Christmas Story Secret Santa - It's begun! Closed.

[Rolly-chan]

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY STARTED! Applications are now CLOSED! Sorry! But maybe I'll host such an event for Easter again



INTRODUCTION
Because I apparently think I still don't have enough on my plate, I got the idea to organise a story Secret Santa. Since it's Christmas season, of course it would be themed accordingly (as in, a Christmas-y or wintery theme).
Some of you may already know what a story Secret Santa in general is. Sure, it's not a new concept and widely organised in writing communities. But for those who don't yet have a clear idea what it might be, it's just like a normal Secret Santa with presents, only that the present is the story.

PROCEDURE

• Every participant requests one or several certain types of stories (not too specific), sending them to the organiser (short stories, about 1000 - 1,500 words, I'd say)
• The organiser assigns each participant a story someone else requested including who requested it
• Each participant writes the story (+ maybe edits, if there's enough time) and sends it to the organiser up to and including December the 24th
• the organiser then posts or sends each story to the person who requested it on the 25thBased on how many participants we will be in the end, the stories will either be PM'ed to me and then collectively posted into one thread, of course including author and the person for whom it was written, or each of the participants will post their story into a separate thread and send me the link so I can collect all the links to the stories in here.

I was wondering whether anyone here would be interested in such an exchange. I would be the organiser, and of course I would not be able to participate because I'd know who was assigned to whom, so it wouldn't be as fun ^^°
However, if anyone needed to drop out, I would jump in and fill the spot, so that everyone still gets a story out of this. I'd probably also need additional help in case there are more drop outs than one (I probably won't be able to write three well-written stories in a short amount of time if people drop out close to the deadline ^^°).
That last point is also debatable. I don't know how you'd like to get/send your stories. Would you want them sent to you via PM, or would you rather all the stories be posted in one thread for everyone to read, or would you rather like to have more responsibility and post the story yourself on the 25th, since you have written it, and simply send me the link so I can collect all the stories here in this thread (or a new Secret Santa Thread)? Or any other ideas?

So... any questions or thoughts? Feel free to ask and discuss this here!

Let Me Join The Fun!

Everyone loves forms, so here is one for you:
EDIT: I have edited the form so you can add three things that are no-go's for you or things that you are fine with reading (e.g. death, violence, sexual themes even if they are PG-13, horror, same-sex relationships, huge age differences that are still legal, etc). These are not for writing long texts what you don't want, but really for those general things like the examples I've given. Please also specify whether it's a No-go OR an Okay (or people won't know). They are OPTIONAL, so you don't have to include them if you don't have anything you want to specify ^^

Code: Select all

[b]CS username:[/b]
[b]Prompt/Scenario/Theme #1:[/b]
[b]Prompt/Scenario/Theme #2:[/b]
[b]Prompt/Scenario/Theme #3:[/b]

[b]No-go / Okay #1:[/b]
[b]No-go / Okay #2:[/b]
[b]No-go / Okay #3:[/b]

Please send me the form in a private message! And an explanation:

What I need from each participant:
• three prompts / scenarios / themes you would like your story to be about - the one writing your story can pick one, two or all three of them to implement in the story

for example, "Two friends trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for each other" or "strangers getting stuck together in a snowstorm" -- to my mind, a good scenario always provides a problem for the character(s) involved, but it's up to you what kind of scenario you want; prompts can be just things you want in the story - like a chandelier, for example, or contrasts like "special vs. ordinary", or idioms like "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder" or anything else that's in this fashion; you should all know what themes are, some examples: "the good always win", "with great power comes great responsibility", and yes, in a sense, "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder" can also be a theme

• if you specifically want a Christmas or winter themed story, you can try to write down your prompts in a way that would require the story to deal at least partly with what you would like - but try not to push the person writing for you into one direction too much, so make at least one prompt that could be written otherwise.
• your prompts/scenarios/themes don't have to be linked to Christmas or winter. They can be anything. It's the task of the one writing the story to make it wintery or Christmas-y.

What each participant writing a story should keep in mind
• the story should be around 1,000 to 1,500 words long, so that everyone gets a story of approximately the same length. Don't beat yourself up about being a few words below or above those limits, but if it's more than 100 words, try to add/reduce some.
• it's a Story Secret Santa for Christmas, so it should be Christmas or winter themed. At the very least, it should be set in winter, close to Christmas, so late November or December.
• try to write a story according to the wishes of the person you'll gift. You don't have to be too strict with yourself on this, but do try to balance it - you are writing the story for someone else, after all.
• You can implement just one, two or all three prompts in the story you write - it's up to you.
• Try to finish in time. If something happens unexpectedly that would make it impossible for you to do so, let me know via PM and I will jump in for you and write the story.

MOST IMPORTANTLY: have fun! That's what it is about, first and foremost.

*The Awesome Participants*

Commander Shepard
Cherry
iced teaa
The_Amazing
Artesian
/Divergent\
infinite -
Annalynn
Dream Believer

[Artesian]

I'd be interested in participating in this. It sounds like a blast, if it actually happens. :3

[Rolly-chan]

That's what I thought too! I still remember that sort of story exchange from the German community I am registered at, and it had always been fun to participate and see all the other people do so ^^ With this type of exchange it's really the more the merrier :3

[Crystal Gems]

It would be awesome to do this, so much fun

[Dr. Paine]

I'd jump in

Personally, I'd like to see all the stories up on the thread instead of them being PM'd out or anything...

[Rolly-chan]

I'd jump in

Personally, I'd like to see all the stories up on the thread instead of them being PM'd out or anything...

Great Some more people and I think I'll definitely do this ^^

That's what I'd like more too, but I think it would be easier to browse if everyone posted their stories in separate threads with me placing a link to each story here. That way everyone would also get individual replies. On the other hand - some people may be more lazy and like to reply only once to all the stories (or several).
So I'm open to other suggestions. Whatever works best for everyone.

[Kaerie]

Oh, me, me! xD And if you need any help should there be any extra drop outs, I'm your person!

[Rolly-chan]

Oh, me, me! xD And if you need any help should there be any extra drop outs, I'm your person!

Yay, that's great ^^ I appreciate any help <3
More and more people gather here >:D I think this could really take off to a good start.

Maybe I should start taking requests soon so there's still enough time for everyone to write a decent story.

[Cherry]

I'd like to try this! ^^

[Rebel Faery]

I'd like to have a go; it sounds fun!