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fandomsecrets2026-03-31 05:42 pm
case) wrote in fandomsecrets2026-03-31 05:42 pm
[ SECRET POST #7025 ]
⌈ Secret Post #7025 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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[Multifandom fanwork exchanges on Dreamwidth]
Notes:
Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 18 secrets from Secret Submission Post #1003.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
no subject
[Multifandom fanwork exchanges on Dreamwidth]
Transcript by OP
Re: Transcript by OP
I remember when FFFX was first being planned, its creator acknowledged at the time that a 10k min exchange was a very pie-in-the-sky idea because of the riskiness in getting people inexperienced writing such long works in exchange contexts to reliably turn in passable work and the difficulty sourcing pinch hitters. Because of those worries, I feel like the FFFX mod designed their 10k event very carefully and conservatively and I appreciate that.
...And then the mods of FIAB and HA came in and made TWO more 10k exchanges per year with much more punishing writing schedules, partly because the format of FFFX (including the super long writing period) didn't work for them.
Result: We now have three 10k exchanges when I think even ONE 10k exchange per year is tricky to pull off. They've managed to make the three 10k exchanges work for many years at this point but I don't think it's been without a cost. (1) The pinch hit burden has been incredibly heavy, esp. combined with recips who don't comment on their (long!) gifts. Pinch hits have been noticably more difficult to fill this year, because pinch hitter time, energy, and inspiration aren't some unlimited resource! (2) These exchanges (plus other quantity-maximizing events) have had the effect of drawing people who are mainly interested in writing output and challenging themselves to hit ambitious word count goals. That's a fine approach to fannish events, but I think it creates a disconnect because I don't think the mods of FIAB & HA even understand how much these events burn out pinch hitters because isn't it FUN to challenge yourself to write multiple 10k assignments in 2 weeks?
I'm really hoping that at least one of these events gets discontinued, preferably HA.* But because of what I said above, my prediction is that FFFX will likely be the first to go, because its mod seems to be the only one actually aware that there are challenges with running high-min exchanges that go beyond what a dedicated/industrious mod with a lot of free time can fix.
* The medium diversity of FIAB is at least a USP, but (1) its creation period needs to be at LEAST one month longer, and (2) it needs to get a better art point system stat.
B!S: I'm also glad the Triple Crown reward raffle is dead. I appreciate the supportive spirit in which it was created but it was also unsustainable and contributing to burnout in the way I've discussed above.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2026-03-31 11:52 pm (UTC)(link)I remember always being a bit annoyed by the Big Bang challenges that were 50 000 words or whatever, being held up as the most wonderful of things. Someone on a discord comm I was on recently (a few years ago) was lamenting the lack of big bangs for the fandom and trying to drum up interest, and sure, if that's what you want to do, go for it, but 50 000 word expectations is a lot to ask.
no subject
(Anonymous) 2026-04-01 02:25 am (UTC)(link)OP
(Anonymous) 2026-04-01 07:55 am (UTC)(link)To explain my position better: Well first off, I absolutely agree with you that you can't simply drum up interest in a 50k big bang. There's a REASON why most big bang mins are something like 5k or 10k nowadays, because otherwise the event cannot get off the ground! You won't have a viable participant pool. Definitely one of those cases where an industrious and dedicated mod is insufficient to make an event successful!!
Also, I actually ran a 50k big bang way way back in the day when you could still do that and it completely collapsed because so many participants basically ghosted (not even dropped out officially but just stopped responding to check-ins and didn't turn in anything at deadline) that it wasn't an event anymore. So even at the Big Bang heyday, this has always been a very challenging event format to run and based on my own experience, I would have a lot of advice and caution for a mod who wants to run even a shorter min big bang. Plus, we are just living in a very different fandom environment nowadays, which needs to be taken into account by anyone wishing to run an old school high-min big bang.
That said, I'm generally actually very supportive of challenges that push people to make that ambitious project that they're not sure they can pull off, and 50k big bangs are definitely the kind of challenge I wish there was more of!
But, as the person above mentioned, I think multifandom fanwork exchanges are a format that's a really poor fit for a high-ambition writing challenge like that. At least with big bangs, people can freely choose what fic they want to write, and dropping out doesn't affect other people and in fact probably saves an artist from doing some work so reduces total effort needed from other people (except for the situation I mentioned above where collectively too many people dropping out can actually affect the event as a whole).
Exchanges work differently. A person who requests enough fandoms (usually only 3) and who turned in a gift is (understandably) entitled to a gift of their own so the exchange will not open until someone has written them a gift. Even within the three fandoms they've requested, it's usually perfectly allowable for them to be requesting only a single ship. So basically, the event will not progress until you find someone willing to write one of those three fandoms and one ship in particular in those fandoms... For a low-min exchange, most people are willing to at least try out a fandom or ship they've never written for. For a 10k assignment, though, that's a COMMITMENT and something where you need to be REALLY comfortable with the fandom before you're willing to take a crack at a 10k fic idea.
It's a very different format from a big bang where participants get to choose their own topic freely and the main person they're disappointing if they fail at the writing challenge is themselves. With an exchange, the thing that guarantees you a 10k gift in one of the fandoms you're into is simply whether you are able to turn in a 10k gift for a fandom which might be very different from the ones you've requested and there's no guarantee anyone is out there who is as enthusiastic about those fandoms to the point of being willing to write a 10k story for it... It's part of what I meant where I think the writing challenge aspects can come into tension with the gift-giving aspects. Writing challenges are one thing (and quite fun!) but gift-giving challenges are another thing, and you need to be careful how you combine them because the elements don't play well together.
So basically, my opinion is hell yeah to more high-min fests or big bangs or other challenge events like that (if there is interest) and hell no to more high-min exchanges.
Still OP, adding more
(Anonymous) 2026-04-01 08:32 am (UTC)(link)But I'm also actually the OP of the secret last week annoyed at Inktober-style challenges and the constant churning out of short fics. While it seems weird to write that secret and then turn around and complain about longfic exchanges, I do actually really appreciate longfic challenges that aren't exchanges. It's a different skillset to write a longfic than a short one, with things like project management coming into play. Some ideas also truly work better when written into a 30k or 50k fic than they do a 1k or 3k fic. Also, I'm really in favor of events that provide the structure and motivation for someone to write that long and really self-indulgent fic they think only they would be interested in reading. I love NaNoWriMo -- it's a shame the organization that ran it shat the bed because it's actually really valuable as a writing challenge/exercise, and now that it's gone, it's really hard finding an event with the same level of enthusiasm and community that is as motivating for people. I love events that encourage people to power through and finish their 10k+ WIP that's been languishing for over 2 years.
Anyway, all that is to say, I'm actually really passionate about longfic challenges and I'm really supportive of the way that making it an event and with a social aspect can actually motivate someone to push themselves to create something they normally wouldn't risk trying.
I'm even supportive of longer min exchanges like the Case Fic Exchange (because case fic is also one of those things where you need more words to pull off the concept) and FFFX (because I get that part of the reason for its existence is to provide an exchange format that gives creators time to consume a new canon and therefore give recips the chance to get a gift in a rare canon that they normally wouldn't expect to get in other exchanges). But when it comes to exchanges, I just don't like volume for the sake of volume (which I don't think FFFX is guilty of but which I think FIAB and HA both have shades of -- FIAB in particular definitely allows Inktober-style churn-out-a-lot-of-short/low-effort-works-quickly type creation) nor do I like when people treat pinch hitter energy and enthusiasm as infinite (same notes as above).