Challenge The 14th Annual Non-Denominational Winter Holiday Fic-Gift Exchange! ~ Questions from Mav

I can do sad somewhat if it makes sense plot wise and/or there's a silver lining or cause for hope. E.G., no Luke as a hermit kind of plot. Head scratchingly frustratingly NOT my cup.

 

Exactly, there's plenty of people wanting not sad right now, I wouldn't really want a really sad one either. (Though, say, someone thinking sad thoughts, but then remembering happy memories about someone who isn't around anymore, that would be ok.)

I think sad plot popped into my mind first 'cause that's where my brain's been at.

Going to think happy for a while before reading over & brainstorming wishes again , hopefully that'll help attract a happier muse this time.

 

I had a blast writing this:
Jaina Being Decisive

 

Happy holidays and a fic-gift featuring Jocasta Nu and a circle of curious younglings at storytime for @Raissa Baiard:

Gifts of the Sages or Storytime with Younglings

 

All right! I am pleased to present my fic-gift for @TheRynJedi :

Jedi Is as Jedi Does

All best greetings of the season to you, my friend! So glad I could write this for you.

 

Hello all! I have posted Not a Ghost of a Chance, a second fic-gift for @Nehru_Amidala. Enjoy!

 

Here is my fic-gift for @Seldes_Katne : Rat, Cat and Wolf: A Legend of Lothal. Happy new year!

 

The first of my gift-fics for @Findswoman has been posted: Droidsong.

And the second: Final Mission

And I'm done now.

 

My gift fic for @devilinthedetails is finished!

Will You Still Love Me When I'm Sixty Four?

 

Finally finished it. @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha 's gift. Sorry it took so long, writer's block is a thing, especially when you're trying to bully your muse into giving you something not-sad, and well, the sad story stuck.

Friends to the End
An Ahsoka & Rex story

 

"As a requester- How did you feel about having to come up with more than one wish?"

I found it interesting to come up with 3 different stories/characters versus one story with 3 elements to include versus not.

"As a writer - Did you like having a choice in what you wrote? Did it make it less stressful to have that choice?"

It really did. In the prior variation, 3&1 for one story, if something didn't inspire or spark, you felt stuck. But this way, if you couldn't write one wish, the other two would probably spark.

(As a reader, I saw this firsthand, as requesters got more than one story-wish written up, and the variety was amazing as to content and tone.)

"Having a mandatory Saga request is what I thought would make it easier to pair people up (and it probably did make it so in some ways): How did you feel about having a mandatory Saga request?"

I didn't mind having this. It lends itself to asking for AUs and missing scenes or character-centric stories, as well.

"If I go through with this format again, do you think it should be mandatory for three wishes?"

At least two, maximum three.

"Which format do you prefer? (Previous three things you want, one thing you don't want etc. vs. 3 wishes)"

I really liked this new format.

 

Thank you for running this event for another year, @mavjade. It was a wonderful winter activity in a time when I think everyone probably needs joy in their lives.

To answer your questions, I'd say:

As a requester, I didn't mind having to come up with more than one wish, because that way I could come up with multiple wishes and be surprised about which of my wishes the person assigned my list would choose to write. So it sort of added an extra layer of suspense and surprise for me.

As a writer, I did appreciate having three wishes to choose from, because then I could choose the one that sparked the best idea in me and most inspired me. That helped me feel more confident that I could produce something I could be proud of as a gift for someone else.

I felt that it made a lot of sense to have a mandatory Saga request because it guaranteed that there would be some common ground and overlap between what I requested and the person who received my requests knew about Star Wars. @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha also makes a great point that it could really lend itself to requesting AU's or missing scenes or character moments inspired by the Saga, so that is neat as well.

I think encouraging people to come up with three wishes but accepting lists with two wishes seems fair to me. Three wishes is a nice amount of choice for whoever gets the list, but it is possible that someone will only be able to think of two wishes that they have, so to me at least two wishes with one a Saga wish seems a good compromise in a case where someone only has two wishes.

I prefer this format because I felt like I was giving the person who got my wish a chance to be more creative and as if my wish was less restricted by things I said I wanted or didn't want, which to me opens the door again for being sort of surprised by what I am given because I have given only a little bit of detail about what I want and left the rest up to the writer of my fic-gift.

I am sure whatever you decide will be fun and wonderful to participate in next time around, though, and thank you again for hosting this great gift exchange

 

Ditto everyone else's comments, I liked the format.

 

This was my first time participating, so not exactly the voice of experience here, but:


As a requester- How did you feel about having to come up with more than one wish?
I didn’t feel it was a problem – I have any number of story wishes that would work for me. I think it gave the writers more freedom to choose a wish that they were comfortable writing. I know I personally am interested in some of the less popular aspects of Star Wars (I prefer stories about background characters, for example), and that might prove difficult for some authors.


As a writer - Did you like having a choice in what you wrote? Did it make it less stressful to have that choice?
I did like having that choice (although I was fortunate enough to be writing for Findswoman, and I felt I could have written a story for any one of her prompts, so it was a good match!). I think there are advantages to giving the writers a small range of possibilities. And three wishes narrow the possibilities down, so the list isn’t overwhelming.


How did you feel about having a mandatory Saga request?
I think having a Saga requirement is a good idea – I’ve read a fair amount of the EU (now “Legends”) material, but it was all years ago and I haven’t read anything based on the new canon. Most of us have seen the movies, at least. Also, most authors received one or two other options, so if the Saga request worked, fine; if not, there were other prompts available.


If I go through with this format again, do you think it should be mandatory for three wishes?
I would suggest at least two, maybe up to four. Too few choices make this more challenging; too many may make choosing more difficult. (The drawback, of course, is that having more wishes can make matching authors and readers more of a challenge for the organizer.)


Which format do you prefer? (Previous three things you want, one thing you don't want etc. vs. 3 wishes)
I haven’t done any of the previous gift-fic exchanges, but I did like the three wishes idea, coupled with the “please don’t write about X” request.

 

Mav, thanks so much, as always, for bringing us this wonderful challenge from year to year, and for overseeing it so capably!

As a requester- How did you feel about having to come up with more than one wish?
I was totally fine with this. In some ways, it makes it easier. Echoing @Seldes_Katne , there are several different kinds of stories that would make me happy, and this way I don't have to tear my hair out trying to narrow it down to just one!

As a writer - Did you like having a choice in what you wrote? Did it make it less stressful to have that choice?
Oh, absolutely, on both counts! It's nice to have some options and to not feel locked into just one prompt (which I know can be a challenge with exchanges like this one). With the wish list, there's an increased chance that the writer will find something they can work with, and I can see it making your job as organizer that much easier, too.

How did you feel about having a mandatory Saga request?
I think this was fine--it seemed as good a way as any of coming up with some kind of common ground, given the vastness of the SW universe and the many and varied interests of us forum members.

If I go through with this format again, do you think it should be mandatory for three wishes?
Do you mean, should it be required that everyone who participates provide exactly three wishes? Not to voice an unpopular opinion or anything--but yes, I actually think so, or at least feel that it's worth considering. If some lists include three wishes and some just two, then some writers will end up not having as many choices as others, which doesn't seem quite fair. But if everyone gets exactly three wishes, then all the writers get the same number of options to choose from. (And I agree that three is a good "sweet spot" number: not too many, not too few.)

Which format do you prefer? (Previous three things you want, one thing you don't want etc. vs. 3 wishes)
I really liked this year's "three wishes" format (plus being able to specify things one doesn't want) and would love to see it used in future years!

Thanks again for everything, Mav!