Newletter--May 2006
Apr. 30th, 2006 11:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dawn_felagund posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
silwritersguildMay's Challenges
Canon with a Twist
Have you ever wondered, what if just one thing had been done differently in the canon? Maedhros had decided to hold off on meeting Morgoth? What if Oromë had taken a different road and hadn't discovered the Elves for another five centuries? What if Haleth had taken Caranthir's offer to stay in Thargelion? What would have changed?
This challenge asks you to think about just that. Choose a single moment in Tolkien's canon and have the character make a different choice. How does history change? Or how does fate fulfill itself? The response may be any length and format--poetry, drabble, or fiction--but should ask what might have happened if one thing had changed.
If you have ideas for compelling story hooks for this challenge or know of any good examples of stories that satisfy this challenge (either your own or someone else's), please feel free to share them in a comment or in a post to the group.
Thanks to Jenni (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
digdigil) for this month's challenge!
The Quote of the Month Challenge
The Quote of the Month challenge asks you to write based on the themes and thoughts the quote inspires or about the event in which the quote occurred. You may write in any format--poem, story, essay, or drabble--with any characters, genre, or rating.
Do you have a favorite quote that you think might inspire other authors as well? Let me know! I am seeking quotes for future quote challenges; please email me at DawnFelagund@comcast.net with your ideas.
Other Ongoing Challenges
At SWG, challenges never die. You are welcome to write for a challenge at any time. All of our past challenges have been tagged and may be found here or on our website.
A Call for New Challenges!
The SWG does not have a committee or person devoted to challenges: The challenges are for members to create! If you have an idea for a challenge or would like to suggest a quote for the monthly quote challenge, please do not hesitate to suggest it on-list or email me privately at DawnFelagund@comcast.net.
As always, all Silmarillion writing, including challenge responses, is welcome in our LJ community.
Welcomes and Birthdays
I would like to extend warmest welcome wishes to kaizer_ken_ichijouji, lenajade9, ceana33003, and Dean, our new members who joined the Yahoo! portion of our group in April! Welcome also to those who have joined or are following our LiveJournal.
No members with birthdays in May have signed up for stories.
Do you want to get stories for your birthday and other special occasions? Sign up on our "Give Someone a Silmaril" database, located on our Yahoo! Groups homepage or post your request to the list or the LiveJournal.
News and Announcements
The Beta-Version of Our Website Is Online!
This month, I have completed the beta-version of our website and uploaded it on free Geocities webspace. I invite you to take a look at it and share your thoughts and feedback with me.
The SWG Website!
Please do not hesitate to report troubles or offer suggestions to me. I am very new at web design and appreciate all help folks are willing to give me.
I will be adding and updating the site on the free webspace throughout the month as I have time to do so. I am currently researching PHP/SQL in preparation for setting up our archives and forums, hopefully some time this summer. I will be taking a vacation in mid-June to Puerto Rico; upon my return, I will be purchasing a domain name for our group, at which point I can introduce more features to the site without fear of exceeding my (itsy-bitsy) bandwidth allotment.
Submit Your Group or Site to Our Yellow Pages!
As discussed on the Yahoo! group, one of the features of the Reference section of our website will be the Silmarillion Yellow Pages, a listing of groups and sites that have to do with The Silmarillion and writing.
If you have a group or site that you think fits the bill for our Yellow Pages, don't be shy: sign up! Hopefully, this will one day be a good way to connect Silmarillion groups with people who might otherwise have never found--or found only with difficulty--the group or site that fits their needs. No group is too large or too small, and everything from canon resources to fiction archives to RPGs are acceptable! Guidelines for submitting a group and the necessary forms can be found on our site.
LiveJournal Posting Tutorial
Because posting to LiveJournal can be tough for the uninitiated, I have replaced our old and no-longer-pertinent FAQs with a step-by-step illustrated tutorial for how to post in the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
silwritersguild community. All you need to post in our community using this tutorial is a free LiveJournal account; you do not need to be a member of or have silwritersguild friended in order to post.
Not a member? Do you want to be?
The SWG consists of two components: a Yahoo! email group, for discussions, story promotions, and planning, and a LiveJournal community for sharing our Silmarillion writing. Members are welcome to belong to both or just one, depending on what best suits their needs.
Read more about the Silmarillion Writers' Guild at our LiveJournal Community Information page.
To join our Yahoo! group:
At any time, I encourage people--both members and non-members--to contact me with inquiries. I may be reached at DawnFelagund@comcast.net or through either the Yahoo! or LiveJournal groups.
Canon with a Twist
Have you ever wondered, what if just one thing had been done differently in the canon? Maedhros had decided to hold off on meeting Morgoth? What if Oromë had taken a different road and hadn't discovered the Elves for another five centuries? What if Haleth had taken Caranthir's offer to stay in Thargelion? What would have changed?
This challenge asks you to think about just that. Choose a single moment in Tolkien's canon and have the character make a different choice. How does history change? Or how does fate fulfill itself? The response may be any length and format--poetry, drabble, or fiction--but should ask what might have happened if one thing had changed.
If you have ideas for compelling story hooks for this challenge or know of any good examples of stories that satisfy this challenge (either your own or someone else's), please feel free to share them in a comment or in a post to the group.
Thanks to Jenni (
digdigil) for this month's challenge!The Quote of the Month Challenge
The Quote of the Month challenge asks you to write based on the themes and thoughts the quote inspires or about the event in which the quote occurred. You may write in any format--poem, story, essay, or drabble--with any characters, genre, or rating.
"Now in Mithrim there dwelt Grey-elves, folk of Beleriand that had wandered north over the mountains, and the Noldor met them with gladness, as kinsfolk long sundered; but speech ata first was not easy between them, for in their long severance the tongues of the Calaquendi in Valinor and of the Moriquendi in Beleriand had drawn far apart."
-The Silmarillion, “Of the Return of the Noldor”
Do you have a favorite quote that you think might inspire other authors as well? Let me know! I am seeking quotes for future quote challenges; please email me at DawnFelagund@comcast.net with your ideas.
Other Ongoing Challenges
At SWG, challenges never die. You are welcome to write for a challenge at any time. All of our past challenges have been tagged and may be found here or on our website.
A Call for New Challenges!
The SWG does not have a committee or person devoted to challenges: The challenges are for members to create! If you have an idea for a challenge or would like to suggest a quote for the monthly quote challenge, please do not hesitate to suggest it on-list or email me privately at DawnFelagund@comcast.net.
As always, all Silmarillion writing, including challenge responses, is welcome in our LJ community.
Welcomes and Birthdays
I would like to extend warmest welcome wishes to kaizer_ken_ichijouji, lenajade9, ceana33003, and Dean, our new members who joined the Yahoo! portion of our group in April! Welcome also to those who have joined or are following our LiveJournal.
No members with birthdays in May have signed up for stories.
Do you want to get stories for your birthday and other special occasions? Sign up on our "Give Someone a Silmaril" database, located on our Yahoo! Groups homepage or post your request to the list or the LiveJournal.
News and Announcements
The Beta-Version of Our Website Is Online!
This month, I have completed the beta-version of our website and uploaded it on free Geocities webspace. I invite you to take a look at it and share your thoughts and feedback with me.
The SWG Website!
Please do not hesitate to report troubles or offer suggestions to me. I am very new at web design and appreciate all help folks are willing to give me.
I will be adding and updating the site on the free webspace throughout the month as I have time to do so. I am currently researching PHP/SQL in preparation for setting up our archives and forums, hopefully some time this summer. I will be taking a vacation in mid-June to Puerto Rico; upon my return, I will be purchasing a domain name for our group, at which point I can introduce more features to the site without fear of exceeding my (itsy-bitsy) bandwidth allotment.
Submit Your Group or Site to Our Yellow Pages!
As discussed on the Yahoo! group, one of the features of the Reference section of our website will be the Silmarillion Yellow Pages, a listing of groups and sites that have to do with The Silmarillion and writing.
If you have a group or site that you think fits the bill for our Yellow Pages, don't be shy: sign up! Hopefully, this will one day be a good way to connect Silmarillion groups with people who might otherwise have never found--or found only with difficulty--the group or site that fits their needs. No group is too large or too small, and everything from canon resources to fiction archives to RPGs are acceptable! Guidelines for submitting a group and the necessary forms can be found on our site.
LiveJournal Posting Tutorial
Because posting to LiveJournal can be tough for the uninitiated, I have replaced our old and no-longer-pertinent FAQs with a step-by-step illustrated tutorial for how to post in the
silwritersguild community. All you need to post in our community using this tutorial is a free LiveJournal account; you do not need to be a member of or have silwritersguild friended in order to post.Not a member? Do you want to be?
The SWG consists of two components: a Yahoo! email group, for discussions, story promotions, and planning, and a LiveJournal community for sharing our Silmarillion writing. Members are welcome to belong to both or just one, depending on what best suits their needs.
Read more about the Silmarillion Writers' Guild at our LiveJournal Community Information page.
To join our Yahoo! group:
At any time, I encourage people--both members and non-members--to contact me with inquiries. I may be reached at DawnFelagund@comcast.net or through either the Yahoo! or LiveJournal groups.
no subject
Date: 2006-05-08 01:47 pm (UTC)If you like this challenge and you can't finish it this month, challenges are good for forever. (That Earwen story I just posted was for September's challenge! Ai! o.O)
And thanks for taking a look at the site. The original colors I chose were...scary. I've always had a weak spot for orange and blue; I think they work really well together. (Unless you're talking neon orange and navy blue. Ick.)