME would become just another challenge instead of something special.

The idea of making the BTME stories into a book is a good one, but please keep the daily prompts.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks for your feedback, Linda. We have not always had daily prompts for B2MeM, although this is what we've done for the past three years for a variety of reasons (a big one of which, especially last year, was a record lack of availability from the moderators and so the need for a challenge that was pretty easy to run, which daily prompts are! :).

I just replied to Tehta that, if we were to do the compilation, I have some ideas to make the event more engaging on a daily basis; I just don't want to put those ideas out there yet, since they haven't even been discussed with the mods yet. But I don't want this to become just an exercise in writing a story and seeing it put up on LJ with maybe a comment or two in response. I want to consider ways to continue to make it special and engaging without necessarily having to do a daily prompt every year (which not all writers like or can do, which is why we try to mix it up so that everyone feels they can play along at least some of the time! :)

Thanks again for your feedback; last I checked, we were about 50:50 in favor and against, although I think a few more comments have come in since then ...

[just-jenni.livejournal.com]

I like the idea for the compilation this year. Count me in. As a mod I'd probably suck because of my RL time constraints...not that I'm busier than anyone else but the demands on my time can be pretty random so I find it difficult to commit to anything that might require my services at a specific time. I can't tolerate letting anyone down so that probably counts me out as a mod. :(

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks, Jenni! And thanks for considering modding, at least; you were an awesome SWG mod back in the day, and I do hope that we can work together again someday! :)

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I love the compilation idea so much.

The daily prompts make my eyes tear-up just thinking about how horribly stressful they are for me and how negatively they affect me personally. I am very INTO this fandom. And I hate to be left out. But I really feel like the homely stepchild during B2MeM.

I think it is not fair that people push so fucking hard for the daily prompt year-after-year. And that they should give other people a chance to do something they might enjoy. (And not by Not Participating either!!!!) I've done the daily prompts (poorly I admit, but up to my capacity!) for years like a good soldier and complained, yes, (foot soldiers always do complain!). But I really, really tried to keep up with a program that was alien to me and no fun for me at all.

Just one year I would like to feel a part of B2MeM, instead of dragged kicking and screaming through it; or feeling sad and left out. (I start dreading it about December and am not recovered until nearly August!) I'd love to try to write something I liked and that I could be proud of just once for this event. (Also, my B2MeM stories are also the least read of anything I write and people never come back later and read them either--even the people who read every new story I post throughout the rest of the year. Even the few half-decent ones I write during B2MeM are overlooked. Time wise, makes a big bleeding hole in my creativity for the fandom during the course of a year, because of the advance loss of joy and the long recovery.)

I would like to help in some way. I don't think I am a good mod candidate. Too opinionated for constant collaboration and too nearly blind for a lot of daily detail or record-keeping work. But would help with anything else, including publicity or banner-making (now that I finally understand the Rules for graphics).

ETA: I just read Tehta and Linda above and it makes me despair.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

Don't despair! I think it's only fair to try a challenge format, and give people who hate the dailies a break. And I am a lazy fandom participant anyway, so (like I said) my opinion is not that important.

In an Artistic Temperament aside: my B2MeM responses weren't so popular either, but I guess the small time commitment makes me feel OK with that. I also don't much care how people respond to fics I write for myself, like the Amarie one -- nobody can take away the amusement I get from that. It's challenge fics that make me get all irrational, because they make me feel like I am writing into the void: not for myself, and (in the absence of feedback) not for others, either.

[zdenka]

I kind of like the frenetic energy of the daily prompts! I understand having something posted daily is a lot of work for the mods, though, so I'd understand if it has to be modified in some way.

I'm afraid that having a prompt which you have to sign up for in advance would not work well for me at all. One good thing about B2MeM as it's been done the last few years (I wasn't aware of it before that) is that the prompt structure is flexible enough to accommodate both people who want to write drabbles and quick ficlets and people who want to work on one thing the whole time -- or people who want to alternate between the two! I also love the freedom of being able to decide each day what I want to work on. Writing inspiration and the ability to concentrate can be very fickle for me, so having to commit to something a month in advance would make the whole thing very stressful and sounds like a sure recipe for writer's block in my fuzzy brain. Also, it's not like we have to post at the end of each day. I've been known to come back to and finish B2MeM stuff years later. :) If people want to continue chipping away at something, I assure you, they will. :) And the good thing about people posting each day, or whenever they feel ready, is that we can react to, encourage, and inspire each other. If all the pieces were finished in advance, the ongoing interactive aspect would be lost, and that's one of the things that makes B2MeM fun for me.

I also don't see any advantage at all to the writers/artists/etc. in having to submit their work in advance, not be able to edit it, and then have it released gradually. For myself, I would be fretting and worrying about people's reactions to it -- once I get up the nerve to post something, I want it to be visible right away so I can get feedback and tell whether what I was trying to do worked at all. And as a perfectionist, I always find myself wanting to make changes at the last minute. It would drive me a little crazy to have it locked away in limbo. :)

Basically, what you're suggesting is not a thing that is compatible with the way I'm able to write. I'd still cheer everyone on, but I'd have to sit this one out.

Oh, and I would make a very poor mod, but I'm happy to keep helping with the comm tagging or icon-making or whatever.

[silver-trails.livejournal.com]

I think that you are right about the posting. It would be easier on the mods if people just posted their own works.

[hhimring]

I have always admired the Akallabeth in August compilation. It strikes me as a more difficult project to handle for B2MeM than for SWG only where the subject could be more limited, but it seems you may already have ideas how to work it?

[dawn_felagund]

I always have Ideas! That's half of my problem! :D

Writing challenges that have as close to universal appeal to the Tolkien fandom is always the most difficult part of planning B2MeM, though.

How about a Tumblr segment with Hourly Prompts! (this is not a serious suggestion!!!)

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

Or quarter-hourly. Hey! I don't doubt there would be some participation. Of course, the monitors would have to quit their day-jobs and neglect their pets and children to handle that one properly. (It would be worse than Bingo as far as hurting the administrators on a personal level.)

I am going to lose one way or another on the daily prompts I just know! Either the daily-promp pushers will win out and I will hate B2MeM again. Or we will go with the compilation suggestion and it will not be a popular one and I will feel like it was all my fault for complaining so much over the years.

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

I am not sure if we can handle this thing based on the current mod availability Oshun, so please don't worry!

[engarian.livejournal.com]

I think I would really enjoy this. Last year just didn't excite me, but the two prior years were fabulous. This suggested format could be lots of fun.

- Erulisse (one L)
no objections to being published in print or artwork as long as I'm happy with what I've produced.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks for the feedback, Erulisse! The fact that participation went way down last year led me to think we might be ready for a year without daily prompts ...

[huinare.livejournal.com]

I am really liking this idea. When I first found the SWG a bit over two years ago, I was fascinated by this archive of "Akallabêth in August" tales and thought it sounded like fun.

While I did like the daily prompts and manic community atmosphere inspired by B2MeM 2012 Bingo, it was a bit too much stress. B2MeM 2013 didn't work for me at all despite the daily prompts, so I'm ready for a different approach this coming year.

I'm kind of reading this post/comments in a hurry so hopefully I won't regret this, but I'd be interested in moderatorly duties!

[dawn_felagund]

I'm kind of reading this post/comments in a hurry so hopefully I won't regret this, but I'd be interested in moderatorly duties!

*rubs hands together in manic glee*

Seriously, in all honesty, if it ever proves too much or you change your mind, that's fine! :)

Thanks for the feedback too. We used to do compilations pretty regularly on the SWG. I always liked them because it gave a published feel to work that is usually much more ephemeral. We mostly stopped doing compilations on the SWG because I just didn't have the time to put them together and run them! It's a lot of work! And my comods' schedules are just as horrible as mine, generally, if not worse. But it will be much easier on an LJ community because people can post (and edit) their own stories.

[lin4gondor.livejournal.com]

I only managed one of the daily prompts last year. The daily prompts were interesting, but I couldn't get ideas fast enough and it was too much pressure. The suggestion for 2014 sounds much more like what I could work with -- I'm in favor of it!

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you for the feedback! That seems to be the theme I'm picking up in the almost-50 (!!) comments on this post, that daily prompts are stressful for some and single pieces are stressful for others. As always, trying to figure out how to let as many people be involved as possible is the biggest challenge! :)

[ladybrooke]

If I'm honest, while I think it's a good idea to switch it up to make it fun for the people that haven't had as much fun in the last few years, I probably won't participate. To me, the idea of claiming a prompt before hand and having to work to get it ready for that day, all the while knowing there is a limited number of stories posted on a day and a number of people might look at it is completely the opposite of what makes events fun for me. I'm afraid my stress levels would be through the roof, especially because I thrive on not having too much time to think about what I'm doing.

But do change it up. I'm sure it will work out brilliant for some people, and there's no way that every challenge is going to work out right for everyone. I'll likely just take the month to work on those still unfinished because the bunnies keep breeding stories from the Bingo one.

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you for you feedback, Brooke--and for being so understanding of the need to switch it up! :) I think it has been enlightening for a lot of us to see how differently people look at the creative process.

I think your concerns are totally legitimate. I tend to post things shortly after writing them. I used to get very nervous when doing weekly postings of my novel Another Man's Cage. So I understand that feeling! :)

I am chuckling that you are still getting bunnies from BINGO ... and here I was thinking to maybe run BINGO again sometime soon ... :D

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

The idea sounds interesting, and I'm always looking forward to unveiling things (be they at AinA or Si'07 or fic exchanges), so I'd be excited to see how this would be implemented (and the book idea - OMG, that would probably be the closest I'll ever get to being published, so it's kind of tickling my vanity. A lot).

What I'd miss, though, pre-March prompts notwithstanding, is similar to the points Tehta and Lignota brought up. Daily prompts may have run their course for a while if last year's participation, as Dawn remarked, is any indication, but I think I'd miss the kind of energy that usually rears its head during March - waiting for something feels very different from creating something. A very tentative idea to consolidate both unveiling and a creative component for other participants - how about a complementary remix challenge for the day's piece(s)? It'd probably have to be opt-in since I suppose not everyone would be comfortable with having their work dissected that way (which might lower the number and pace of prompts to not make it a daily challenge), but it'd open up a lot of ways to essentially work with the day's fic as prompt, and could produce anything from fanart to podfic to a POV change to an AU to goodness knows what. An example: Dawn's Toys in the Hall (http://www.silmarillionwritersguild.org/archive/home/viewstory.php?sid=1115) is a remix of Levade's This Ereinion (http://www.storiesofarda.com/chapterview.asp?sid=2692&cid=10551).

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I am laughing at myself and my own ego and insecurity! I am such a dofus. I've often thought I really wanted to do a re-mix and not because I thought I could do better, but because I love an idea and it gave me ideas. But the idea of someone doing one of mine and changing my idea and writing a better story even horrified me!!

We are all really different.

The reveal format is very similar to a lot of Harry Potter fandom holiday events I have seen. An advance deadline for all and a story or two revealed every day (then, within that context, there also could be room for some extensions--with no guarantees--given problems with a story or daily life).

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

I'm on board to help out. I'm not sure about actually creating anything, but I can at least commit to that much. :-)

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you! I've emailed you (and Huin) about being added as maintainers and mods on the comm. :)

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

I hate having to claim and having to commit in advance, I find that way too stressful and would skip next year if this format were chosen.I take part for fun,and need to feel free to write or not to write as the Muses come and go.

[dawn_felagund]

Did you see my last comment on your first thread? (Sorry if you replied and I missed it--comments are getting overwhelming at this point, and I'm sure I've overlooked a few by accident!) I suggested that people who want a daily challenge might still work with the prompts on a daily basis ... after all, we will be posting at least one new prompt per day, those prompts will just have stories or art already associated with them when they are posted! :)

[iavalir.livejournal.com]

My comment may be the least helpful, because I'm not entirely sure where I really stand, so apologies in advance for my potentially confusing thoughts. :)

In general, I'm always up for something new. :) I loved B2ME in 2011 with the passport; also loved the Bingo idea but I was very busy with finishing up for school and don't think anything was completed (I now have a bunch on unfinished stories I'd like to get back to some day (one of them, the dwarf drabble, has sprung into being a massively-long dwarf history-and-culture fic, so there's that. :) )) The first two or three prompts for this year's event inspired stories, but then I hit a wall and no prompt was doing anything for me after that.

This format does sound interesting. It's different, but I do also share some of Tehta's concern that this might just end up feeling like any other fic fest. This isn't attacking other fests at all since I do them as well, but I do love the uniqueness in how we approach B2ME every year. :) And as others have said, there's a sort of energy about March during B2ME that I'm worried may be lost with this format. But since I wasn't around for Akallabêth in August then maybe this concern is insignificant? :) I can see how it can free up time to enjoy reading and engaging differently than in the past.

I do like the idea of a long-term and short-term/daily (weekly?) options running alongside each other, but I'm worried something like that is awfully straining on mods. Perhaps there could be something more laid back, where every day a "prompt" can be used as inspiration for either finishing up a work one started in previous years? Such as on Day one a prompt may be "a reunion takes place" or "someone is the victor (or the loser)," that might add life to an old WIP or take it in new directions; of course the person is more than welcome to create a new work if the prompt inspires something new. :)

Hope nothing I wrote here adds stress to any of the mods! :) I always look forward to this event!

[dawn_felagund]

Please no worries about stressing us! This is what we do. ;)

And actually, I love so many of your ideas in here. (And I didn't find them the least bit confusing!)

I do also share some of Tehta's concern that this might just end up feeling like any other fic fest.

I have some ideas that I hope will encourage people to engage with the stories being presented. (I just don't want to share them here yet since I haven't mentioned them to the other mods--the people who will have to implement them!--and worry that people will be disappointed if they like an idea and then we mod-types decide it is not feasible.) I love the energy that surrounds B2MeM and want to keep that going.

I'm worried something like that is awfully straining on mods.

Having run both daily-prompt challenges and compilations, both require a lot of effort on the front end and then are pretty easy to run after. (Especially if people can upload their own work for compilations, which would be the case here, since B2MeM is LJ-based.) It gets time-consuming when there is a daily customizable prize involved, i.e., passports or bingo cards. Those are the years where we have to make sure we have ample volunteer time.

Perhaps there could be something more laid back, where every day a "prompt" can be used as inspiration for either finishing up a work one started in previous years?

I like this idea, and this is something I've always suggested with the daily-prompt challenge (and only seen it done once, to the best of my knowledge!): using the daily prompt not to write something new but to add a bit to a single long piece. I've actually wanted to try this, but since I'm always modding then I never get to! :)

Thanks again for the feedback!

[mrowe.livejournal.com]

Sounds interesting, depending on theme and prompts.

Of course, I only have a middling record for actually producing on challenge-like prompts, so I'd be hesitant about claiming any prompt unless it bit me really hard.

My personal preference would be daily prompts, but there too it depends; last year I totally fizzed out on the prompts, while the Bingo was unbelievably energising.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks for the feedback! Prompts are always seem so touch-and-go to me; I have heard from people who loved BINGO (like you!) and people who signed up and could never get into it. The same is true for pretty much every B2MeM challenge we've run in recent years.

[paranoidangel]

I really like this idea. Last year I didn't have time to write in March, so I didn't get to write anything. The year before I was so busy writing I didn't really read much or comment much. So I like the idea of being able to do the writing in advance and then that gives plenty of time in March for reading and commenting.

I know technically I could always write something in advance, but I find prompts and a deadline make me write something, whereas otherwise I might not get round to it.

[dawn_felagund]

As a writer, I am much the same: I don't tend to write (I spend my time doing "more important" things) unless a challenge forces me to! :)

Part of our hope with this idea is that the reading/commenting aspect would receive more attention. The critique of B2MeM has been made that the writing part is so intense that one misses out on the stories being created, and there isn't a lot of feedback either. We're always brainstorming ways to "fix" this ...

Thanks for commenting on this! :)

[hrymfaxe.livejournal.com]

I am quite intrigued by this idea, and would definitely consider picking a prompt if one of them tickled my fancy come January!

[dawn_felagund]

OMG! I just made this face:

[elfscribe5.livejournal.com]

I liked the Passport stamps and the Bingo game (got way carried away and didn't manage to do all that I claimed, but I'm working on it!) and last year I didn't manage any of the prompts. I'm not a huge fan of belting out a drabble every day or even once a week. Instead I usually end up with longer pieces when something engages me. So, I like your idea for this year. It's always good to try something different and as long as there is no penalty for failure to complete a claimed prompt, I think it's a good idea. There are really good prompts posted every month on the site that usually work for a variety of times and places and characters within the legendarium. Posting the resulting works on SWG in the form of a compilation, like I think you've done in the past with Akallabeth, is a good idea too. However, I'm not sold on doing an e-book or print-on-demand. Wouldn't that cost something for people to order and then aren't we then getting into legal quagmires about profiting from fanfic? It just seems that cans of worms open up with anything like that. I wouldn't want the party spoiled by a cease and desist from the Tolkien Estate.

[heartofoshun.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't want the party spoiled by a cease and desist from the Tolkien Estate.

There are at least a couple of SWG moderators who are pretty savy about how that works. If they do not know exactly, know how to find out.

[idleleaves.livejournal.com]

I'd probably be sitting this one out, honestly. It doesn't matter to me how the prompts come or how often, but for me the month works best when I can use whatever I'm given to explore ideas/characters/etc. *without* having to make them public if I'm not satisfied. I know it's not an exchange, but for me it's a similar kind of stress (and I do participate in exchanges a couple of times a year, but this kind of month-long thing has always felt like a different animal), and in the past I've always really liked how it ends up being a low-stress, flexible way to play with words and write things I wouldn't write otherwise. (Even daily prompts are still low-stress for me if I don't have to polish-and-post under a deadline – I guess maybe it's higher stress for people who feel that they *have* to write something for all the prompts that are posted?) And, like Elleth said, I'd kinda miss the energy and bounce bounce pom-poms bounce that occurs in March when we're all diving in.

2011 and 2012 worked fabulously for me. Last year didn't, but that's for a number of different reasons.

Anyhow. That's just me. And I'm hardly a frequent or important contributor to the fandom.

(Sorry for the ten thousand comment-edits - I cannot brain in words today.)

[dawn_felagund]

Please don't diminish your feedback by saying that you are not a frequent or important (!!) contributor to the fandom! Everyone's feedback matters to us, and yours is one of the names that I definitely associate with past B2MeMs. I very much appreciate what you've had to say here. :)

I think that the lower energy is my number-one concern as well. I have some ideas on ways we might include daily participation without making the focus of this year's event a daily prompt (because that format really does not work for some people, and we have used it for three straight B2MeMs now). That doesn't mean that this idea is going to be the B2MeM 2014 project. I haven't compiled the feedback here yet to see whether there are enough in favor to consider going forth with it. So I am operating on purely hypotheticals at this point. :)

Thanks again for the feedback!

[foxrafer.livejournal.com]

I'm someone who likes to avoid any kind of spotlight with their fics, especially in this fandom, so this format is something I would definitely skip. It would be far too stressful for me. I know I've been spoiled the past couple of years, which were the only times I've participated, because both the passport and bingo (and finding the quotes as well, even though I didn't do it because I can't find quotes to save my life *g*) fit perfectly with my personality. They're low-stress and let me write as often as I'm comfortable and share my fics as quietly as possible as a comment to a prompt post as opposed to publicizing it as a separate entry at the comm.

That being said, I think it's great that the format changes every year and I know there are probably a lot of people who will prefer this proposed method. And like last year, I'd be happy to help out behind the scenes if needed.

One thing I'm not so sure about is that this would increase comments. It might (and for the writers I hope it does) but I think people often read fics with characters they're interested in rather than read every fic that's posted for an exchange or fest.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks for the feedback (and for being so understanding about the preferences of other participants. :) Up-thread, there have been some suggestions of ways for people to continue to participate, even if they don't want to create something for the compilation, namely in creating pieces for the prompts featured each day for which that days featured piece/pieces were written. There has also been a suggestion that some authors might allow remixes of their stories (and art is always great for inspiration, imo!) The pressure of creating something that will be spotlighted is something I hadn't thought of but that I think needs addressing, if we decide to go ahead with this.

Do you want me to add you to the list of maintainers here on LJ and my email list of people who want to help out with planning? (Or if you were thinking more along the lines of, "Give me a job and I'll do it!" then that's fine too! :)

Re: commenting ... I have some ideas on this front; I don't want to put them out publicly yet because I haven't discussed them with the other mods and always worry that people will be like, "Yay! That's awesome!" and my comods will be like, "Ummmm ... that's more work than we have people to do this year ..." My ideas can spiral out-of-control very quickly, as I think B2MeM itself attests! :D

[moetushie]

I'm intrigued with next year's changes, I'll probably give it a go.

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks for the feedback! :)

[independence1776]

… I completely missed this discussion. See what I get for not paying attention.

Anyway, you know I like the compilation idea. And I'm perfectly willing and happy to remain the tags mod.

[dawn_felagund]

I'm like the worst person in the world for paying attention to anything on social media (including LJ!), so I totally understand. ;)

Do you want me to add you to the list of planners/mods? (You're already on here as a maintainer, so you'll see any posts directed only to maintainers, but I've been sending emails too, since we have one mod not on LJ at this time.)

Thanks, as always, Indy. :)