Admin Post: "30-Day Character Study" Progress Reporting AND "New Year's Resolution" Fanworks

[dawn_felagund]

If you participated in the 30-Day Character Study and would like a stamp on your collection, please report your progress by commenting here. If you've already reported your progress, you do not need to report it again. Please let us know the number of prompts completed and any of the following fanworks types that you completed: fiction, meta/nonfiction, art (graphic and traditional), and multimedia (music, video, podfic, infographic, etc.). Please also let us know if you completed part of the challenge for the New Year's Resolution challenge. We do not need to know the specific prompts you completed, just the information requested.

30-Day Character Study progress is due no later than February 18th in order to receive stamps.

You may also email us at moderator@silmarillionwritersguild.org to report progress.

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This past month was our New Year's Resolution challenge: a chance to complete any of 2017's challenges that you didn't get to, didn't get to finished, or just wanted to try again. Nine fanworks were posted on the archive for this challenge. Check them out and, if you enjoy what you read, please let the author know by leaving them a comment!

Even the Greatest Art Cannot Survive Forever by LadyBrooke. In Doriath, Galadriel and Nimloth discuss the art of the Noldor and the art of the Sindar, and whether Lúthien is the equivalent of Nerdanel. (Challenge: A Woman's Sceptre)

Forgotten Stories Remembered in Other Lands by LadyBrooke. Elmar knows the stories of her people, and that her captor's people will not be free of Númenor forever. (Challenge: Song of Exile)

Fourth Father by eris_of_imladris. One year after arriving in Gil-galad's camp, Elrond learns of the fates of Maedhros and Maglor. (Challenge: New Directions)

Home Is a Second Chance by eris_of_imladris. A young Gondorian guardswoman encounters an elf on a cliff and discovers a way they can both find home again. No romance here, just friendship. Will be writing more soon! (Challenge: Song of Exile)

Into the Woods by Grundy. Angrod, Aegnor, and Artanis have been sent to make contact with their great uncle Elwë. None of them really know what to expect. (Challenge: Strength and Beauty)

Marilliën and the Fall of Doriath by Kaylee Arafinwiel. Marilliën has always been devoted to the Sindar, ever since her beloved kinswoman ensnared their King. But with Melyanna gone, she at least had tried to serve as a protection to Doriath, and to Melyanna's family. The tale of one 'young' Maia OC as she gets caught up in the Second Kinslaying. (Challenge: Behind the Scenes)

Outside of Gondolin Mutual Defence League by Himring. In Gondolin, a fat elf attempts to befriend a sad elf.
At first, things don't look very promising.
But maybe the friendship will turn out deeper and more real for it, in the long run. (Challenge: 30-Day Character Study)

Up in Smoke by eris_of_imladris. Fëanor is the architect of his doom by making the Silmarils for all the wrong reasons. (Challenge: Hero's Journey)

Walking in the Gardens by Raiyana. A Hero's Journey Matryoshka challenge story, featuring the head gardener of Indis' home in Vanyamar. (Challenge: Hero's Journey)

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Be on the lookout for our new challenge on Thursday, February 15th!

Comments

Not immediately necessary for you to read! Rambling!

[heartofoshun]

Thanks for organizing and pushing these challenges. They have been awesome. I participated every month for a year in order to be a good community member! I'm done now. I do like the stamps though and the extra publicity value of being on a list.

I will continue to try to follow the challenges and continue to click on the tags when I post something. Not going to sweat the rules and the deadlines as much in the coming period. It was very useful to get me into the habit of writing fiction more regularly and publishing it instead of fiddling only with ancient WIPs on my computer. This next year for me will be for finishing WIPs.

Congrats to everyone who made the deadline for this last challenge. (I have two unposted ficlets on my harddrive that I was intending to tweak for this last one. I will post them soon). I got distracted and lost track of time! Read a book--actually two--this weekend and chatted with you about our paper! Discipline and organization is not my strong point, although I work like a damned dog!

Thanks again. I now have three files on Luthien totalling some 15,000 words which I worked on over the past period. (I lost track of which stuff answered which question in the challenge list.) When I do finish that bio, it should be a useful one. Don't worry the bio will not be that long! In the word-number ballpark of one of my big characters, which she is.

Re: Not immediately necessary for you to read! Rambling!

[dawn_felagund]

I'm really happy to hear that they worked for you as you wanted! That was really my hope for the new format: that it would be low-pressure enough to be comfortable but provide just a little extra nudge to actually have some participation. (We have run challenges for the entire existence of the SWG, and the majority have not a single fanwork created for them!)

We'll see if the momentum holds for another year.

I'm doing stamps for the 30-Day challenge now ... I know I owe you a Creator and a Creator: Meta. If you wrote any fiction, did any art, or made any multimedia for the challenge and want those stamps, can you let me know? Or if you know even a rough number (10, 20, or 30?)

If not, it is no big deal ... but I wanted to offer you the same chance at stamps as everyone else. :)

Re: Not immediately necessary for you to read! Rambling!

[heartofoshun]

You are too generous that I fell down on the job of tracking them properly. I just went through the list and I find that I answered specifically with my research at least another 10--so that would make 12 total. Some of those I can easily add to entry I created for this challenge right now.

Re: Not immediately necessary for you to read! Rambling!

[dawn_felagund]

You don't have to add them unless you want to; being publicly posted is not a requirement for this one. I've added to my crazy-long stamp-tracking document to include the 10 Prompts for you. :)

Re: Not immediately necessary for you to read! Rambling!

[heartofoshun]

I'll take those and run like a bandit! (I was probably conservative.) Thank you.

[ladybrooke]

Update on 30 day challenge: I added a piece of meta for the New Year's Resolution to what I reported last time around.

I'm looking forward to this next year's challenge collection! I'm not sure how many I'll be able to do once August hits, but I'm hoping to keep up with it. This past year has been fun! :D

[dawn_felagund]

Thanks, Brooke! I have you updated in my files, and I'm working on getting the graphics and image maps updated now. (It won't be finished tonight. I always say I'm going to keep up, never do, and then regret it when I spend a day doing two months' worth of stamps ...)

[ladybrooke]

Welcome, Dawn! :) (You do a better job tracking and keeping up with it than I would do! My to-do list has things on it that originally got added in December of 2015. I am only moderately better when my to-do list impacts other people. :P)

[hhimring]

Thank you for including my piece in the round-up, Dawn, although I posted it late!
I haven't got anything else to report for the 30-Day Character Study except that fic, so if you want to count it as one prompt fill in the fiction category, that would obviously be splendid, but again, I posted it late, so don't feel you have to!
(Any progress with the notification issue?)

[dawn_felagund]

As far as I'm concerned, if a piece is posted by the time I make the list for stamps for the month, then it's included! I don't check time/date stamps beyond that. The only reason there is a deadline at all is to keep the stamp collections manageable.

You've already been given the stamp, although I have not uploaded collections yet; I'm finishing them now.

I will post in all of our spaces as soon as the notification issue is resolved. Unfortunately, the mod who set up the current system is out of town at the moment. I'm going to try to learn the system so that I can maybe figure out the problem, but it's hard to find time (or mental energy) for this during the workweek. I've been in touch with the webhost, but what they suggested didn't work, and I need a better understanding of the system before I reach out again.

[dawn_felagund]

Most notifications should be sending again!

I've contacted the member who initially reported the problem to see if hers are back up too. I'm going to post once I hear back from her and know the extent of any existing problem, but since you asked, I wanted to follow up here first.

[hhimring]

Thank you very much, Dawn!