Magpie Monday for January of 2016!
Jan. 11th, 2016 09:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dialecticdreamer posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
crowdfundingWhat is it? the author (me) gathering up prompts like bits of shiny, and writing to answer. The basic idea is just that, and while I cite a 500-word baseline if I use a prompt, my fills do tend to run MUCH longer. Spread the word, tell me about it in a reply to this post, and each signal boost adds 100 more words. Subscribe (and tell me you're new, because my head for the next forty-eight hours will be stuffed with/by/through at least six fully different universes of writing) and your prompt will get an extra 500 words.
When does it happen? I post this, and you can start sending me prompts. When I can't keep my eyes open, or I'm typoing more than typing, I will PM anyone who still has an unfilled prompt to tell them that I'll pick up on Tuesday and continue until EVERYONE has gotten a story in return for a prompt.
What's a 'prompt' and is there a theme? A prompt is an idea, even a phrase like “rainbows,” or a detailed, “What would happen if—?” More detailed, stand-alone prompts are often more difficult to fill, oddly, but if it's the burning question of the month, send it and I'll keep my side of the bargain. Themes help me bounce ideas off other readers when we're sending prompts for things like the Creative Jam (hosted by Crowdfunding , and happening next Saturday and Sunday).
This month's theme is transformations. That's it, as open and changeable as the sky. What does it make you think of? Dream of? Wish for? That's a good starting point for a prompt, and I'd love to hear it. I try to treat ALL prompts respectfully, because I've had strong reactions to simple stories, and all my readers are always welcome to contact me via PM if they're more comfortable with that.
What's the exchange? If a reader posts one prompt, they're going to get that story. If a reader posts twelve prompts (and you know who you are! Thank you! REALLY!), I will pick whichever one I find interesting, and keep the others for possible multiple-fill stories, if they fit in.
I will post a story for free for EACH day I am writing for the Magpie.
At the end, I will post a report, listing all the short stories available sponsor via Paypal, and my usual writing will resume as a mix of nonfiction snark and essays, fiction and other fun. January's Magpie List is separate from the main index (which is slowly being checked and revised) to make the newest stories easy to find. It's amazing how much fiction I wrote in 2015!
If you like your story, I have a paypal tip jar. My suggested estimate is 'pennysmithing'- a penny a word- but I know how variable the 'fun money' can get, so I'm not pushing. Every donation is earmarked for medical bills, just as in 2015, and it has helped. Thank you again to everyone who pitched in.
As a stretch goal, $40 in donations will open a vote between Shiv's upcoming story “Triptych, part 3” and the longest fill of the Magpie this month. The winning story gets posted immediately upon completion, with as much fanfare as I can muster.
My personal goal is at least 3,000 words in prompt fills today, and if the Magpie stretches into Tuesday, the goal jumps to at least 7,000 words for both. That's a LOT of fiction to choose from! If I actually hit my stretch goal of writing10k words in three days, I will post ANOTHER story for free, probably by using a random number list and a die to select the story, just to surprise everyone. (Then I am taking myself offline for a many-hour nap!)
When does it happen? I post this, and you can start sending me prompts. When I can't keep my eyes open, or I'm typoing more than typing, I will PM anyone who still has an unfilled prompt to tell them that I'll pick up on Tuesday and continue until EVERYONE has gotten a story in return for a prompt.
What's a 'prompt' and is there a theme? A prompt is an idea, even a phrase like “rainbows,” or a detailed, “What would happen if—?” More detailed, stand-alone prompts are often more difficult to fill, oddly, but if it's the burning question of the month, send it and I'll keep my side of the bargain. Themes help me bounce ideas off other readers when we're sending prompts for things like the Creative Jam (hosted by Crowdfunding , and happening next Saturday and Sunday).
This month's theme is transformations. That's it, as open and changeable as the sky. What does it make you think of? Dream of? Wish for? That's a good starting point for a prompt, and I'd love to hear it. I try to treat ALL prompts respectfully, because I've had strong reactions to simple stories, and all my readers are always welcome to contact me via PM if they're more comfortable with that.
What's the exchange? If a reader posts one prompt, they're going to get that story. If a reader posts twelve prompts (and you know who you are! Thank you! REALLY!), I will pick whichever one I find interesting, and keep the others for possible multiple-fill stories, if they fit in.
I will post a story for free for EACH day I am writing for the Magpie.
At the end, I will post a report, listing all the short stories available sponsor via Paypal, and my usual writing will resume as a mix of nonfiction snark and essays, fiction and other fun. January's Magpie List is separate from the main index (which is slowly being checked and revised) to make the newest stories easy to find. It's amazing how much fiction I wrote in 2015!
If you like your story, I have a paypal tip jar. My suggested estimate is 'pennysmithing'- a penny a word- but I know how variable the 'fun money' can get, so I'm not pushing. Every donation is earmarked for medical bills, just as in 2015, and it has helped. Thank you again to everyone who pitched in.
As a stretch goal, $40 in donations will open a vote between Shiv's upcoming story “Triptych, part 3” and the longest fill of the Magpie this month. The winning story gets posted immediately upon completion, with as much fanfare as I can muster.
My personal goal is at least 3,000 words in prompt fills today, and if the Magpie stretches into Tuesday, the goal jumps to at least 7,000 words for both. That's a LOT of fiction to choose from! If I actually hit my stretch goal of writing10k words in three days, I will post ANOTHER story for free, probably by using a random number list and a die to select the story, just to surprise everyone. (Then I am taking myself offline for a many-hour nap!)