January 2017 Newsletter Posted!

[dawn_felagund]

The SWG's January 2017 newsletter has been posted!

We open this month's newsletter with our annual letter from the moderators. We anticipate a 2017 full of work to make the SWG the best group it can be for the members and friends who have loyally supported us for twelve (!) years. In January, we introduce the first of several changes we have planned for this year by changing up our challenges. Check out the News section to read about the new challenges, which will begin on January 15.

For the character biography this month, Oshun writes about the Ithryn Luin or Blue Wizards. This mysterious duo went into the East and was never heard from again. Yet Tolkien speculated about their purpose and their fate throughout his work on the legendarium, and in her characteristically thorough way, Oshun lays out what we know about this pair in her essay about them.

If you're looking for fiction to read, more than twenty stories were added or updated on our archive this month. In case that's not enough, our Around the World and Web section has articles of interests and links to the collections gathered by the Tolkien fandom's multiple December gift swaps. In case you didn't get your fill writing for December events, Around the World and Web also includes upcoming ficswaps and challenges, as well as courses and calls for papers.

It's the final month for the SWG's old challenge system, which has been around for almost twelve years now. Looking for inspiration? Why not try out the Companies, Clubs, and Cliques or Ankle Biters challenges and send our venerable challenge system out with a bang?

As always, many hands and minds go into making our newsletter possible. Thanks this month go to Oshun, Elleth, Rhapsody, and Angelica for creating and compiling our newsletter content.

Comments

[independence1776]

So I have a couple questions about the challenges.

1. Is it permissable to use the challenges in new fics after the challenge is over? (Assuming the format allows for that, of course.)

2. What happens if we start writing for a challenge and don't post something by the deadline? Can we still post the fics?

[dawn_felagund]

1. Yes, the challenges will continue to be available on the site for anyone who wants to sift through them for potential inspiration. Late challenges, however, will not receive stamps.

2. Yes. We never ever presume to tell people when and where they can post their own work. It's your story so you're welcome to post it whenever you please! :)

[independence1776]

Yay! I'd figured that those rules? abilities? would stay in place, but I wanted to be sure. Being able to post after the deadline means I'm far more likely to participate because I'm fairly deadline avoidant at the moment (they're too much pressure). Looking forward to the 15th!

[dawn_felagund]

I like the idea of having a place on the site that is just filled with ways to break a writers' block. :) I don't know if anyone ever uses the challenges like that, but I like to imagine the possibility that someone does/will!

[independence1776]

I look through the challenge list multiple times a year, generally while looking for something, anything to spark an idea. So it does get used that why by at least one person. :)

[dawn_felagund]

Yay! That's really good to know. :)

[zdenka]

I like the sound of the new challenge format. (Though of course it remains to be seen if I'll be organized enough to do them!) I'm looking forward to seeing what they are.

[dawn_felagund]

We plan to issue lots of reminders, if that helps. :)

I'm excited about some of the challenges we've come up with. We're experimenting with some very different formats. (You've heard of some of them through our B2MeM discussion!)

[zdenka]

Reminders definitely help!

[hhimring]

I'll do my best to signal-boost the new challenges, as much as I can. It's good for that if there are single reminders that can easily be re-blogged (rather than being only part of the whole newsletter).

[dawn_felagund]

Thank you so much. There will definitely be a post to our tumblr when the challenge is posted on the 15th!