[Viv]

"The writer who loses his self-doubt, who gives way as he grows old to a sudden euphoria, to prolixity, should stop writing immediately: the time has come for him to lay aside his pen." -- S. G. Collette

Do you like to see the path of your story-to-be laid out ahead of you like the road going ever on and on, or is your way something else? The wanderings of an idle mind's free moment jotted on napkins and purchase receipts perhaps? The mutterings of a Muse in your ear over a cup of coffee?

Are you comfortable in your method?

Why?

What might you learn if things change?

The Challenge: Breaking Type

1) Respond to the challenge by May 31 by in the Challenges section or replying to this thread, and also sending a note to either the email address in NeumeIndil's profile, or by private message with a contact email to be used for the swapping part of the challenge.

2) On the 1st of June PST (California time), you will be emailed a randomly selected character as a starting point and/or "topic". From that day, participants have 1 month in which to write a story of at least 300 words in a method different than that which they usually use. So, those who free-write should make an Outline, Idea Web, or write a letter to themselves detailing how the story will go... and stick to it! Habitual planners will simply write, no map, no compass, no outline... No Limits (beyond obeying site guidelines and staying within the LotR fandom).

3) On the 1st of July, stories should be emailed to the address in NeumeIndil's profile and will be randomly assigned a number. Please attach the story to the email as a Word or RTF document, and embed the text in the message itself if possible. (Questions? Ask.)

4) Following the number assignment, those writers who submitted pieces will receive, via email, another person's story for beta reading and 1 week to look it over. This will happen on approximately July 1 or July 2, depending on the number of responses we get (and my work schedule Laughing ). When it is finished, on or before July 9th, it should be emailed back to the original author, who will have 1 week to edit and then submit the piece for the challenge. Submissions should post to OSA on July 16th, or sooner depending on beta response time.

Notes:

Names are not necessary on the piece itself, but the author's current email address should be included somewhere in the document itself so the beta knows where it's supposed to go when it's done. (Questions? Ask.)

Random number and character choosing will be done via the "pull a paper out of a box/hat/bag/dirty sock/laundry basket/whatever Neu has at hand when the time comes" method, or by rolling a polyhedral die- TBD by the number of entries submitted by the deadline. (If there are more than 5-6 entries, it'll go faster to roll a die than make and pull that many slips of paper.)

Respondents not turning in an entry by MIDNIGHT PACIFIC TIME (California time, GMT - 6 hrs., or roughly the time NeumeIndil usually goes to bed) of the 1 month deadline will be considered withdrawn from the challenge and will not be included in the beta reading portion thereof.

Respondents not returning a betad story to its author within the time limit will receive a good stern talking to and possibly 40 lashes with a wet noodle. (Seriously, we can't really punish anyone, but it definitely wouldn't be nice to hold someone else up, so try not to do it.)

Got a topic in mind you'd like a chance at, or would like to see someone else write about? Email or PM it to NeumeIndil and we'll include it in the possibilities. (Remember, there's a chance you could get the topic you suggest.)


"If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster." -- Isaac Azimov

[Viv]

If anybody doesn't know how to register for a challenge, please feel free to give me a holler. (Hint: Go to the Tolkien > Challenges page and look for the Breaking Type challenge.)

[Alassante]

Okay I have a problem

I cannot beta someone else's writing because I suck at it (grammar and punctuation aren't my strong suits). I didn't realize that the beta part was in the original challenge we discussed.

[NeumeIndil]

Even just giving opinions and "I liked ___, but I didn't understand why X happened" type of feedback can be very helpful; beta's not just about grammar and mechanics. But if you're still not comfortable with trying to beta someone else's stuff, do you know someone who might help you beta, or pinch hit in your place?

[Alassante]

I can do the opinion part - just not the grammar/punctuation part

[Viv]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, Al. I think most writers 'round here are pretty good with their mechanicals (even Eirenae, who thinks she has a comma problem, really doesn't). I'd totally trust you to beta my crap. After all, you saved me from character assassination in the last chapter of my (recently done) WIP.

[Viv]

Character/topic suggestion...

Tom Bombadil (ha!)


(Will try to think of more when I don't have dishes and laundry looming over me like looming things what loom.)

[eiranae]

[NeumeIndil]

Well, keep in mind Al, you've got just as much chance of getting a story from someone with bomb-proof grammar *cough Viv* *cough NB* as a piece from someone who thinks Grammar is the woman that married Grandpar (to steal Sulriel's phrase, at least I think it's hers anyway).

That said, there's been another question raised regarding Topic Characters.

I'd planned to make a pool of characters from the books (Silm included), and then a pool of writers and match the two up: so person 1 out of the author bag would get whatever character I pulled from the character bag first. But in chit chat with Eira, she's pointed out that it might be less of a challenge for me if Eomer is in the character pool and I pull him as my character. Similarly, it's not going to be as much of a challenge for NB to write Boromir smut outside of her usual method as it might be for her to write vapid Haldir/OFC smut and not be allowed to make an outline.

So, what do we think: should I include The Big Guys like Legolas and Aragorn in the character pool, or should I try to stick with less-written characters from the same races and times?

What about villians/bad guys, like the Witch King, Feanor, Saruman?

Personally I don't want to mess with the randomness of it any more than is necessary, but at the same time I can't really include every *single* character Tolkien ever wrote either. And really, I don't think it would be fair for me to arbitrarily say "Eira gets the Witch King. I'll take Elrohir. Al gets Tom Bombadil."

Any thoughts?

[NeumeIndil]

Oh! Forgot to mention:

Eira's idea was for somebody who isn't writing in the challenge but knows all of our stories to match authors to characters, so we're sure to get something that's out of our usual range, or at least a character we haven't written about before. (Since Viv and I are already registered this removes us from the running.)

[Haleth]

I'd love to have all of the names on the list, major characters, bad guys and peripheral characters included. Another way to break type would be to write about a character that we've never written before. Tom Bombadil would be a challenge. So would Mim, the petty dwarf from the Silm, Galdor, the Black Numenoreans, a huorn, a Variag, Belladonna Took, the two Blue Wizards, Uldor the Cursed or even Ingwe.

A potential problem is that the character list would be prohibitively long.

[NancyBrooke]

[Sulriel]

>>someone who thinks Grammar is the woman that married Grandpar (to steal Sulriel's phrase, at least I think it's hers anyway).

It's not mine, but I'll take it.

I'm terrible at grammar.

[NancyBrooke]

And, btw: big dancing banana to Viv for the challenge announcement itself. That is a great bit of writing!

[Viv]