Oh, yes. I thought it would be about the reader part of me the first year I did it, so I was stunned at how, four seconds after I got my assignment, it became totally about what I was writing, not what I was getting. (But the prompts are still key. I do not want to Ruin Yuletide by making someone else's life difficult! So I do worry about my prompts - I figure, I trust my writer to write me a great story much more than I trust myself to write her a decent prompt.) That is, up to a certain point it's all about the writing.
I have actually charted out my Yuletide experience:
Jan 1 - Oct 1. Spend the whole year making mental notes of excellent Yuletide fandoms for me to volunteer to write (because generally what I will request is already known to me). Forget half of them. Write down the other half.
Oct. 1. Begin watching the Yuletide comm with an intensity bordering on insanity.
Whenever suggestions open. OMG SUGGESTIONS YAY! I list everything that I think would be cool EVER. This year, this was followed by an agonizing triage process, in which I selected the four fandoms I wanted to request, then the two fandoms I most wanted to write. Next year, I will do what everyone else did this year and ask my friends list what they're suggesting. (As it was, I got the benefit of that; a kind soul gave me two of her slots because everything went so well for her in terms of nominations sharing.)
Whenever signups open. Okay, now is the time for intense cogitation. But my requests actually get, relatively speaking, short shrift - yes, I have my bouts of insanity in the prompt field, but the REAL insanity is reserved for making the spreadsheet of everything I'm volunteering, and whittling it down. (No. I don't think this is normal. But I don't think it's all that weird, either.)
Assignment comes. Become utterly fixated on writing (or thinking about) request, recruiting betas, and stalking recipient. (This is when I go through the Five Phases of Yuletide.)
Assignment turned in. OMG YAY! I am done, and oh, please let the recipient be happy, and...hey! There will be a story for me, too!
Two days before archive goes live. The need to read the story written for me has become so intense it is overtaking my brain function.
Archive goes live. (And, yes, I am often one of those people refreshing the site with shaky hands, going, "Please oh please oh please oh please...") I read my story, followed by a prolonged gorge.
Jan. 1. Author reveal, followed by chortling, more glee, and reading more stories. Plus, starting the whole cycle again.
I think that, unlike challenges, I was able to complete this well ahead of schedule because it was for someone specific.
Are we related? Because, yes. I only sign up for exchange challenges these days. (Or try only to sign up for exchange challenges, anyway.) I know the odds are incredibly good that I'll default on another kind of challenge. But if there is a specific someone I'm writing for, it turns out I am intensely motivated not to disappoint her. She's a real person! Genuinely waiting for my story! I cannot let her down, and I will use every trick I know (thank you, college, for giving me so many of them) to make myself write if I'm stuck.
no subject
Oh, yes. I thought it would be about the reader part of me the first year I did it, so I was stunned at how, four seconds after I got my assignment, it became totally about what I was writing, not what I was getting. (But the prompts are still key. I do not want to Ruin Yuletide by making someone else's life difficult! So I do worry about my prompts - I figure, I trust my writer to write me a great story much more than I trust myself to write her a decent prompt.) That is, up to a certain point it's all about the writing.
I have actually charted out my Yuletide experience:
- Jan 1 - Oct 1. Spend the whole year making mental notes of excellent Yuletide fandoms for me to volunteer to write (because generally what I will request is already known to me). Forget half of them. Write down the other half.
- Oct. 1. Begin watching the Yuletide comm with an intensity bordering on insanity.
- Whenever suggestions open. OMG SUGGESTIONS YAY! I list everything that I think would be cool EVER. This year, this was followed by an agonizing triage process, in which I selected the four fandoms I wanted to request, then the two fandoms I most wanted to write. Next year, I will do what everyone else did this year and ask my friends list what they're suggesting. (As it was, I got the benefit of that; a kind soul gave me two of her slots because everything went so well for her in terms of nominations sharing.)
- Whenever signups open. Okay, now is the time for intense cogitation. But my requests actually get, relatively speaking, short shrift - yes, I have my bouts of insanity in the prompt field, but the REAL insanity is reserved for making the spreadsheet of everything I'm volunteering, and whittling it down. (No. I don't think this is normal. But I don't think it's all that weird, either.)
- Assignment comes. Become utterly fixated on writing (or thinking about) request, recruiting betas, and stalking recipient. (This is when I go through the Five Phases of Yuletide.)
- Assignment turned in. OMG YAY! I am done, and oh, please let the recipient be happy, and...hey! There will be a story for me, too!
- Two days before archive goes live. The need to read the story written for me has become so intense it is overtaking my brain function.
- Archive goes live. (And, yes, I am often one of those people refreshing the site with shaky hands, going, "Please oh please oh please oh please...") I read my story, followed by a prolonged gorge.
- Jan. 1. Author reveal, followed by chortling, more glee, and reading more stories. Plus, starting the whole cycle again.
I think that, unlike challenges, I was able to complete this well ahead of schedule because it was for someone specific.Are we related? Because, yes. I only sign up for exchange challenges these days. (Or try only to sign up for exchange challenges, anyway.) I know the odds are incredibly good that I'll default on another kind of challenge. But if there is a specific someone I'm writing for, it turns out I am intensely motivated not to disappoint her. She's a real person! Genuinely waiting for my story! I cannot let her down, and I will use every trick I know (thank you, college, for giving me so many of them) to make myself write if I'm stuck.