Multi-Fandom Lyric Wheel

Welcome to the Multi-Fandom Lyric Wheel. This is a story-challenge where each participant writes a story from the criteria given by another participant -- but in this case, what you get given are song lyrics.

What do you mean, song lyrics?

I mean, the words of songs. Each participant must bring, as part of the sign-up process, two sets of song lyrics; that is, the lyrics from two different songs. This can either be the full set of lyrics typed in, or a direct link to the lyrics on a particular web-site. There are plenty of lyric sites around.

You cannot just say "Song Title by Artist". You must include (a link to) the actual lyrics when you sign up (as well as the song title and artist, of course!).

Why two sets of lyrics?

So that people can have a choice, instead of being stuck with something that doesn't inspire them, that doesn't fit their chosen fandom(s). Keeping that in mind, it's probably a good idea to make sure that at least one set of lyrics isn't a love-song, since not all fanfic is about "pairings".

What sort of song lyrics?

Any kind. Popular songs, folk songs, songs from musicals -- even opera if you want (though it would be a good idea if it was actually in English). So long as you provide the full lyrics, we're good.

How do I sign up?

Put a comment here with:

What about people not on Live Journal?

You don't need to be on LiveJournal to sign up -- I've enabled anonymous comments.

Please mention this challenge anywhere and everywhere you think people might be interested in it. On your LJ, on mailing lists, and so on.

When do I sign up?

Between Wednesday 16th March (that's today) and Saturday 27th March (Easter Saturday). That's about ten days to decide and find lyrics.

When do the assignments go out?

Easter Monday.

How are the assigments made?

I will take a list of everyone who is participating, randomize it, and send the lyrics given by Person A to Person B and so on through the list, with the lyrics from Person Z going to Person A.

What do I write?

• A minimum of 750 words.
• In any fandom your heart desires. No Real People Fiction, though.
• Based on the song lyrics of one of the songs you were given.
• Including one, and only one, line from the chosen song, as part of the story.
• No slash.
• Ratings from G to PG-15. In other words, nothing pornographic or gut-churningly gory, but if it's something they'd do on Buffy, it's okay.

What if I want to quote huge slabs of the song and have my characters react to the song?

Sorry, no can do. Remember, you can only include one line from the song. The idea is to capture the atmosphere/intent of the song, not regurgitate it.

What do you mean, include one line of the song?

Just use one of the lines as part of the story. This can be dialogue, thoughts, description, whatever. You can tweak it a little to make it fit the characters, if need be. Think of it as an extra challenge. I stole the idea from the Highlander Lyric Wheel.

What do you mean by "no slash"?

No stories with m/m or f/f pairings; this is overridden by canon pairings, where canon is explicit and unambiguous about the relationship, such as Willow/Tara in Buffy. The reason for "explicit and unambiguous" is because people can argue until the sky falls about what is and isn't canon, since three people can look at the same action and one would consider it to be slashy subtext, one would consider it slashy text, and the third would wonder what the other two were talking about.

What about het pairings?

Sure, whatever you want, so long as it isn't above PG-15. Canon or Alternative Universe, just something that fits the chosen lyrics.

What about no pairings at all?

Yes, indeed! Why do you think I mentioned providing non-love-song lyrics? Not everything is about pairings.

What about requests? Isn't that what ficathons are about?

The "request" is the lyrics. No fandom requests, no character requests, nothing else. It's much easier to organize that way. And I think we will still get some very interesting stories out of this.

Can my story be beta-read?

Better ask, "can my story not be beta-read?". Yes, get a beta-reader. I am not going to do any editing whatsoever of these stories.

When is my story due?

Six weeks from Easter Monday. That's Monday the 9th of May. Of course you can send it in earlier than that.

What do I do when my story is finished?

Email it to <multi_lyric AT katspace DOT net> in plain text. I will not accept any other format. The plain text can include the usual things like * for italics and # for bold and _ for underlines.

The story must include, after the end of the story proper, the full set of lyrics the story was based on (so that people can admire it properly).

The stories will go up at http://www.katspace.com/fiction/multi_lyric_wheel/ when everyone has their stories in.

What if I'm late?

Then everyone will be kept waiting. And I will make a list of the delinquents and point to them when people ask "why aren't the stories up yet?"

That's mean!

Yes it is. So?