BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Secret Santa Fic Exchange 2014

**Posted by Kerkerian** September 24, 2014 5:08 am

La Jolie wrote:
And if you want to know who wrote what last year, there is also a collection on AO3, though I'm not sure whether all stories are there.

You can also see who wrote what at the end of the story thread:
http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=3893&p=1 because of course we revealed the respective authors at the end.

**Posted by silverblaze** September 24, 2014 1:08 pm

Hugs to Tonnaree, be kind to the brain, you only have one.

I like the one prompt solution. I also think that a prompt is meant to make the writer more creative and think out of the box so if that's not working, the writer should be able to ignore it. Just my opinion. What do you think?

**Posted by SilverMoonDragonB** September 24, 2014 2:22 pm

Schmiezi wrote:
How about this:

Everybody gives one prompt. That can be five keywords OR an item they wants to appear in the fic OR a headline OR a part of the plot or whatever.

(I think that is basically like we did it last year, but could turn out to be more diversified now that we discussed the many possibilities.)

I like that idea I think pretty much what we did last year was give 5 (?) things we wanted in the fic that encompassed everything, genre, relationship pairing or if we wanted something specific (example, last year one of my things was that I asked that a song be mentioned or at least be inspired to write the fic in some way).
I'm good and flexible with whatever we do though! Getting excited for this already! <3

Last edited by SilverMoonDragonB (September 24, 2014 2:22 pm)

**Posted by Schmiezi** September 25, 2014 4:19 am

One more question:
We have this 221 words minimum. Would it be alright for you all if we say that it only counts for stories? That way we would be open for poetry as well. (I mean, I never wrote poetry myself, but having to make your poem 221 words long seems a bit too much, right?)

Last edited by Schmiezi (September 25, 2014 4:35 am)

**Posted by silverblaze** September 25, 2014 3:03 pm

221 words isn't that much is it? One alinea or so? But maybe poetry should be more free, it's often the shortest ones that are the most beautiful. Does anyone want to write a poem? I much prefer stories myself.

**Posted by Kerkerian** September 25, 2014 5:01 pm

I agree with Silverblaze on that one; I prefer stories, but if someone would like to write a poem, having to use a specific number of words might be very difficult.
And I have to repeat that I really hope we won't mainly have rather brief stories. It's not that I don't like actual short stories, which I do, but a short story by genre and a story that's short because the author didn't have the right idea/was insecure about the story/didn't have enough time etc. are two very different things. As is a story which has exactly 221 words.
As a suggestion, rather than having a minimum of 221 words once more we might say that the story, even if it's short, has to be complete. And since we're getting more time this year, the author should make sure, if she has doubts or problems with it, to ask for advice (which we're all willing to give, judging from the various previous posts on the matter).

**Posted by SolarSystem** September 25, 2014 6:21 pm

Did we have any short and incomplete stories last year?

**Posted by stoertebeker** September 25, 2014 7:26 pm

No, as far as I remember, all stories were complete. And really short were none of the stories last year, at least not 221 words.

**Posted by Kerkerian** September 25, 2014 8:14 pm

Just sayin'...

Apart from that, let's hope we'll get a few more participants. And does anybody know if Ormond Sacker is still around?

**Posted by La Jolie** September 25, 2014 9:22 pm

I'm sure there was something useful and Important that I wanted to say in here, but then somehow I got side-tracked into spending an hour looking at all the beauty on SolarSystem's Tumblr page and now all I can say is, I'm definitely striking Johnlock off my list of things that I DON'T want to read or write about.

**Posted by SusiGo** September 25, 2014 9:30 pm

Wow, this is amazing! Congrats, Solar, what an achievement. If you want to deepen your convictions, you can also have a look at my tumblr. There is a lot of scientific stuff in there.

**Posted by Schmiezi** September 26, 2014 7:02 pm

Just bumping this thread to see if there is anybody left who would like to join us...

**Posted by SolarSystem** September 26, 2014 9:30 pm

La Jolie, thanks so much, I don't know what to say... I'm glad you liked what you saw.
I'm pretty new to tumblr, so I'm sure you'll find even more beautiful stuff on Susi's page - go and take a look, I really can recommend it.

**Posted by La Jolie** September 27, 2014 8:50 am

Yes, once you get started, it's difficult to find your way out again...

I don't think I'm fully converted just yet (not with Mary still around, anyway), but what's just shifted, for me, is that I used to think that Johnlock was just a cute and fun fanon fantasy, without there being any actual evidence of it in the show. But looking at your Tumblr page, and Susi's, and some others I found through those, in fact the photographic evidence alone is quite overwhelming.

Ahem. Back on topic.

**Posted by Schmiezi** September 28, 2014 6:22 am

Last call. Last call.

Anyone else who wants to join? You don't have to be an experienced writer, just be willing to have some fun.

**Posted by Schmiezi** September 28, 2014 6:58 am

BTW I have started to send you the questionaire. You won't get it all at the same time, as baby Schmiezi is a bit uncooperative this morning. Sorry for that.

**Posted by SolarSystem** September 28, 2014 9:00 am

Take your time, Schmiezi. We won't go anywhere.

**Posted by Kerkerian** September 28, 2014 7:27 pm

There's a song that goes "I'm so excited!" and I have no idea what the rest of the lyrics are, but this is what I'm singing at the moment (though, considering my monstrous headcold, I could as well blame it on the drugs)!

**Posted by Schmiezi** September 28, 2014 7:30 pm

Well, that song is basically about having sex.

Which reminds me: We are going to post all fics here on the forum, so they should not be explicit.

**Posted by Kerkerian** September 28, 2014 7:41 pm

*whispers: drugs... ahem...*